Paleo Gathering Wrap Up

Yesterday was our monthly Paleoplanet gathering. In spite of it being a beautiful day, we had a slow turn-out. But one guy wanted to come so bad he rode his bike an hour and a half to get there.  Then he wanted my help making a basket for a Boy Scout Badge. Then he worked on some leather work kerchief holders.

I worked on my 2nd beaded feather earring.  But mostly I played with Jack, who is almost a year old. His mom was happy to share him with me.  It is one week until his birthday.

Aimee was there with her sketchbook. Chris was busy figuring out how to dip arrows. Tom Mahr, John Scordo, David, and Guy were also there. Sal was away in Mexico visiting with family. Derrick and Ron both dropped by but didn't stay long. And Alex came on his motorcycle. The other Alex got married two weeks ago but he was there with his son doing archery.

Jack just learned how to walk. You should see him go.

Jack had on the cutest little moccasins. I want to make some. But I never seem to get around to it.
Sorry some of you couldn't make it. Hope to see you next month.

Special Archery Meeting

Our archery group met Saturday so we could all visit with Tim Baker, one of the author's of the Bowyer's Bible Vol. 1-4. He used to be a group regular but left to pursue photography and other interests.  But he's also my frisbee buddy and before anyone got him involved in making a new longbow, he was waving his bright pink disk around wanting me to come do some throws.  How could I refuse?
But it was a hot day and I was quickly overheated, and the archers were clamoring to get his help with the tillering tree. George took my place for a bit, then we all went back to our projects. 

Anyway, I don't want to talk too much about it; mostly I want to share the photos. 

Erick scrapes his first bow.

Badger makes a bowstring with a string board.

Barbara took this photo of me weaving on my popsicle stick loom.

Tim Baker

Sal and Guy work on projects.

Barbara and Ken's son needs a nap after all the excitement.

Spear chucking Women

Some people opted out of the group photo, so this is only about 3/4 of the people that came on Sunday.

On Sat. I got to teach my friends Rick and Lynn how to use an atlatl.  Rick made up a little ditty on the spot about how he loved spear chucking women.

Then on Sunday we had our usual monthly Paleoplanet gathering in Pasadena and I got to show my friend Marianne how to use an atlatl.  And I'm getting better too.  Two days of practice in a row really helped. My fletching is coming all undone so I had to re-tie it and re-glue it with Superglue, and it still came off again.  I'm hard on feathers, that's for sure. The fletching tape failed completely.

I also shot my bow and arrows and did pretty good until my arms started to get tired. Then I couldn't aim anymore and gave it up for the day.  We had a great turn-out even though it was Father's Day. I got to see Derrick and his new baby, and Ken and Barbara were there with baby Jack. Lots of people were there that I didn't know.  Mike was there with a woman spinner. My friend Tessa just got back from England so her and her mom came to work on bows.

Guy finished his bow and got to shoot it for the first time. Now comes the fun part of decorating it, adding a handle and putting on a finish.

We had people spinning, knitting, bowmaking, woodworking, log splitting, and spear chucking all day.
Happy times.

Derrick with a longbow

Ayana and son.

Mario's tiny arrows

What a great way to celebrate Father's Day

One of Mario's sons shows off his shell necklace.

Mike works on spinning

Our two archery babies

Guy shoots his new bow for the first time

Two spinners

Marianne tries the atlatl

Spear Chick

Lynn gives the atlatl a try

You never know when you might have to protect yourself from a wooly mammoth

Archery Meeting Got Moved

Ashton took this photo of my paleo juggling of rocks.

Making a leather quiver.

John working on a challenging bow.

Mario's boys found lots to keep them busy.

Sal and John figure out what to do next.

Sal working on a bow.

George trying to make a bow from a broom handle.

Archer

Time to go home

Barbara's son just waking up.

Guy working on his bow.

Saturday we went to the Paleoplanet gathering in Pasadena. It wasn't our usual day. We got bumped last Sunday because of the Pasadena marathon.  Being on a different day we had different issues to contend with, like no parking. And there was an archery class going on on the target we usually use.  But it didn't slow us down much.  Even with a slow turn-out we still made bows.  Mario brought his two boys, and they were a lot of fun.  Mario showed off the leather bow sock that Iliana had made him. And he had an awesome netted bag that he'd made from cordage. He had put together a beautiful longbow with bone nocks.

Several people were scraping bows from osage and hickory and other woods.
I made 3 crocheted washcloths for Mario's family.  I did some rock juggling.  I visited with Aimee even though she was under the weather and sitting a safe distance from everyone. Baby Jack brought his parents. They got there late after swinging by the leather store to pick up leather for some bowyers.

Jim from the roving archers asked us all to write letters to the city and make sure that when the archery contract comes up for renewal they know we don't want to lose our range. Neighbors overlooking the range have bitterly complained for years that we are mucking up their backyard Arroyo Seco. I already wrote the rough draft of my letter.  Just waiting for him to let us know where to send letters to before I type it up.

Next weekend is the open house art walk at Chris' place called PaleoArts down by San Diego. I'm looking forward to going to that.

Upcoming Chamberlain Ranch Shoot

Tom Mills working on Guy's bow at the last Paleoplanet gathering.

Guy is getting ready for the Chamberlain Ranch Shoot, which means he's out on the patio too melting beeswax for archery. It keeps the bowstring supple and extends the life of it. He pours it into little containers and sells it in the archery booth.  It's $1.00 for a one ounce container, which lasts a long time.
He's making stock arrows to sell at the event, but if you want to make sure he has the kind you need, it's better to order them in advance, that way you get to pick the colors of the cresting and feathers.
Unfortunately I won't be going this year. I'm staying home to take care of the cat that has colon issues and needs medicine twice a day.

You can see the beeswax in the basket.

Wallop

Chilly Day But We Worked on Bows Anyway

I really enjoyed our Paleoplanet gathering last Sunday. Baby Jack and Baby Quincy both brought their moms and dads. Quincy's mom brought red velvet cupcakes.

I got some help with my whittling from Tom Mahr. He said I could keep the book to finish my rooster that I'm carving out of a branch. He set me up with all the tools I need.  Very generous of him.
Tom Mills came by for a little while, though he was pretty tired from his trip to Florida. Lots of new people dropped by to work on bows and ask questions. Here are some of the photos I took.

I ran into some of my SCA friends as well. They had a practice on the other range. We have a tourney on Sunday but with a 60% chance of rain forecast it may get postponed or canceled. We have arrows to deliver at that event so I hope the weather clears up.

Pasadena Archery is Today!

Since our monthly gathering got rained out last Sunday, we are meeting today. It did pour last night, so it's going to be muddy.  Tom Mills says the sun is out and come on down. So as soon as I eat some oatmeal and pack up my arrows, we'll be heading to the range. It's likely to be a slow turn-out being the day after Christmas and all, but we don't need a big group, just an enthusiastic one.  See you out there.

Rained Out in Pasadena CA

If you live in S. CA you'll know it's been raining raccoons and hedgehogs. So no archery meeting for us today.  But 2 of our archery friends are coming over tomorrow I think. That is if they don't need to come in a kayak.  The weather says even more rain is heading right for us.

The meeting is postponed until next Sunday as far as I know, but I doubt many will come the day after Christmas. They may have family obligations.

Our Next Gathering is This Sunday 12/19/2010

It's not only our next gathering, it's our last gathering this year. So come wring the last ounce of goodness out of 2010 by learning to make a wooden bow or arrows with us out at the Pasadena Arroyo.

And if you can't make it out there, here's a post on using epoxy to glue on your own arrow tips so you can make new arrows, or fix broken tips. Greenman Archery: Gluing Arrow Tips with Epoxy. 
Unless you are one of those perfect archers that never breaks off a tip.

How to Add Arrow Points With Epoxy by Guy Taylor

Useful for making wood arrows and fixing wood arrows. You might want to follow his youtube stream.

Santiago Archery Range

Guy and I made it out to the range in Santa Ana (Santiago) to shoot some arrows. Only I was shooting arrows and he was schmoozing. Then it got dark. He never got to shoot a single arrow. There were about a dozen people there. One guy named Frank was a great storyteller. Too great maybe because I'm still spooked out about the supposedly true story of a man in the country who would skin tourists and make tools out of their bones, and another story about an assassin whose weapon of choice was a knitting needle. Shudders. Glad it wasn't dark and we weren't camping.

That target they have is rather odd.  One archer said it's made out of old carpeting and then painted.  If I hit the target near the center, my arrows would just bounce off.  Maybe that's why the other people were shooting at balloons.


I just found this article about the park. http://newsantaana.com/2010/02/15/2032/. The author doesn't say much about the archery range but it's obvious he wants to change the park so it's more suited to families. So if you are so inclined he lists information for any of you archers to speak up and say you don't want the archery range mucked with. And archery is a family sport even if the author, who is apparently Latino, sees no use for it. He makes one comment about the Lawn Bowling only being used by elderly white people. The comments are priceless.