Service with Celeste.
Welcome to my Series on Service. Please tune in weekly as I highlight a particular form of service. I will provide you with ideas and examples of how you may enjoy serving your Top and your community.

Bootblacking

Bootblacking. Some of you, I’m sure, are sitting there wondering what it is. Let me explain. We’ll start with a definition. Bootblacking is the care and maintenance of boots and leather, often done while they are in them but not always. Pretty basic I know, but really there is much more to it than that, for me at least.

Bootblacking can be traced back as far as the 5th century, but didn,t make its way to the United States until around 1767. It wasn,t really until 1867, with the onset of cowboys, that boots started to flourish in our area. There was also rejuvenation in boot-wearing in our area through the military. Everyone going through basic training will learn to shine a pair of boots. Here begins a tradition.

For those of us who are into the leather lifestyle, our elders instilled in us that our boots are the foundation of our leather walk. The condition of your boots as well as of the other boots or leather you care for reflects your dedication to the lifestyle. People who choose to black boots will pour their heart, passion, and soul into every pair.

For me, when I black boots there is a feeling of calmness. It centers me like nothing else. I can sit for hours and shine boots, feeling like only 20 minutes has passed. There is something that touches me deep within. I am caring for much more than just the leather in my hands.

Now, let’s get down to the basics. How do you shine boots? (If any of you have any questions on where to get bootblacking supplies, email me. I’ll be happy to provide you with links.)

Follow these basic steps to see your boots shine:

- Brush the boot with a small brush to get rid of dirt. Check the sole for rocks.
- Clean the boot with saddle soap and a brush
- Wipe off all the soap from the boot with a clean cotton cloth
- Next, condition the boot by applying leather conditioner to the entire boot
- Now you are ready to polish
- Take the polish and apply thin layers of it using a clean cotton cloth using small circles with your fingers covering the whole boot.
- Take a horsehair brush and buff the entire boot.
- For extra shine you can squirt the boot with water, lick the brush or lick the boot and continue buffing.
- For an even better shine, apply another layer of polish as before and buff to a shine again. This step can be done as many times as you like to produce a higher shine.
- Once you’ve applied as many layers of polish as you’d like. Do a final buff of the boot with a high denier nylon. This will bring out a fabulous final shine!

Special note -

- DO NOT put polish on leathers that you wear (i.e. pants, vests, chaps). For garments, you clean with saddle soap, apply leather conditioner and finish them off with a product like Chelsea Leather Food or a dubbin to make them even more supple. Be sure to wipe off any excess dubbin.

- Oil tans like motorcycle and engineer boots DO NOT GET POLISH! They are cleaned like high shine boots, followed by a boot grease such as Huberd’s.

While writing this article, I thought who better to interview than the current 2008 International Boot Black, Q? Here’s what she had to say:

Celeste: How did you get turned on to Bootblacking?
Q: I first encountered bootblacking at Together in Leather in 2005. The first person I saw doing it was a femme and I thought it was pretty cool. I was a JROTC cadet in high school and polished my own shoes for weekly inspections. It was a great meditative process for me then and still is now.

Celeste: What two tips would you give for people starting out blacking boots?
Q: The two tips I would give a novice bootblack would be to find the Bootblack Forum on Yahoo. There is a wealth of information in the archives there on all sorts of issues regarding boot and leather care. Chances are, if you have a question, it’s already been asked there! The second tip would be to practice, practice, and practice! Use different boots/shoes/leather and different products. See what works best in your opinion, but know what’s out there and available to you. You’d be surprised how many of your friends will gladly let you work on their boots and leather.

Hopefully I have sparked an interest in some of you and you will enjoy learning this type of service.

In Service,
Celeste

Service with Celeste ~ Let’s Talk Tea

Tea service in the kink community has become a popular way to provide service. As you can imagine, there are many different ways to provide Tea Service. It all depends on what the person you are serving would enjoy. (Isn’t that what service is all about? Smiles.)

Let’s start with how to brew the tea, and we will go from there…

Some Tea Basics:

The definition of tea is an infusion made by steeping processed leaves, buds, or twigs of the tea bush, Camellia sinensis, in hot water for several minutes.

There are four types of tea: the black tea, green tea, oolong tea, and white tea. There are also various tea blends that you may prefer over others.

The first step in preparing the tea is to boil the water. Almost all tea requires bringing the water to a boil. The next step is heating the teapot you wish to use. The best way to do this is by pouring a small amount of hot water into your teapot and moving the water around the pot, heating it up, then drain.

It’s now time to add the tea. To do so, place the measured tea into the infuser or teapot and the tea is then ready to be steeped.

To steep tea, simply pour the heated water onto the tea and let it sit. How long you brew the tea for depends on what you are serving and the amount. A good general rule to follow is the smaller the leaf size, the shorter the brewing time. Typically you brew jasmines, whites, and greens for 2 –3 minutes. Fine particle teas require 3-4 minutes. Whole leaf teas brew in about 4-5 minutes. Long leaf teas, such as Oolong, take the longest to brew at about 5-6 minutes.

Depending on whom you’re serving and when you are serving your tea, you may want to serve your tea with milk or lemon. Another thing to consider is to include scones, finger sandwiches, or shortbread when you serve your tea.

Let’s talk Types of Tea Services.

There are several different kinds of tea service. The English Afternoon tea service, the Chinese Gung Fu tea service, the Japanese Tea Ceremony, Formal Teas, and little girl Tea Parties are just a few.

Afternoon Tea is often mistakenly presumed to be a tea ceremony reserved for the elite class of society. It is this and other misconceptions about tea that sometimes shy the inexperienced person away from this type of service. It is okay to make this one your own.

These tea services are all beautiful to witness but not something you typically use in your day-to-day life.

For me personally, it is a service I can provide that brings pleasure to my Sir. In this day and time people are putting their own spin on the traditions of the past. This is very exciting. It really allows you to make put more of yourself into the service by adding your own special touch.

Another reason to enjoy tea service is if you enjoy establishing protocols and rituals within your relationship. This is a great foundation upon which to build.

I prefer to fashion my tea service to meet my Sir’s needs. What Dominant wouldn’t like for you to use your imagination and mix some D/s into your tea service. Here are a few ideas:

- Serve your tea while wearing only an apron and stilettos, umm (cough) while pleasing your Dominant as he sips his tea.

- Create a personal ritual. Purchase a special cup and saucer and perhaps a tray that you use just with him.

- Kneel in front of your Dominant and prepare his tea at his feet.

These are just a few ways in which to add a D/s tone to your tea service.

Now that I have hopefully given you a few ideas on tea service, I hope you will take a moment and experience this for yourself.

Next week I will be highlighting the wonderful world of Bootblacking, a personal favorite of mine.

In Service,
Celeste

Service with Celeste ~ The Basics

You often hear in the leather community the word “Service” thrown around. Submissives (slaves, bois, girls, cats, etc.) often enjoy providing the Top (Dominant, Sir, Daddy, Master, etc.) with various forms of service in hopes that it will please the Top and make their life, even for a brief moment, that much easier. Service essentially is a desire to make someone happy.

The great thing about service is that anyone can do it. You don’t need lots of money or a big fancy education. You just need passion and willingness.

Some feel called to service as some are called to particular religious order. It truly feeds the submissive to be able to provide service for their Top. Some Tops do not want service from their submissive. It is a good idea to talk about this in the beginning of the relationship. There is no worse feeling than to give service to someone who doesn’t want it.

There are many, many ways in which you can serve a person or the leather community as a whole. When service comes to mind, most think service it’s just about bootblacking, sexual service, providing someone tea, and cleaning house. While these are great examples of service I enjoy providing, there are also many other ways in which to serve. After all, we aren’t in the 1950s anymore. Travel planning, utilizing your web skills, party planning, using your skills as a mechanic, etc. are all areas that are taking an important role in service.

Now you would think all Tops would of course enjoy this type of service but that is not always the case. That is why it is important to find out what makes your Top happy and what needs your community may have; that way you can gear your skills and knowledge in the direction it needs to go.

I look forward to next week when I will talk about Tea Service and all that can entail. For those of you who think tea service isn’t for you, perhaps this may change your mind… Tea Service can be your submissive on her knees wearing vintage lingerie and stilettos, pleasing you at your feet while the tea is brewing. Now that I have everyone’s attention I’ll leave you with this thought… What is service to you?

In Service,
Celeste