Throughout history, a material that has proven its durability and functionality time and again is leather. Once used, along with wood, to form the base of ancient technologies, it can still be found today in machines, in people’s homes, and in their clothing. The leather industry is one that has been around for a very long time, and one that shows no sign of disappearing.

“Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself” - that was Thomas Jefferson’s way of saying be resourceful; and the 3rd president of the Unite States epitomized resourcefulness. In addition to being an astute politician, Jefferson was an architect, author, horticulturist, inventor, paleontologist and founder of the University of Virginia. When President Kennedy welcomed a group of Nobel Prize winners to the White House, he described them as the most extraordinary group of talent ever gathered there - with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson was there alone.

When we lived on the East Coast, my husband found out charity didn’t begin next-door. That’s where having a half acre of land inspired him to become a beekeeper. He had a hive, protective clothing and a smoker - but we never had honey. A neighbor sued my husband for creating “a nuisance caused by unleashed pets”. The neighbor wasn’t sweet on the idea of bees.