Jeremiah Watt

Oh, it’s been done for awhile and I just have not had the time to get part two written. It’s a special thing for a special guy, my brother, my kids Uncle.

We gott’a have hero’s in life, and he is one of those for me. Always able, always there and always ready with advise when and if it’s asked for. That same brother who sends me his son Walker, to grace my home and saddle shop for months on end, like his father, he also is a remarkable fellow. But enough of the reasons behind going out on a limb with this project, lets talk about the reason somebody would engrave a hand plane in this first place.

It all started as somewhat of a joke on my part but has since backfired in a most resounding way. It was meant to be something akin to the “Last Spike” when the railroad crossed America and arrived on the west coast. You see my brother and his wife had a house fire some 5 years ago that done a huge amount of damage to the original house. For several months the raging debate was, do we rebuild the original, or demolish and commence anew. Well, my brother in his typical fashion decided to just do it himself…….you know, the entire rebuild from the original. And in his typical fashion said the heck with an overpaid Architect etc, he will just design it the way he and his wife would like it to be. It is often said that projects just seem to grow, soon enough they take on a life of their own. This one certainly has done all of that and more. What started as a fairly simple re-model, has grown into a house of better than twice its original size. The white limestone rock that faces the exterior was hauled from Texas, while the Long Leaf wide plank living room floor was drayed in from east Texas. The entire kitchen is done in gorgeous Mesquite, also from Texas, just stunning. The open beam ceiling done in huge Douglas Fir timbers brought in from British Columbia. Proper timber frame construction with knee joints, motise and tenons, scarf's, the entire job has been hand pegged.........not a bolt on the outfit. The ceiling of all the open beam areas was done in Hickory brought in from Tennessee. Rock was used extensively inside the house as well as outside, the floors are all done in Spanish Saltillo tile’s………and my brother done it all. Oh, yes his kids have all helped, it would be unfair to say he done it entirely himself……..but he done it. And in doing so has proved quite a few folks to be wrong yet one more time.

So this hand plane is a momento to my brother, my brother's Last Spike! The house that strated as a burned shell some five years ago, is now nearly done…………..and just in time too as it will bear witness to my brother's first and oldest daughters wedding which will be held in the house my brother Neil built!

So what is it about the hand plane that makes it different for me apart for the reason behind the engraving of it for my brother? Well, as many of you know I am not a steel engraver………no really, I find it very intimidating and painstakingly slow to execute. Thanks, but I will stick with the silver instead.

With this job I wanted to do something that would challenge me, it may be easy for you, but a challenge for me. I single pointed almost all the design, then I removed back ground and made a stipple tool to work the backgrounds down. After all that I had to re-cut most of the edges to get them to appear to be standing up like I wanted. Once I had that stage done I could go in and do the shade cuts to give it some life and expression. From there it was a simple matter of adding a little flat black paint over the surface and then wipe it with the palm to remove the excess.

For me, that was a wrap and I could then find a way to get the item to my brother up in Canada. For most of you reading this Blog, you only now get to see the final finished item. I hope you enjoy the work………and I assure you, I will never venture into the gun engraving arena.

Be well and be Blessed……….better yet, be a Blessing
Jeremiah

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 11:19 PM | Permalink

Saddle & Treemakers Conflab of 2008

According to one of the more intellectual types who attended not only last years event, but also was in attendance for this years gather. We grew by 300%. So with that, we should all be impressed, we managed to grow by exactly half of what the US debt has grown. Not too bad at all for a second year event.
We had a great time, the weather was very cow-operative, the global warming has not kicked in yet this spring in California and we were Blessed with some wonderful 80 degree sunshine. The gather started at 8am sharp, and officially got underway by 9:15 when the last of the late comers arrived. In typical cowboy fashion, we got started at 8am sharp with a pot of coffee, and drank till we thought we had them all.

A view inside the saddle tree shop at Jeremiah's

The first arrival for the morning hailed all the way from “Illinoise”, and walked in to catch Jeremiah busy in the kitchen attempting to get a scone cooked for the impending onrush of visitors. Not the best way to catch Jeremiah maybe, but the truth is the truth, and if I don’t say it………..well, it will all come out later as a dirty rumor.
Folks slowly rolled in, with our guest speakers arriving last. Guess they didn’t take the SHARP thing as being a SHARP thing. Next year we will commence at 8am BLUNT just for my Aussie friends. The coffee and scone seemed to go over pretty well , giving us all a chance to break the ice and get to know each other.
We started the day with a 10 cent tour of the shops. By the way for those who arrived to this blog late, The conflab was held at Jeremiah’s place up Warthan Canyon in central California, Coalinga is the closest small town. Anyways, we done the shop tours, all of them. I joke with folks that we have something in every “chicken coop on the place”, and they seldom believe me till they drive in the yard and see for them selves. We spent the most time, with obvious reason out in the tree shop, talking and discussing tools, makes, and those most pertinent for a small one man shop. I done my best to convince those in attendance that they would be better off in finding a good tree maker to work with and stick with saddle making. Not sure that was the right thing to say…………enough so, that I think we will be adding a day to this event next year. But we will make the details about that extra day known a little later on.

Dennis Lane in the foreground taking a reading of the horses back, while David Morris watches.

From the tree shop, we moved on out to the barn, where we had a few bales of hay set up on Jeremiah’s new stack of tree shop timber. This gave us all the sensation of being in an auditorium. And still others got that sneezing sensation from the hay.
Down too the actual matters of importance. The morning address was started off by Dennis Lane of Quirindi, NSW, Australia. Dennis and his partner, also from Australia is David Morris. Together, these fellows make up the team that invented the “Equine Back Measuring System” that we are discussing in a major way at this Conflab. Dennis talked till about 10:30, at which time he took a breath. We spent our time discussing the value and the application of the fitting cards. The value is that anyone can own the cards, use the cards to measure and for that matter re-measure their horses. All the information can then be shared with a saddle maker and of course a tree maker later on. The only hitch it seems, is that the saddle maker and tree maker need to become aware of the card fit and how it is used. The application, well that is easy if see the cards. They quite simply transmit real data as far as a 3D shape of the horses back, and those readings are taken in key places that all saddle trees touch on the horses back. It really is that simple.
Dennis and David mounted a tag team saddle tree tutorial act, until we broke for a noon meal. Their time was spent explaining to those in attendance the most important places and junctures to look for in equine conformation when using the horse fitting cards.
LUNCH, always my favorite part of any seminar. That and the NAP that follows. My wife, Colleen, as well as my daughter Nevada had made some Chili and Dutch Oven biscuits while we talked at length out in the barn. I could smell the Dutch Oven at work, and was tempted several times to quit the seminar and head in zombie fashion towards that aroma………it’s a good thing I have will power. I do believe that Colleen was the real hit of the gather……….well, maybe her biscuits. But they were appreciated that I do know.

David Morris, cofounder of the Equine Back Measureing System, takes center stage while Dennis stands back for a moment.

When the small talk subsided, and yawns broke out, it was decided we had best get back to the barn, to the discussion, and to that of saddle tree fit. David and Dennis took the floor once again, and tried to make clear all the points that they had been discussing before we broke for noon lunch. As a point of fact, it was a Socratic gathering of folks who intend to achieve a change, the Equine Back Measuring System offers us an avenue of change in that it opens the door to discussion and sharing of our horses back profiles. The two Aussie D’s. done there level best to assure us that this was not a one world government take over plot, but simply a means of talking in real 3D terms about the horses that we are asked to fit. NO tree maker has to change a thing that he is currently doing, he simply needs first become accustomed to the terms and meanings of the Equine Cards, then cross reference his current saddle tree parameters to see which horses are fit by which correlating card profiles. With that simple task done, he can converse with any saddle maker or customer in real #d terms about his/her horse and what it takes to create a fit.
The relaxed atmosphere of the gathering, gave birth too lively debate and discussion centered on the subject of cooking………..no, sorry. We discussed mostly saddle trees, and the varied means of measuring horses. Over the last few years there have been several noble attempts made to enable us to measure the horse, each falls short of fulfilling what the industry is looking for. With a thorough explanation from David & Dennis, in regards to the Equine Back Measuring System, we all came away with a better understanding and a renewed confidence that we finally had a tool in our arsenal that could be incorporated very easily.

Lunch break under the huge Oak that graces the front yard at Jeremiah's

Around 3pm, it was time for Jeremiah to close the discussions down. There were a few items to be discussed and they were left to Jeremiah to bring to the floor. Now to be sure, what I have been doing for the last 5 plus years, in the measuring of horses backs and gathering information has been good for my conformational understanding of the horse. Like the Aussies, I believe the real, or the best benefit is to come in the long term. The benefit over time is the catalog of horse information that will come from this measuring of the equine form, the many ages, breeds, and conditions that will be encountered can some day be housed in everyone’s computer to be drawn upon like a dictionary of fit. Then there is the subject of conformation and who it is that is ultimately responsible for that conformation or the lack of it. What responsibility do we tree makers have in addressing really bad conformation flaws, and can they indeed be corrected by what we do in the saddle tree. Then there is that subject called conditioning, and the role we play in the equine conditioning program, which is nil, yet it plays a huge role in both fit and function of the final saddle that we are asked to build. Jeremiah walked folks thru the process that he uses in the measuring, but readily admits that his method has flaws in that it cannot be sent to a customer and expect to get reliable information. Jeremiahs goal in measuring is to attain angles from the horses back in those areas that the saddle tree makes constant contact. I like my method says Jeremiah, but I will be the first to admit that I will be switching over to the Equine Back Measuring System, because it is so easily understood and used by my customers.

Jeremiah takes a moment to speak about the methods and the reasons behind the measuering he does.

We closed down the discussion in the barn by 5pm, and moved back to the yard and the coffee pot from which the day had started. We sat till nearly 9pm, talking, discussing and at time relegated to a lively debate on merits and methods of one system or another. In the end it was decided, that fun was had by all who took the time to attend. That those who did attend actually all left a little smarter than when they arrived. And after a thorough check of all the out buildings at 10pm, it was also decided that indeed all who attended had actually left.

Here is a group shot of those who attended the Saddle makers & Tree makers gathering for 2008. Be sure to keep an ear to the ground in order to hear the details of what is to come next year.

The following day after the Conflab, was spent in discussion. We discussed what can be and should be done with the next year gather. We already know that more horses are going to be used. We also talked about adding a day, so that more time could be spent in the actual tree shop and make some of the major areas of the saddle tree better understood, areas such as gullet width, gullet height, and just what is a square tree anyways? If you have ideas, and thoughts about this subject by all means let us know. You will notice that the ability to post a comment here has been shut down, due to all those damned rubber underwear salesmen that spam the *@#%$& out of us. So now because of them, you will have to send the email to me directly .
Hey good night, be well and be Blessed
Jeremiah

Jeremiah, caught in the act of doing what some say he does best!

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 1:08 AM | Permalink

We have confirmation on several fronts, so lets go thru them.
We have corrected the dates of this gathering, and hope you attend and enjoy the day with us.

DATE- June 5th of 2008, as the date for an official Treemaker & Saddle Fitting Day. It will be held here on the ranch. We will have both David Morris and Dennis Lane in attendance for the "Lane Card Fitting System" demonstration.

COST- we have priced this one day clinic at $65.00 per person for the day. You are welcome to bring up to 2 horses for a fitting if you would like. Keep in mind this is a ranch, not a boarding facility. So the ammenitites are just as you would expect on a ranch, and not what you would expect from a boarding facility.

LANE-FITTING CARDS in thier first test version will be available for purchase at the clinic should you be interested. I did talk to Dennis about this facet of the presentation, and he and David assured me that this would be the case..........they approximated the price of a cared pack at $50.00 but depending on several factors that could change a little. So we need to be a little flexible with this option till they get the manufacturing figured out.

WHAT WILL WE DO- The day will be spent listening to David&Dennis reason thier way thru why the card fit system will work better for all of us, no matter which end of the business spectrum you find yourself on. We will be placing the cards on my horses as demos, unless you bring your horse for us. We will also be taking photo's of the horses for cataloging efforts.........and if the horse owner is real pretty................well we will photograph her as well.

LUNCH- like I said, best you bring something, a sack lunch and a few cold drinks. It is about a 20 minute drive down the mountain into Coalinga from here, so running to town for lunch may not be the best option. We will have something going here on the ranch as well, so I doubt any of us will loose to large a percentage of gross body fat for the day.

DIRECTIONS- Here are a few directions to help you find us. The ranch is known locally as the Vandyke Ranch, that is if you get lost and are asking a local for help. The proper address is 47069 Crump Lane, HC1, Box 34 Coalinga, California. The last time I checked the Google map thing had a hard time finding us, but the ranch is situated on Highway 198, we are west of the town of Coalinga 16 miles, which is from Perko's Cafe in town to my mailbox or lane. If by chance you are coming in from my west, you will be coming on Highway 101 iether north or south, and looking for the Highway 198 off ramp. The off ramp is located about 7 miles south of KingCity. Now from that off-ramp to my house is 36 miles, I know, becasue I ride it all the time on my bike.

LOST- call the house 559-935-2172 or my wifes cell 559-355-7948

We do look forward to seeing all of you. Tell your friends, and invite them along. We are not specifying that you be a saddlemaker or tree maker, but want as many of them as we can get so we can place the idea for the cards and maybe the actual cards in your hands in order that we can have the greatest impact. ONe more thing, if you do plan on attending, please let us know ahead of time.

All the best and God Bless from, Jeremiah Watt

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 7:51 AM | Permalink

Have Crust will conquer,
this is for my friend Ed Blackwell ,a cook, a cowboy, an Engineer, but more than anything a Christian man who exudes good character. Thanks Ed for the generous portions of your Dutch Oven Cobbler back in Tennesee. I hope you enjoy.

-Called Get Even Bread-I added 1 cup Rye flour in place of 3 regular flour. I also added 1/2 cup chopped Walnuts and a 1/2 cup of Flax Seed that my Budgie wouldn't eat, then I replaced my Budgie with a Cat.

There is an old adage that says: man does not live by bread alone!

Now in my own never be humble opinion, this is totally bogus statement, and I am really close to being living proof……..someday you can ask my young friend Jordie. Jeremiah indeed loves his bread. And of all the things I really love to cook, its bread and biscuits. My bread and biscuits will cure marital troubles, and make a wife go GA-GA over an otherwise useless husband. So men pay close attention, I shall reveal here the secrets to an incredible married life.
#1- Keep your britches on and maybe if it gets warm, ya can roll up your sleeves. Remember to wear an ample Flour Sack about your “waste” to keep your Levi’s from showing any FLOUR to your roping buddies.
#2- Remember men, Bread is so simple WOMEN can make it.

Okay, we got the real serious stuff out of the way, and the wives are mad enough now to split my head with a clever……. We can get on with the actual fun of making bread and biscuits my way. Forget all those darned measuring spoons, cups and tablespoons. I am a cook looking for a firm European Crust and as few dishes to do as is possible. Success is measured by dishes to be done after wards, and true success is a BOWL and SPOON. Remember keep the bowl as small as possible, it takes a long time to lick out a large bowl.

BISCUITS FIRST,
2 Cups of Bread Flour
2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon of Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon of Sugar
¾ Teaspoon Salt
Mix the above dry ingredients together well
Then grate in an 8oz stick of almost frozen butter, use a coarse grater. Grate a little then mix it in, then grate some more and mix that in, until the 8oz stick is coarsely mixed in. Remember that we do not stand around mixing this stuff for any length of time……….there’s always the NFR, Nascar and a football game to be watched and mixing takes time.
Lastly we can add a cup of cold butter milk, none of it, then grab the rotten stuff at the back of the fridge if you happen to be a Bachelor……….still none, then add 1 tablespoon of Lemon juice to the cup of fresh milk. Allow that to stand for 15 minutes and then add to the mixture above. If you do this right the concoction will appear to be to wet and runny……..that is just perfect. Now absolutely do not listen to yer mother-in-law and her instructions about adding more flour and kneading this stuff. She would be flat wrong with this recipe. Have a hot oven, already up to 475.
Spoon the wet dough out onto a Ford 150 hubcap or a cooking sheet will work I suppose. About 1 scooping tablespoon is fine. Place them with about ¾ inch between the wet dough balls and slide in the oven to cook for approx 15 minutes till the tops are golden brown. Now with all the love in the world, set yer wife down and feed her and her mother one each of these golden crusty gems, if they get up and leave these babies……….well, be thankful I guess. She can always be replaced with a good bird-dog!

Cranberry Prostate Loaf- lets face it. Most men think prostate is that act of lying flat on your belly on the ground..........till they hit 50, then the whole world tells them about the other meaning for the same word. Well good health tells us Cranberries are good for ol'Prostate,here is a loaf loaded with the goodness to keep ya healthy. 1 full cup of dried Cranberries, and 3/4 cup of south Texas Walnuts barely chopped, and the trick is a 1/4 cup Olive oil which gives you a Artisan style Rustic loaf.

BREAD COMES NEXT-
If by chance you like that bread that sticks to the roof of your mouth, having a crust like a dish rag ………this may not be your style of bread. This is a sour dough type bread with a real hearty crust not for the denture challenged folks out there. So beware. A good sized #14 Dutch Oven is the real secret here, along with a bottle of beer.

3 Cups Bread Flour
¼ Teaspoon of Dry Active Yeast………if the born on date goes back to the sixties toss it.
1 ½ Teaspoons Table Salt
Mix these dry ingredients well……..yes, round and round, over and over that’s mixing
Now for liquids, we add ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons of room temp water
Then add ¼ cup mild flavored Lager Bear……..oops Beer
Lastly add 1 full tablespoon of white Vinegar
Mix the liquids well, and pour over the dry ingredients.
If you do it all about correct, you will have what appears to be a very loosely mixed, somewhat floured fuzzy ball of dough. It is just barely mixed, and definatly not KNEADED like a textbook dough would be.
Next step, place the mixing bowl and contents in a warm but not hot place, and just cover it so it stays warm and LEAVE IT ALONE FOR 12-18 HOURS. YES, leave it alone, no peeking, no prodding just time and the wonderful gift of atmospheric autolyzation taking place.
After the set upon time, you can roll the now risen dough ball out on a floured board and very quickly and somewhat lazily KNEAD the bread………..do not strain your self in the kneading process, just a good 12-15 strokes is all. Remember, save your strength, you may have to open another Beer later.
Place the dough ball on a sheet of cooking parchment paper so that it can be lifted and placed in into a hot dutch over before it is then placed in the VERY HOT OVEN. SO, sitting the dough on parchment, the bread is covered once again, and returned to that warm spot to rise for maybe 1.5 to 2 hours.
About 15 minutes before it is time to set the bread in an oven, turn the oven up to 500 degrees and place the Dutch oven inside so it gets darned good and hot. Then lift the loaf of risen dough by the corners of the parchment and settle it down into the very hot dutch oven. Put the lid on the Dutch Oven, and close the oven for 15 minutes. Once that 15 minutes of cooking time is over, we can turn the oven down to 375 and cook for another 18 – 20 minutes.
When this bread is cooked thru, you can lift the loaf and tap on the bottom, you should hear a deep hollow, empty sound………thud,thud,thud....very similar to the hollow sound you here when you rap on a teenagers head these days. The bread will have a dense heavy crust, with a mildly yeasty taste. The shape of the risen loaf will be rather squat with a golden brown top, the inside texture will be earthy smelling and have a open airy structure, it stores well and is good hot or cold. Combine it withe some hearty cheeses like Gruyere of Taler, Pazzosa and maybe a little Cabernet in a tin coffee cup...........this is truly cowboy " Horse de Hoofers"

It’s high time you got courageous, you’ve made a few loaves and had success. Now is the time to let the creator that has been locked inside of you all these many years, now is the time to let him loose. Try adding some nuts, maybe some dried fruit, try cutting it with Muesli, roll it in Oats, or sprinkle it with flour. Son, there’s a whole nother world inside that oven………..but only the bravest will ever see it, let alone taste it. Cooking is supposed to be fun, and recipe rules are ment to be broken.

Yes we are all tongue in cheek here, and you ladies don’t bother sending me hate mail about my chauvinistic comments, I will make it fair in due time……….I will be sure to pick on women next week……….. okay?

Rustic Raisin Bread, it will bring over a nieghbor quicker than a new bottle of Rye. Just add 1 full cup of CALIFORNIA raisins, and if you like a little sweet try a 1/3 cup of Sorghum. For those of you who are Sorghum Intolerant, you can try a 1/3 cup of Demar Brown Sugar. Cinnamon is entirely optional, so just dont add it.

I have done both of these recipes in Dutch Ovens using briquettes and/or coals from Oak. The results were the same no matter if I used coals or an inside oven. Delicious.
Bon Appetite, Good night and God Bless

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 11:59 PM | Permalink