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Natterings of a Nasal Barbarian

Great remembrances of Pewter’s glory days! What a great companion. I hope it’s a painless process for him.
 
Clint64 said:
That is a very loving picture. It really shows how much the pups care for the cat. Pewter does sound like the perfect cat. Many times they are just confirmed loners. It is much nicer when they like the companionship and return the love given. Take care today.
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Thanks, Clint! Pewter passed quietly and gently in his sleep. I buried him in the animal companions cemetery at the back of my property. I never liked cats until Pewter came along and taught me their way in the world. He was a marvelous companion and friend to all of us in the house. He passed in my arms after grooming my arm hair. I think it was his way of saying good bye!
 
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SOTD WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 15, 2021

After yesterday’s fabulous shave with the new-to-me Bartmann, there was no way I could settle for less than an exemplary shave. Time to pull out the tried and true big guns! Victor Creazzi builds great razors. I own two of his fancies. My first purchase was this razor, “Bone Mosaic”. At 7/8, like most of Victor’s razors, it’s right smack dab in my sweet spot.

Despite today’s trend towards meat cleaver/shave hatchet style razors, they’re not for me. My son owns several of the latter, from well-known and respected makers. I’ve shaved with a 10/8 and a 12/8 and don’t like their mass or heft and feel in hand. Keeping my neck smooth is one of the priorities for my mug shaves. And while I can do it with these behemoths, I don’t enjoy it!

Bone Mosaic checks all the boxes and then some for me. It’s nimble in hand, thanks to its heft and balance in hand, qualities that are inherent to every razor Vic builds. But even more importantly to me, Bone Mosaic is one purty lady with a buttery smooth edge! And boy does she ever clean the decks. Two and a half passes put the baby to bed, leaving my mug porcelain smooth.

Matt Pisarcik is truly a standup guy, as many are now learning in light of a certain plating fiasco where he stepped in and cleaned up a more disorganized and less experienced vendor’s mess. I met Matt and his lovely wife at a Shave Collectibles Meeting back in October of 2019 outside Cincinnati. Matt is a very knowledgeable and serious Gillette collector.

So much so in fact Proctor and Gamble, Gillette’s current owners, had engaged him as a consultant to help them straighten out their collection. He spoke about the experience at the meeting and gave a great talk and presentation on Gillette history. Shortly thereafter I purchased his first new safety razor design, the Rex Adjustable (RA). After it arrived, there were issues, and Matt, being Matt made good on his guarantee and fixed everything on his dime.

The Rex Adjustable owes its design to both the Gibbs and Gillette adjustables he had been repairing for years. There are now two other models in the Rex stable, and while I’ve not shaved with them, do know they reflect a level of safety razor design expertise gained from over a decade of hands-on safety razor repair expertise. My noggin shave with my RA this morning was the usual superb two ATG passes that completed the morning’s shave regimen and left me velveteen smooth from shoulders to noggin.

RAZOR: Victor Creazzi’s “Bone Mosaic” 7/8 (Mug), Rex Adjustable (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE LE #007 Knurled Aluminum Handle Hybrid Knot
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Fine Accoutrements’s Platinum AS Splash.
 
jgreenepa said:
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SOTD TUESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 14, 2021

I apologize for missing yesterday's shave, but my 18 yr old cat, Pewter, has been slowly fading away. He stopped eating about four days ago, and stopped drinking yesterday. I never really cared much for cats. They were my wife’s thing. We have three cats, all rescues, and two dachshunds. When my current wife and I married 5 years ago, my two dogs slowly adjusted to the three cats, with Pewter emerging as the alpha of the menagerie.

Pewter at his best was a 20-25 lb tom who felt it was his job to maintain order in the menagerie. He’s down to less than 8 lbs and is all bones. He doesn’t appear to be in pain, but does like to lay on my lap, and my youngest doxie and the rest of the menagerie have been keeping him company as he fades away. I caught my youngest doxie, Gromit, grooming Pewter as he lay on the couch yesterday. It’s always sad to say good-bye to a dear animal friend. And Pewter has certainly been that, as he slowly and patiently taught me the way of cats over the last 5 years of his life.

He was our gentle feline giant, whom my stepson named as feline super hero. Three years ago, our female cat, Cassie, was attacked by a fox in our fenced in backyard. As I opened the back door a grey streak shot by my legs, vaulted off our deck and tore into the fox about 20 feet away, freeing Cassie, and chasing it out of our yard until it vaulted over our fence and literally limped away. Pewter required sutures, but otherwise, our feline sheriff came away ok. Thanks to Pewter, I’ve grown closer to our other two cats. I suspect today is his last day.

I’ve always admired Bartmann razors from afar, but most of the ones in the condition I like were priced into the stratosphere, well above some of the nicest Filly’s. According to the information I’ve been able to obtain, Bartmann razors are a relatively new brand, in production in Solingen, Germany between 1948 and 1998 when production ceased. For whatever reason, pricing has come down recently, and I was able to obtain this immaculate Bartmann 86 11/16 for an excellent price by making an offer after watching it for several weeks on the big auction site.

It arrived yesterday. Like my Filly, this razor was flat as a pancake. It possessed a gold washed tang and spine along with an existing bevel that was quite dull and required a touch up. The 9 Ball slate with a final burnish on the jasper and finish on the constroption led to a successful styrofoam test and an absolutely magnificent mug shave. Two and a half passes put the baby to bed leaving yours truly glassine smooth.

And yes, I shaved my dome again with my new-to-me Durham Duplex safety razor. I truly believe that this safety razor’s design makes it quite difficult to nick oneself. Despite having the largest head length of any of my vintage safety razors, this well-balanced little 1911 beauty still remembered how to do her job. The UK Ever Ready Trimmer blades are quite sharp and easily reduced my dome stubble in two ATG passes that left me with a very smooth noggin. Practice does make perfect, as today’s shave was definitely velveteen, unlike the shave with this razor two days ago.

RAZOR: Bartmann 11/16 (Mug), Durham Duplex Safety Razor (Dome)
BLADE: Ever Ready Trimmer Blade (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a heavy scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Rooney Ebony Pure Badger
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Cremo Cooling Post Shave Balm.
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Sorry to hear about the family friend. Sometimes 9 lives isn’t enough.
 
Dang Jeff, you're the second person I know that lost an older cat this week. Sorry to learn of your loss.We have 3 rescue cats as well, all with unique personalities.
 
Graybeard57 said:
Dang Jeff, you're the second person I know that lost an older cat this week. Sorry to learn of your loss.We have 3 rescue cats as well, all with unique personalities.
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Thanks, Bruce! They do become such an important part of our lives. Every time I sat down he would be there in my lap. My little dachshund, Gromit, would sit to my right. The two of us now stare at my empty lap! We do miss him! Gromit stayed by Pewter’s side for the last two days of his life.
 
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SOTD FRIDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 17, 2021

I apologize to all my shave brothers and sisters for not posting the last two shaves, but besides losing a dear animal companion on Tuesday, I also lost a good friend’s wife to pancreatic cancer the next day. I’ve been spending the last two days with him, bringing over food and spiritus frumenti. After 7 decades we begin to lose the underpinnings (our wives) who provide the social platforms (friends and re’ships) for our lives. My good friend feels lost and adrift without his companion of 48 years. I do get it having been there myself.

Anyway, getting back to this morning’s shave. The German Import Act of 1879 put an end to the import of good Sheffield steel into Germany, and marked the rise of Solingen steel. This old 1840ish Boker & Co French Point cast steel blade always delivers a remarkable mug shave. I love the 9 Ball Slate touchup, just a few strokes followed by the constroption the night before. Two and a half passes, and I’m “smooth as a peach” to quote Hans, a Swedish shave bother. The Shake Sharp Mk 1.5 also delivered its usual two pass ATG noggin delight, leaving me velveteen smooth from shoulders to noggin.

RAZOR: H. Boker & Co. French Point 9/16 (Mug), Shake Sharp Mk1.5
BLADE: 2 Stacked Feather DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a heavy scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE LE #007 Knurled Aluminum Handle Hybrid Knot
CREAM: Nancy Boy Signature Scent
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Nancy Boy Signature Scent AS Balm
 
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