Updates and greenhorn Backpacking

Well hello blog followers,I have been busy (No,not idle) and am able to now upload pictures (Yay) so I have worked a lot on the mask (all I have to do is get a strap on it and more breathing holes/openings/etc) and the bike is good now.Also,as some of you may or may not know another one of my favorite outdoors hobbies is hiking..well backpacking actually.In Florida I used to go on a lot of day hikes and when I was 14 I saw a 2 (maybe it was 4) hour documentary about backpacking the Appalachian Trail and I knew that someday I was going to hike it.Yeah,yeah,yeah,almost everybody from this Nation has heard of or known someone who said they will and then call it quits (theres a reason why only about 1-in-4 people who start it as a through hike finish it) but they usually don't have a) the will-power or b) the training,stamina,etc (please note that b) is completely optional if you have lots of a)..It has happened).With me I won't be able to realize my dream until I retire or take a summer off but if I retire early I won't need to take a summer off (It's amazing how living on less than you make frees up all that money that you could,say,put to retirement with dignity).Another reason why I can't take the summer off is because thats when I'd be working at my Greenhouse/Nursery.

So I've finally started training just for backpacking period yesterday and took out my external frame Cabela's for the first time with 50lbs of chickfeed in it and over a 1/2 gallon of water...Bad Idea!From now one I will follow what every dag-nabbit book/website/person says and not do that! Ooh I still ache all over,it was fun but it was hell (then again I didn't learn how to put a backpack on correctly till AFTER I had hiked 9.2 miles in four hours(please note that that is including breaks and searching for a geocache at the halfway point)).When I placed the pack on correctly then I realized how wrong I had put it on..lol.Anyhoo,so my hip-bones are chaffed and I also learned why most hikers try to keep it under 40lbs.Another good thing is that I found that cache.

My External frame Cebala's I bought for $20 at a garage sale last September.Whenever I can find it online again I'll post the site here.

As promised

Alright,here are some pictures of the bike from a few days ago.As an update I have taken off the back tire and rim as well and am going to be getting a new lining for that tire as well.After those are on and the wheels put back together then it'll be rideable.Definitely going to replace the chain soon though.

 This picture is while holding the camera upside down.

1,000 views and a new old bike

Well I finally got lenses for my mask but I need more hot-glue to mount it,I signed up for classes at GRCC on Tuesday,we lost our phone line and modem in a lightning storm,worked in my garden,couldn't log into Blogger,and also got a "new" bike.My new bike is a Schwinn Collegiate III model Sturmey Archer AW 3-speed multi-speed-hub bike that I found at my grandparents place.Its a nice bike and has great SteamPunk potential.It actually doesn't need a lot of work for being so old.The reason I know it's so old is because it turns out it used to be my Mum's when she was a teen on through college.I've been working on it (adjusting cables,derusting what needs to be,oiling what needs it,etc..) and so far my only item on the shopping list that is "needed" to actually ride the bugger is a new wheel spoke lining for the front wheel (I probably will need one for the back one too but I haven't taken that wheel off).The tube was good,the tires are good so far too (they're the second set that the bike has ever had..Its from the early 80's by the way).The "hub" might need some new parts but I haven't cracked it open just yet and I plan on getting a new chain (sure it works but its way old).The paint on it is in good quality too (it's blue).

    Also,the blog finally hit the 1,000 view marker so i'm thrilled about that.Anyhoo,whenever the other computer works I'll upload some pictures of the bike.

Masks

Well as some(or most in this case) of you may or may not (definitely the latter) know is that I love hats and masks(masquerade style and the like) and what I love even more is making them.I have made quite a few masks and hats (and mock helmets) and I decided to embark on the making of one for my SteamPunk Costume Contest Entry at Origins Game Fair this year and it so happens to be a Plague Doctor Mask.Ok,lets fill in some back story here(and history),I saw this mask for the first time in the 2009-2010 winter playing Assassin's Creed II (the doctors wear them) and I was recently reading up on the mask and found out that during the 13th century (Bubonic or Black) Plague Doctors were hired to treat people afflicted with said virus.The mask's "beak" or nose contained a very crude breathing filter that was thought to stop any air-borne viruses (unsurprisingly many doctors contracted the virus) but the mask has existed for the many centuries since then and now here we are.About the construction of the mask,I still need to coat it with paper-mache or a glue and flour mixture and then paint it.The main thing stopping that is that I need to find some red lenses to place in the eye-holes but I also need to mount them in some goggles that I can pop in from the back but I gotta get those lenses(the reason for red lenses is that was the traditional colour for Plague Doctor Masks way back in the day).Anyhoo,for my costume I plan on getting a black frock or over coat (maybe both if I can find/make them) that I'll wear over my "bloody" Sweeney Todd shirt,black vest,and black dress pants.Then I shall have a small chest of drawers rigged as a back-pack to hold all my herbs(I actually am learning about medicinal herbs and know quite a bit so it ain't all rubbish let me tell you),and will be carrying a leather hand bag that will hold all my apparatuses(Dullified hand operated circular saw blade for amputations and whatever crazy things I can come up with by then)oh,I also need to find/make a wide brimmed black hat.Anyhoo,it shall be quite interesting being a SteamPunk Field Medic/Herbalist.

My SteamPunk clothing mods

Oh you gotta love second hand stuff from relatives and thrift stores that have 50% off everything the last Tuesday of the month sales.Anyhoo,the reason I even said all that was because I got a WoolRich 100% wool shirt from the former and also a 100% cotton trousers from the latter.So here they are then

 My hand-sewn Cog Wheel embroidery

Dehydrating Mushrooms and Summer Seasonal Jobs

Well the other day I once again found myself dehydrating clearance price mushrooms (this was the third batch this month)...I'm getting quite good at it if I may say so myself,I added some pre-sliced "white button mushrooms" to that jar and some "baby bella" to their jar as well.They are tasty

 Pre-sliced tasteless tasty goodness.

Baby Bellas

Anyhoo,I also remembered that some friends of our family recommended that me and my sister need to spend a summer one year to work as a seasonal at Mackinac Island so I went and applied to a bunch of places earlier today so I'm hoping to be hired(of course if I can't get the time off for Origins then I guess I'll work next year)...I'll upload some pictures of my more recent SteamPunk clothing mods in a bit here in another post,--Nate--

More figures and Game Con volunteering

Well today in the mail I got my figures from Elven Archer and pixel97504 from off the Snaggle Tooth Games forum.I have a cavetroll now and a bunch of other "crunchible minionsies"

 What I recieved

 Evil Collection(minus Hero duplicates)

Good Collection(minus Hero duplicates)

Also,I'm volunteering this year at Origins Game Fair in Columbus,Ohio and another joy or surprise is that its also going to be Victoriana and SteamPunk themed this year and they're even having a SP costume contest(I am really considering a field medic because I have a "bloody" dress shirt from an old Sweeney Todd costume and I'm also filing down a 6" round saw blade).Anyhoo,I shall post pics of what ever costume I decide to bring in addition to my normal SP clothes.Cheers --Nate--

Edit:Here is a link to the Con's site: http://www.originsgamefair.com/