Woody is busy

The last post I ended with the question “Why is Woody so busy?” so better answer the question. After the Huntfest ended he had a lot of catching up to do around the park, is working on some leather projects one being a knife sheath for our daughter Deb, she left the knife here while visiting earlier and is waiting patiently for Woody to complete a new sheath and another knife sheath which was ordered via email from a person who saw his work at the Huntfest.

Deb's knife sheath.




















Old sheathe with knife and accessories

















Front view, old and new.













Back view, note the pockets for the accessories.

I think the finished product is awesome!

Storm

Couple of weeks ago we had a horrendous thunder storm with strong winds, some hail, heavy rain, loud claps of thunder, and a gorgeous display of lightening, the park had water laying in every low spot and took a couple of days to dissipate. Besides knocking our internet dish off kilter, the park was without power for 4 hours, we were happy we had a generator and felt bad for all the folks in tents, it was the worst storm we have witnessed at the park. The campers in RV's that did not have generators at least had their 12 volt lights, water, etc. There is a hand pump that campers can use if they require water during power outages as our main water system requires power to run the pump as in all rural water system applications. No damage occurred at the park other than some trees falling in the bush and on the hiking trails and all campers were safe. During the next few days the weather was unsettled, with rain showers and because the dish is sensitive to the weather I did not think much of it when I was unable to download email at times, or while trying to access some websites they would time out before successfully loading, this is normal as our signal is not good here at the park, we are on the cusp of the satellite footprint. I decided after a few days that something was not right as I was experiencing these issues on clear days. I restarted the modem as this is always the first thing to try when issues arise with our setup, seemed to help some, but then the next day while trying to download email I watched the modem transmit lights, they were completely blanking out, not normal! Okay dish must be out of whack, we will have to retune. I was also wondering if the trees were causing grief as we had to mount our TV dish higher to get a decent signal earlier this summer due to tree interference. Woody had noticed also that he was having trouble downloading email, etc., and said he could raise the dish about 6 inches and retune it, well it took awhile before he had the time to accomplish the task, in fact we finally got it tuned properly today after trying a couple of days ago but got interrupted before we really had it tuned properly. Why is Woody so busy? Well you will see in another post! EH

Awesome Weekend

The Huntfest was a success, not just for Wild TV but also for Woody, he received awesome feedback, promising contacts and generally the whole experience was grand. There were some other leather smiths at the Huntfest, one was a saddle maker, and a couple of others with various items, he received very positive feedback from them and receiving positive comments from others in the business is awesome, means a little more than wife and friends telling him he does a great job. He was totally worn out after the three days but very, very happy and excited.

Woody's table at the Huntfest, left you can see 2 of his trophies from Africa. The hides and skull mounts attracted attention plus decorated the table nicely.

Woody did not have many items to display, most items he has created are already in the hands of the person he created it for most were his own items.

Above and right are pictures of the booth beside Woody, these folks had no problem looking after his table when he needed to leave his table.

He hopes to have a table here again next year as well as one at the Cowboy Gathering in Stony Plain and will create some show pieces to display!

Opportunity knocks!

Today is a beautiful day, sunny, warm and a special day it would have been my parents 70th Anniversary, I remember my parents daily, they were both such good people and on this day I remember all the celebrations and special times we were lucky enough to enjoy together.
This weekend Woody is at the Huntfest in Edmonton, a very large trade show sponsored by Wild TV and other companies, (e.g. Cabela’s Canada, Toyota, Alberta Outdoorsmen, Western Sportsmen Magazine to name a few) for hunters, fishers, archers, ATV enthusiasts etc. This show is the biggest one in Canada with shows in Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Edmonton. Check out http//:www.huntfest.ca for more information, there is so much going on at the show with speakers from some popular hunting shows, target areas set up for archers, an ATV track, and more! Woody is displaying his leather crafts at the show and is receiving very positive comments regarding the leather projects on display which does not surprise me at all; his work is unique and very well done. The great thing is the feedback gives him confirmation that it is not just me, his friends, etc., think his work is good but total strangers are impressed, too cool! I created a DVD (which he will run on his computer) of all the items he has created as he only does custom orders so did not have stock items to display, most were his personal items except for a couple that he has yet to deliver, I also created business cards and order forms using the logo we created, he choose the name, I created the logo with the computer, printed it out then he tooled the letters onto leather, it turned out awesome. Woody took pictures of the logo then it was easy to transfer and size for the business card and order form. I love doing that kind of work and Woody loves doing the leather, so together I think we make a good team. Woody took his hides and skull mounts from Africa to decorate his table and create interest. Lucky for me the park is not full this weekend, one group here for a birthday party and Woody made sure everything was set up for them. He had to be there early yesterday, left at 7:00 AM to get set up, returned around 7:30 pm, long day but he was pleased and excited to be part of the show and had some time to talk to other exhibitors, even a couple of outfitters there from Africa who were impressed with his trophies from Africa. Today he left at 9:00 and will return about the same time as last night; tomorrow the show closes at 5:00 pm so will be home a little earlier. Huntfest is a great opportunity for Woody to gain some exposure and feedback for his knife and leather crafts, maybe even some orders, which would be a huge bonus eh. All in all it has been an exciting time for both of us!