Shopping and Other Odds and Ends

Shopping this morning.
I ordered hardware, mostly for belts. After looking at how much I was getting there, I decided I don't actually need any of the leather I was sorta-kinda thinking about.  I could have made the hardware order a bit smaller, but I decided that its time to just cut some of the old-style hardware off of belts and replace it with the newer (and prettier) stuff. 


Then I ordered books. I was going to order a couple by the person who designed a line of CAS (Cowboy Action Shooting) and Civil War era patterns I like, but I distracted myself by finding a book on making bridles and related tack, by the author of a book on making harness that I like. I also ordered a book on coming up with western-style floral tooling patterns "for the Artistically Impaired", mostly for Ron. Who isn't exactly artistically impaired, but isn't necessarily confident on coming up with his own designs for tooling.


Finally, I ordered the umpty-dozen little red plastic bins I'd decided on for sorting hardware in the big green tool chest. I should put my drawer layouts into Illustrator or CAD or something, so I have them down the road.


Yesterday I stopped at Cabela's for end pieces for wooden ramps to go between the ground and the side porch. I'll be taking them back today, as they're only 8" wide. The ones at Lowe's, which is less convenient to get to, are 10" wide, and $5 cheaper. I was willing to consider the price difference a convenience tax, but we want the extra width.


Although I didn't get as far as cutting out leather for the new steampunk-ish thing we came up with on Monday, I did get the pattern about 95% figured out. 


The tendons that extend my index and middle fingers on my right hand were quite unhappy all day yesterday, I did too much over the weekend. They're feeling better today, not sure if it's because I tried to sleep with my hand in good positions (not flat, not curled up too tight, wrist not cocked), OTC anti-inflammatory, or both. I think I'll skip doing any lacing today to try to encourage my hand to be happy.