Philadelphia Leatherwomen Bar Night - July 2013

Some of the Leatherwomen in The Pit at the Bike Stop.

July 19:  The second bar night at the Bike Stop for Leatherwomen was an awesome time.  54 women showed up and I got to indulge in my love of leather by working on the leather of several of those women while we partied in The Pit.  The generosity of the women included a donation to my charity, Bikers Against Child Abuse, as well as the bartenders donating their own tips to my travel fund.  I love being a Leatherwoman and being the beneficiary of such open hearts.  My love to you ALL!

Mid-Atlantic Women's Motorcyle Rally

Rocking some sexy hose as a newbie at MAWMR

Temporary tattoo by a facepainter at MAWMR

June 21-23, 2013 - Sir and I drove up to Gettysburg PA for the Mid-Atlantic Women's Motorcycle Rally (MAWMR), which has been held yearly as a fundraiser for local charities involved in breast cancer support.  This year was the first year that Tracey Black, Mid-Atlantic Bootblack 1999, asked another bootblack to help her out with working the event and raising funds.  I asked if it would be okay for me to raise funds for B.A.C.A., as well as the other charities, and she was okay with that.  We ended up raising $419 for HOPE and PinkOut and $145 for B.A.C.A.  The entire weekend resulted in the event raising over $37,000 for breast cancer support, while having a lot of fun.

Tracy and me, ready for Friday dinner

Parade of Lighted Bikes Friday Night.

Many of the bikers included stuffed animals as riders!

It was awesome to be amongst approximately 200 women and their bikes.  I even got to ride as "bitch on back" for the Parade of Chrome.  I brought a pair of black boxers I had snagged from Derrick at the Triple L and wore them with my new leather chaps and a tank top.  We rode about 10 miles and it felt so wonderful to be riding a motorcycle again.  I have missed riding with Sir Tatsujin Paris on his bike.

Trip and I before the Parade of Chrome

I loved being on Trip's bike!

Spike, a very butch veteran, was fun to flirt with and she liked my work on her New Rock boots that she came back with the other two pairs of boots to have me work on them as well.  I also worked on some purple Ariat cowboy boots, which was my first time working on this brand of boot.  I had some Meltonian shoe cream that matched the color exactly!  Then there were the flame boots that needed a lot of love and a bit of repair.  The owner was not ready to give them up.

Final result on the flame boots.

Cbecking the damage

Conditioning the boots

Cleaning some pretty brown cowboy boots.

Cleaning one pair of Spike's New Rock boots

Spike's boots match her name!

May 17--19, 2013

Last week was, once again, an interesting week medically in our household.  This time it was my foster mother, who has lived with us for the last 10 years and is in her 80s, that had medical issues including acute renal failure.  I was not sure if she would be hospitalized and had to worry about cancelling the plans I had to travel during the weekend.  Eventually, she began to eat and drink again and a trip to the hospital was averted.

Friday, May 17th, was supposed to be my opportunity to present a leather care class to a combination of kinky and vanilla folk through the Touch of Flavor festival.  However, the manager of the venue in Baltimore MD decided that they were not comfortable with the fact that the classes being taught were edgy and sexy and breached the contract entered into by the prior management company with Touch of Flavor producers.  While the case is before the Circuit Court of Baltimore City, the preliminary injunction trying to enforce the contract terms was denied and the producers will fight on for the right to have the festival sometime in the future.  I am certain the breach of contract will result in punishment legally of the management company but it saddens me to see the mainstream folks still trying to step on the civil liberties of those who are not like them.  *sighs*

Saturday, May 18th, Sir drove me to Camp Ramblewood in Darlington, Maryland for NDDS BootCamp V.  I presented a class on leather care, as well as working the cigar social.  We also had the opportunity to sit in on a class on inverted suspensions and came away with some interesting ideas.  I loved the campgrounds, which are amazingly huge, and we took advantage of the time between my class and the cigar social to play in the open dungeon.  I was excited by the thought of a place where a person can play at any time that the dungeon's doors are open and the lights on (as long as there are no classes going on).  Such FUN!  The people attending my class were very interested and asked many questions.  The class was only supposed to be for 90 minutes but we went on for two hours and some of the attendees came to the cigar social to continue with their questions.  I spoke about my charity, B.A.C.A., to those who attended the class and there was talk from some Delaware residents about setting up a chapter in that State since there is no chapter of B.A.C.A. in Delaware.  All agreed that it was a worthy charity and that it was too bad more people did not know of its existence.   YAY for bootblack love!

Sunday, May 19th, I was supposed to go to Asbury Park, New Jersey to help raise funds for Mr. New Jersey Leather 2013 in his send off for IML.  Unfortunately, I was too tired from the cigar social and Sir had to work the day shift anyway.  I hope that the New Jersey Leather community will forgive my inability to help out with this fundraiser.  I will be there for other events, including New Jersey Pride.

Sinner Sunday - Kinky Karnival

May 5, 2013 at the Paradise in Asbury Park NJ - Cinco de Mayo was never so much fun!  I helped to raise funds for the NJ Pride Festival, as well as a bit for B.A.C.A. on the side.  The Karnival was such fun, with the Wheel of Pain (spin for some fun impact play), as well as a web and a St. Andrews Cross for flogging scenes.  The Leather community was well-represented with clubs from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland in attendance, all having a blast while getting their kink on.

Working on Sir's python skin cowboy boots.

A happy Leatherman after I worked on his kilt that was once Spanky's

Working a high shine!

The charity I will raise funds for during my title year.

I have thought long and hard about what charity I should devote the funds I raise during my title year.  There are so many charities out there but I found one that touches my soul deeply and that needs help more than most - Bikers Against Child Abuse (B.A.C.A.) .  As it says on their website, they are bikers first but their goal is to break the chains of abuse and fear for the children who are assigned to their care as protectors. If you want to check out the website, it is www.bacaworld.org  These bikers do amazing work and it is all voluntary (and sometimes paid for by them!) to make sure that children who have been abused are no longer afraid of their abusers.  An in-depth article about what the Arizona chapter is doing can be found at http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/2012/07/13/20120713bikers-against-child-abuse-make-abuse-victims-feel-safe.html?nclick_check=1   If you can read this article without tears, you have a small heart.  I personally used up an entire box of tissues while reading it.  I hope that everyone who comes to a fundraiser I hold will open their hearts and their wallets for B.A.C.A.  They need financial help to continue to do what they do.  Since it is a Section 501(c)(3) organization, any donation is tax deductible.