Still on break

In some ways, I don’t know what to do with myself, but I’m falling into the routine a little more each weekend. I have two of three critiques back for the ending of The Ballad of Mrs. Molony. Once the last one arrives I’ll address those.

After the critiques, it will be time to read HMS Lanternfish. I haven’t looked at it for a month, so there are bound to be things to repair. I can also do my word searches for corrections that I always seem to need.

After Lorelei the Muse visited, my head is full of ideas, but they aren’t immediately helpful. I’m really excited about The Hat books five and six. However, it’s book four I need to storyboard properly. I know that story, but it needs more structure than the others. It’s going to involve an event that will shape the future of these stories. It needs to have an emotional tug to it. That might sound funny for a series that’s dedicated to dark and snarky humor, but it works within the framework I’ve established.

I also added some fun ideas to a couple of storyboards for some stand alone novels I want to write. There is also an outer space related story bouncing around in my head, but it hasn’t earned a storyboard yet. Muses are great, but more pertinent help would have been better.

If nothing else, once I figure out the issues with my next two books, Lanternfish and Hat #4, I will be ready to scream along on future tales.

In other news, I worked on one of my cowboy hats a bit. Long term readers might remember when Old What’s Her Face and I went to Jackson Hole. There used to be a wonderful hat shop there, and I bought a nice beaver hat. I posted about cutting the brim down, steaming & shaping the brim and crown. Then I used a stitch puller to remove the hatband.

After that, I had my brother make me a copper hatband. This has worked well for years, and it’s my go-to outdoors hat. The band is held on by friction, but it will come off when doing some hat related chores, like fanning the campfire to get it going.

Today, I took some tin snips and some copper pipe and made a couple of staples. It took some effort to get them placed and puncture the hat body, but I don’t think my hatband will be coming off any time soon. Oddly enough, closing the stables was the hardest part. Not a lot of room to swing a hammer inside the crown of a hat.

I’m sure the staple will age and patina to catch up with the rest of the copper eventually.

I also broke down and ordered a new hat. I doubt the cowboy hat will be retired, but I wanted a campaign hat. This will be the third one I’ve owned over the years. The first one was cheap wool, and wore out back in my survey days. I allowed a bar tender to hang it on the wall in a tiny little place called Midas, Nevada. (Hope it’s still there.) The second one got borrowed by one of my son’s friends when they were in high school. They were a bunch of druggies, and once he gave it back I threw it away. Lice happen and I wasn’t about to take a chance.

This campaign hat is slouch style, and made of much better rabbit fur. It will come with the cavalry style acorn band, but I got the officer’s version with gold and black since it was an option. (I already have a hat with gold acorns.)

Years ago, in my part of the world, cowboy hats were everywhere. I’d kind of like to pick up a decent used one to experiment on. I can’t believe how difficult and expensive that process has become. I used to see such things at yard sales, but no more. I’ve learned how to sterilize and clean them up, and have a couple of experiments I’d like to try.

A lost art

I love doing things that are out of style today. In my mind, it’s preserving the past. I’ve written before about my sourdough starter, sauerkraut crock, and even cooking under a hot rock.

I grew up in Northern Nevada, and many of my friends and relatives were, and rarely still are, cowboys. I bought myself a souvenir in Jackson. I have a dozen or more hats to my name, and really didn’t need another one. Then I found a 5x beaver hat for about half what it’s worth.

The store was the Beaver Creek Hat Company. They have their own brand, and I wanted one of those. They didn’t have any that suited me, but there was a Resistol that was perfect.

It was unshaped, and came with a five inch brim. It looked kind of like this, only mine is dark beaver brown.

 

The first thing I had them do was cut it down to a three inch brim. Big is cool, and all that, but I don’t have the shoulders to pull off that much hat.

A hundred years ago, this was how all hats were sold. Any shape that went into them was up to the owner. Today you can buy them pre-shaped, but where’s the fun in that?

The first shapes likely came from repeatedly grabbing the crown to put your hat on. How you went about it would eventually produce a pinch in front, on the sides, or even in front and back. Pulling the brim down to anchor it in place added a bit of character to the brim. Or there was the alternate method of falling off a horse. That added a few interesting shapes too.

Cowboys are all about style, and eventually wanted to start directing the shape of their hats. These things are like modeling clay of you get them wet. The first custom jobs were usually around a campfire after a quick dunk in the stream. Water troughs served just as well.

Tom Mix, the movie cowboy supposedly shaped his own hats while in the shower. I’ve done this, but prefer the bathtub. We’re going to use today’s preferred method, since the world isn’t ready for my bathtub pictures.

This is my new toy, with the brim already cut down. The first thing I learned is that photography is going to be horrible with a beaver brown hat.

Right now, it’s a perfect style known as a reservation hat. Many of them get worn just like this, but I want a bit more flare.

Note also the tea kettle and the baseball. These are my tools today. That and the kitchen sink.

I’ve worn a lot of Montana Peak style hats, and really like them. These are the crown shapes worn by Mounties, drill sergeants, and highway patrolmen. I may still wind up with that style, but not today.

Today, I’m going for a two dot style. This is the Montana Peak only in the front, with the back remaining unshaped.

The nice thing about a beaver hat is I can reshape it anytime I want. I even have a small steam iron if I want to get right down to it.

Here’s the part where photography let me down. I applied a little sink water to the crown, and went to work with the baseball. This part takes a bit of conviction, but everything can be changed if it isn’t wonderful. I used my baseball to create two dents in the front of the hat. I left about two inches between them for now. I have one with a very narrow pinch point, but my round face prefers a bit of distance between the dents.

I’ll have to step into the sunlight and try another picture. The front dents are in place, and the brim needs a bit of work.

This is where the steam is helpful. Heat also helps soften the felt and makes it more malleable. The brim’s purpose is to keep the sun out of your eyes, and the rain off your neck.

I decided to turn the brim down over my eyes, slightly. I still wanted a touch of cowboy style, and so I turned the sides up ever so slightly.

My photography skills are hampering my blog post. This color isn’t showing up as well as a nice light grey or tan would.

On the drive home today, we saw quite a bit of small stuff. There were rock chucks everywhere. (Western for marmots.) We even saw a bald eagle in a meadow trying to fend off the ravens who wanted to steal his supper. I spotted two great horned owls right after we crossed into Idaho.

There was a weasel at the hotel in the dawn hours, and I tried to take his picture. He was too “weasely.”

We must have seen a dozen road kill barn owls along the way. There was even a dead great horned owl. Now those are the kind of feathers to adorn a hat. Still, with six more hours to drive, I never took the time to score an owl feather.

Still too dark to get much of a photo. I can tell the brim needs a bit more of a “smile” from side to side. I may work on it after it dries out.

I have a lot of crown available too. There is plenty of room to stove in the back and give it a nice shape. Right now, I have to feel it for a few days. With my big beard, a tall crown works just fine for me.

I bought the hat for me. It would have made a better blog post if I’d have bought a grey one.

I like the beaver brown, and it would look great with a narrow band of hammered copper. I don’t have one lying around, and may have to live without it. Although, my brother could probably make one. Hmmmm?

Have any of you ever shaped a cowboy hat? Am I the last person in America that still wears them?

Winds of Change

Everyone seems to be making trips right now. I see bloggers apologizing all over the place. Summer is winding down, school is looming for many. Why the heck should I be any different?

I’m going to miss a post here and there over the next two weeks. I’ll make some and miss others. My paycheck job is sending me away this week, so Wednesday’s gone. I have to help my parents with a project out in the sagebrush this weekend. My blogging goal is to reblog one special post on Friday.

I’m leaving here on Friday, and I’ll try to get it done. Otherwise, no wifi and no cell service until Sunday. You guys might have to reblog it for me. I have faith in you.

On the other hand, I get to use my four wheel drive and wear one of my cowboy hats for a weekend. I’ll pick up the slack when I get home, then I’m gone the following weekend too. Old What’s Her Face* and I are going off by ourselves for a few days.

The idea is, I’ll post, but not at my usual pace. I’m sure my stats will reflect this, but it will all recover.

* Not my wife’s real name