Part 3a: More Sewing, Less Blood

All I have left to sew are the sleeve together--I had to section the sleeve pieces into three parts each to fit the hides, the sleeves to the body, and the side seams together. The hardest part of any upper body pattern (for me)--the collar and collar facings--is done. After that I will put on the closures. I can't really call them "buttons" as they are (big) pieces of elk antler that I will need to drill before attaching them, and then I will have to cut strips off the hide to be the ties between the antler bits. Fortunately there are front facings down both front pieces that will hide where I sew on the closures--and where I also will add reinforcement to the hide body so it doesn't rip at the attachment points. 

Previously my goal was to have the coat done for our trip to Austin at the end of next week. But the weather is changing here and we are set to go from 30-some-degree temps every day to -18 (with a -30 windchill) by the end of this week. Dave has dithered about getting a winter coat of any kind so the best he has right now are his data.world fleece vest and his big sweater. The sweater is warm and cozy, but the wind will cut right through it and freeze him into a Davesicle. 

In preparation for the cold, I drove up to the Murdoch's Ranch and Home Supply in Columbia Falls yesterday and got a new heavy blanket for Turi. I had to get the biggest size Weatherbeeta makes--an 84--for him so I could layer it if necessary. There were none at the Murdoch's in Polson, Missoula, or Kalispell so Columbia Falls it was. Remy came along for the ride--they love him at Murdoch's. We also picked up some more coarse waxed thread from the Joanne store in Kalispell so I can be sure I have enough to finish the coat. I'm not sure they love Remy at Joanne, but they didn't have a sign on the door prohibiting his presence so I took him in with me.

Spending an hour each way to drive somewhere shopping is nothing new--for me, or probably for anyone anymore. But the difference between driving along a lake below the mountain peaks with few other cars on the road in the crisp blue and white winter for an hour, and driving in stinking, sweaty, mind-numbingly slow traffic in Austin, or Atlanta, or, or, or... Words cannot describe, and my heart sings.