All About Pocket Knives

RalphAlsip, very cool! We see them, mostly, darting cross the road, early in the mornings. Occasionally on the game cameras. Before I retired...I would jog, before work, on Ft Sam Houston...where you would see them fairly frequently.

Jerry those are great photos. We have had a family of red foxes residing in our neighborhood. My wife was feeding a couple of cats in our barn last winter and she started noticing a red fox coming and going from a nearby brush pile. Later I watched momma fox ease up to the barn and chow down on the cat food she had put there for her feline friends. Later we began seeing some young foxes as we came and went on our narrow little dead end one lane road. They would usually sit and just watch as we drove by. I like having them around.

I mentioned this before somewhere but the most beautiful fox I ever saw was in southern Arizona. Spectacularly red, with equally impressive white cheeks. He sat and looked at me while I stood and looked at him for long minutes. Eventually we mutually decided to close our conversation and move on. Foxes are charmers.

Some new work boots--Ariats.
Comfy right from the git-go.

Steve, I bet it is safe to say that those will never be anointed with cow hockey, but they are pretty.

Thanks Floyd.
A Northeast city boy with a heart for the Old West.
I wanted subtle cowboy. Tony Lama's would have been too much here in the Jersey suburbs of Philly.

Nice looking boots, Steve. I bought a pair of Ariats for my birthday last year. I like'em just fine, and they seem to be popular down here in Texas.

I went ahead and got some square-toed ones, as they seem to be what's in style down here now. And you know me - always on the cutting edge of fashion.

Thank you Unk.
The norm for casual and outdoor wear was a pair of Cabela's hiking boots. They finally reached the point of being a bit too ratty for being seen in public. I tried these and a pair of Justin's at Tractor Supply. The Justin's felt a tad wide, so I went with the Ariat tag.

Just roasted up half a pound. I'll let it rest, then grind some up for the weekend.

Steve Warden wrote:Just roasted up half a pound. I'll let it rest, then grind some up for the weekend.

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Hey, that looks good.
Where did you get the beans and how long do you roast them and at what temperature?
Is the coffee strong?

I purchase beans from www.sweetmarias.com and www.coffeebeancorral.com

Sweet Maria's will give you all the how to and more.

I use a stovetop popcorn popper preheated to 400°, pour in 1/2 pound of beans, and roast just like popcorn. There are two stages during roasting called cracks. First crack sounds like popcorn popping. Second crack soon follows and sounds like milk on Rice Crispies. I try to catch it right between 1st and 2nd crack, that gives me a medium to medium dark roast. I find I prefer a medium roast over a dark roast. Lighter roasts have more caffeine than darker roasts. Like alcohol, caffeine burns off the longer it's subject to cooking.
From the time I get the popper out, to the time I put it away is less than half an hour.

Very interesting, Steve. Thank you. There is so much to know.

FRJ wrote:Very interesting, Steve. Thank you. There is so much to know.

Really easy. As easy as making popcorn, just as I described.
You can buy roasting machines for a few hundred dollars that take out the guess work. Most reviews I've read give those a lifespan of 2-4 years. I've been using the same $35 stovetop popper for maybe eight years? Still lots of roasting left in it.

Send me a PM if you're really interested and I can give you more info and a few tips.

Steve Warden wrote:Thanks Floyd.
A Northeast city boy with a heart for the Old West.
I wanted subtle cowboy. Tony Lama's would have been too much here in the Jersey suburbs of Philly.

Steve, you probably don’t have the selection there that you would here. I’ve worn Tony Lama steel-toe work boots for years, and mine aren’t any less “subtle” than yours. I find, at least for me anyway, Tony Lamas are much more comfortable than Ariat. Especially considering that mine are worn about 16 hours a day. I’m on my 4th pair of this style. When the soles and heels wear out I have them re-soled, until the tops are eventually too ratty to wear - you can’t wear them out though. The last pair of Ariats I bought, I ended up giving away.

These can be bought on-line from Boot Barn if you can’t find a local retailer. They’re sized the same as street shoes and are available in other styles of uppers, with and without steel toes (less expensive if you don’t need them).

Unk, I’m not yet on the cutting edge of fashion. Round toes are indeed harder to find nowadays though. And mine do occasionally encounter cow plop.

Ken

Thanks Ken. That's a good looking boot!
I'll try and keep Boot Barn in mind when I'm coming due for my next pair.

This is my definition of "over the top".

Now those would be on the conservative side Steve. I don't wear them anymore but used to have some like that.

doglegg wrote:Now those would be on the conservative side Steve. I don't wear them anymore but used to have some like that.

Location. Location. Location.
Lest you forget, I'm here just outside of Philly!!

Steve Warden wrote:This is my definition of "over the top".
Boot.jpg

Those would go well on South Street Steve.

They look fine though. I thought you were going to put a SRV snake skin boot.

Stevie Ray! Love his stuff !!

I'm not one to frequent South Street.

This is what boots are supposed to look like

I agree. Happy Independence Day.

My dress boots are Boulet (Canadian manufacturer). The black ones are model 8063. Brown is 8064.

My biggest issue in finding footwear that fits well is due to my oddball foot size/shape - Size 8, 5E width and a size C heel.

When I needed to upgrade to a new pair of dress boots back in 2006, I tried virtually every brand available in Texas at the time - Ariat, Tony Lama, Luchese, Justin, Durango, Dan Post, Nocona and others. Nothing would fit right. I was afraid I was going to have to go with custom made boots to replace my old dress boots, which were still good enough for day to day work, but for dress occasions they had been scuffed up with 10 years of use.

I was on a business trip up to Oklahoma City and while on a break, I dropped in on a western wear store up there to see if they had anything different. Since they had the same stuff as in Texas, I ran into back in the same problems as down in Texas. The manager happened to come by as the sales rep and I were lamenting the problem.

He said, "We just got our first shipment of Boulet boots in this morning. I'm told Canadian boots run narrow in the heel. Let me dig them out."

He went in back and came out with a selection of black boots, EE width, sizes 8 to 9.5. The 8 and 8.5 were too small, but the 9s slid on like they were made for me and didn't slip on my heel. After I had broken then in and worn them for a few weeks, I was really satisfied with them, so I ordered a second pair of black ones and a pair of brown. I only need one pair of browns as I don't need brown as often as black.

I was told by a foot doctor way back in the 60s that if you could afford it, never wear the same pair of shoes 2 days in a row to prevent foot fungus issues. I guess it works as I have never had any foot fungus issues. But then I never had to imitate Army infantry or Marines.

By gad, I do love boots but if I might make a slight turn in Albuqurque in the conversation. I found this amusing.

doglegg wrote:Who could match the productivity, engineering skills, and effort of such a tiny little spider? "The spider takes hold with her hands and is in kings palaces".DSCN5808.JPGDSCN5809.JPG

Found this wonderful creation in my wife's garden this morning. About 7" wide at its smallest width.