Finished out the week of smithing at the fair yesterday. It was a real slow day, actually a real slow year. Not near the traffic past the shop as in previous years. The weather wasn't unbearably hot but I noticed when I came in early today to take a walk around and check things out, not much of anything was open other than the animal barns and 4-H exhibits. Maybe evening hours are the way to go. With only a few visitors, that pretty well took the pressure off of us to do much, however. Made for a nice relaxing afternoon with a minimum of sweating.
We did get some stuff pounded out during the week. I finished my set of tongs and Craig got his blanks ready for drilling and riveting. We made a dinner bell and hanger for a customer and of course, we made a couple of "S" hooks. Knocked out a couple of dragon heads and a couple of other doo-dads as well. Pretty elementary stuff but Craig had a chance to spend a lot of time at the forge that way. He's a really good helper and a great young man. He's heading off to Purdue pretty soon to study engineering. I wish him all the best.
So I've got a year to think about what to change and what to work on next year. I'm thinking, bring my treadle hammer in and go through the tongs and get those organized. Maybe work on a bigger piece and auction it off like we did last year. There was some interest in hosting a beginning blacksmithing class, also. And last, but certainly not least, try to get people to stop asking if we shoe horses. That's a stereotype that should have run it's course a long time ago.
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