Cowboy Boots

Friday…next Friday I get my sewing machine delivered, roller foot, table et al….and I get it carried up the five or six steps up to the house. My roommate gave me her office. We moved her desk and files and piles into the dining room, that’s where I usta have my “office.” I have some rubber heel caps I won as a raffle prize at Brownwood last year. I think I might put them under the feet of the Singer so I don’t wreck the wood floors. Today I remembered I don’t have any thread or needles…gotta get some.

It’s Friday. Today is “boot day”…I’m at home doing “boot stuff.” I think I found myself a sewing machine, a 31-20…from a guy in Emeryville, not far from my house. He wants $400. He has to put it together, sounds like he’s got himself a Singer pick-n-pull…heads in the warehouse, roller feet in the parts bin. I might get it here in the house by the end of next week. C.T. Chappell (Saint Jo, TX) had some machines, but neither one of us was too excited about the shipping. Maybe I can practice stitching on my next boot day. Today, I’m gonna work on updating my webpage. I’m working on a feature which is a bit complicated…lots of photos, html links, and some frames.

Last night I went to see Dwight Yoakam perform. He was wearing those infamous TIGHT pants. They leave nothing to the imagination …you could see (ahem) everything …the height of the man’s boot tops..the shape of his inlays*…the works!

*…oh, they were playing cards.

I just signed up on The Crispin Colloquy…’bout time, huh?!

Tonight I’m whittling with my lip knife. I think I’m whittling a spoon. I bought some balsa wood at the craft store. They only had “economy bags” so I ended up with all sorts of pieces…square, flat, big, tiny…and some that looks like miniature house siding. I surfed the web a bit, and found the most amazing thing.

I’m draggin’ my feet. I’m supposed to be driving through a tunnel right about now, on my way to work. This weblog might get kinda tricky, especially if I just start writing about all the things I want to do…instead of what I’m actually doing. I want to get the rust off that pegging hammer Lee gave me. I want to start calling around for a sewing machine. I want to update my webpage….I don’t want to go to work today. ugh.

I checked out of the Harbord Motel this morning…returned my key and ate breakfast at Mrs. Bourland’s kitchen table. At the shop, Tex and I went over all my notes. Some of them didn’t make any sense at all…we untangled those. I’m glad I stayed the four weeks. It let me get a little settled in here. The first two weeks, everything was new…and I was terrible at all of it. I was stitchin’ wobbly lines, breakin’ pegs, hackin’ tiny bits of sole leather away with the lip knife. I couldn’t even pull a tack out the right way. (Somehow I thought having a web page about cowboy boots for 3 years was gonna help me out a bit…as if!) But after 4 weeks I can see some improvement. I’m glad I kept those first practice pieces of leather, the ones where Tex just had me sew around the edges…and around…and around. I’m better now. I’m better at the lip knife and the pegs and the tacks. I’m starting to believe that Tex is right when he tells me I just need to be serious about it and practice. I’m going to go home now and practice.

Today I’m finishing up and packing up. I’ll spend tomorrow night in Millsap, and fly home Saturday. This morning, Tex and I made a belt to match my brown boots. I found a belt buckle at this barn-sized antique mall in Brownwood. The buckle is in the shape of a butterfly, it’s silver with a little “gold” around the edges…and it’s huge. I like it. It cost me 5 dollars….and for the price per pound that’s quite a deal. Anyway, Tex made me a diploma to take home with me. I’m gonna practice stitchin’ some more, maybe work on sharpening that lip knife. Tex, Margaret and I are going out to dinner tonight at the steakhouse I think. I’ve learned a lot…I’ll have to put some of it up on my web page. It’s a good to follow your dreams.

Here are my boots, my second pair.

On one side I stitched some flowers.

And then on the other side…

…there are some butterflies.