Nashville Visit: Tri-State Horseplay

People do a lot of things to pass the time on long drives. They might play the license plate game and try to get all 50 states, or maybe look for "slug bugs" (Volkswagen beetles or vans, extra points if you see a van in Doublemint Gum green, even more points if you see a "pediddle" which is one with a headlight out), and more.

Me? I play Horses Across the USA. This summer's trip to Utah was an exception due to all the car trouble we had. Still I tried, but I only got a few things - that chiming alarm was just too distracting.

But going to Nashville really isn't going across the USA - it's only three states (Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee) so I came up with a new name, Tri-State Horseplay. Maybe a bit lame, but a far better descriptor than the first iteration. (Horses Heading South & North. See what I mean?)

 The point of the game is to look for things that make me think of horses, real or model, as we drive to our destination. 

I thought it might be fun to post some of the things I found and see if you can see how it relates to the horse/model horse world. Generally speaking, I do not count horses in a pasture or a horse trailer going by, so keep that in mind as you take a look at the pictures.

Easy Connections

Not Too Hard But Don't Rush Through (that's a hint, LOL)

The "Seriously, Lynn?" Connections

I'll post my thoughts tomorrow. Stay 'tooned!

Nashville Visit: On the Road Again

Where to start? So much has been happening, so many photos to post... it may take me a while to get organized here. Labor Day weekend was very busy for us.

Along with Teacher Daughter Lisa, we headed down to Tennessee to visit Music City Cole and his family. While traveling, I made my first visit to a place so newly built, the company web site doesn't even list it yet on its map of locations!

Buc-ees! Where the Beaver Nuggets are delicious and the Beast Breakfast Burrito fills you up before you're halfway done!

We found the perfect dog sitter for Lisa's dogs and Tammo before we left. Molly does fine with family, but other people are a different story. That old terror from her pre-rescue life surfaces and she is scared and miserable while we are gone. 

Lisa's neighbor Kelly (who is also the school nurse from my school and an old friend), stepped in and all three dogs fell in love with her. Look at their happy faces!

Pepper has her own unique needs when we travel - change can trigger an Addison's Crisis. So we always leave her with Kathy's parents. (And Nacho and sometimes Tate - a guide dog reunion!) 

They are neighbors so she knows them well, but they also have a lot of experience with guide dogs and the unusual way they sometimes look at the world, even in retirement. And, Bill and Marianne know the signs of an impending Addison's Crisis and what to do if one begins, so we feel comfortable having her stay with them. (She is especially fond of Bill.)

While in Nashville, we got to tour Cole's new offices - I've never seen anything like it!

The CEO has a hobby of working on old arcade games and he sets them up for employees to play when they take breaks. 

They were scattered around the premises and are free to play.

I counted 17 as we walked through the business. (Which has nothing to do with arcade games - it's a coding company.)

I love getting to be with my family and, as always, we stayed up late playing games. (I actually won Bank one round!)

and I got to see a baby dress I'd made eight years ago - Pony Pal Kate's blessing dress.

The reason all this happened? Kate's baptism. Along with Teacher Daughter Lisa, we headed down to Nashville for her special day.

And that's just a glimpse at our busy weekend. I'll share more this coming week plus I got another Second Chance Sale BreyerFest model in the mail to share, played a good game of Horses Across the USA (or in this case, Horses While Heading South LOL), and more.

If I can, I will squeeze in another blog post later today. If not, there will be more tomorrow.

Stay 'tooned!

Today's Winter Doin's

Winter is dragging on, and it's only really been winter weather here for less than a week!

These are dangerously cold temperatures and schools all over central and western Indiana are either closed or on a two hour delay today. (And I would not be surprised if those on delay put out a second announcement that they will be closed after all.)

My horse fountain cum planter is situated over the crack of the patio where the two big slabs of concrete were poured and then joined.

The ground under one of the slabs has lifted up due to the cold weather and now my planter is leaning. That lifted edge is going to be a real tripping hazard if the ground does not settle down again, and as you might imagine, we don't want any more falls around here!

It took some work, but thanks to Hawkeye Sarah's suggestion on using the Ice Melt and hot water, I was able to get almost all of the blood off the front porch from Craig's fall.

No surprise since she is a nurse who lives in a place that gets snow like this:

Yes, that is her truck. She is on a road near Kent Park near her home in Iowa. Why is she out and about in this awful weather? 

Well, Sarah's hobby is wildlife photography and there are unique pictures of wildlife in the snow to be captured! So what if you have had two feet of snow and these extremely cold temperatures to deal with? (The model horse hobbyist in me sort of understands; the mom in me wants to tell her to forget the snowy owls, go home, and be safe!)

Meanwhile, the Tennessee branch of the family is in celebration mode.

Snow is rare in the Nashville area, but they have also been hit by this monster storm and got a few inches of the white stuff! (That's a very excited Pony Pal Susie.)

And with the cold air pushing in behind the snow,

it was announced yesterday that schools in their area would be closed until Thursday if not longer.

Meanwhile, back here in Indiana, Craig is doing better. Both eyes are now black and swollen, but he felt well enough to go to the eye doctor yesterday to get his glasses fixed. (They were badly scratched during his face plant.) Eating is still painful and the lump over his eye is very tender, but his headache is lessening and he has more energy than he did.

Life is resuming some normalcy despite the terrible cold outside, and I continue to sew and sort. 

Yesterday I finished the last of the 18th century chemises that I will be taking to Kalamazoo in March,

and I had to bring a table into my office to put all the models I am sorting out of my collection for selling or taking to swap meets. (I worked mostly on my sub-collection of Hartlands yesterday.)

Plans today are a bit in flux. Nashie and Molly will be here while Teacher Daughter Lisa is teaching. She has a doggy door in her home, but in this kind of weather she has concerns about leaving the back door open. It's just too cold.

So, we will have no privacy today,

will be asked to share anything and everything we eat,

and have more (very enthusiastic) help than we need in whatever we are doing.

But that's okay. Hibernating with dogs you love, who are great company and make you laugh, is just what Craig and I need today.

Nashville News

Still ill, still not Covid, and still grateful for that! Here is another blog entry that was in-progress and to be posted another time. 

I got a letter from Pony Pal Kate in the mail this week. I flipped it over to open and saw this little note on the back:

(I love the exclamation points turned into smiley faces!)

Smiling, I hung that blue envelope on my tree, feeling an understanding and even a kinship with a character that Jimmy Stewart had played in the 1980 short film, Mr. Krueger's Christmas.

It's a very obscure, dated, and cheesy Christmas movie made in 1980, but it has heart and makes me cry whenever I watch it. 

Her letter made me think of the scene where Mr. Krueger says, "You remind me of everything good about Christmas." (Go to 21:22 for the quote and to see what Mr. Krueger has hung on his tree.)

Kate's letter did the same for me. (Thank you, sweetie!)

I also received this picture of Pony Pal Susie with the Lego snowman she'd just made. I'd found several small holiday Lego sets at JoAnn's this fall and knowing that Cole's family always sets up a HUGE Lego Christmas village every year, I'd bought them for the family and gave them to them at Thanksgiving. They're working on their Lego Christmas village now.

I love his idea of putting the snowman into the Lego village with elves working on building it! 

A video of the 2021 Lego Christmas Village

Another view of the village by Emily. Unfortunately the sound will not work but the views are good and she has inserted some explanatory text.

Some sadder news came out of Nashville this week, too. Tornadic storms went through the area, and a deadly tornado swept through north of the city. We have thirteen family members who live in the Nashville area, so needless to say, we were concerned.

Pat and Carmen are Todd's parents. (Todd is Hawkeye Sarah's husband.) I'd also heard from Sarah about her in-loves' well being.

Because that area of Tennessee is thin soil over solid rock, very few homes have basements. So, when a tornado comes through, there is little shelter from it. Hendersonville, and the area around it, was fortunate that more people were not hurt or killed.

December 11 Advent Calendar Reveal

At last! I guessed right! A rider, although I was not expecting it to come with a saddle, too.

Look closely and you can see that the feet are sculpted into the stirrups for a more realistic effect.

Breyer, I am really enjoying this year's advent calendar. Dare I hope for a new one next year?

A Quick Trip to Nashville

Recently Craig and I drove down to Nashville to visit Music City Son Cole and his wife Emily. They are not horsefolk, but you wouldn't know that by the decor in their home.

Dala horses, reflective of Emily's Swedish heritage, are displayed around their house.

I especially liked this three panel display that hung on the wall in their entryway.

Cole and Emily recently inherited this huge wall hanging from her Swedish grandparents. It actually tells a New Testament story but from a very Swedish perspective.

The artwork was originally created in 1818, and depicts the story of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem (which is celebrated in the Christian world as Palm Sunday.)

When I told Emily that I especially liked this Appaloosa dala horse, she laughed and said that it was just a Playmobil horse that had been left on the floor and popped onto the piano to get it out of the way. Oops! So much for my knowledge of dala horses!

This little rubber horse was with some toys that Pony Pal Susie had been playing with.

My Little Ponies piled in Pony Pal Kate's closet.

A unicorn that Pony Pal Julie had painted was displayed on her dresser.

Target Our Generation horses.

More Target Our Generation horses.

And the ubiquitous unicorn theme was even on the girls' clothing! (Although Susie favors flamingos on her clothes.)

A few family pics, just for fun are next.

Cole does twice weekly podcasts/videos for 100 Thieves

 and he took me into his studio to show me how he records them. 

For fun he popped headphones on me and let me "be in" the podcast for a little while. 

Emily and Susie making a cake for the family.

It was just a quick weekend trip, but several sides of the family gathered together and made it a good one!

Adults left to right: Lisa, Curt, Vanessa, Cole, Emily, Craig, Carla (Craig's sister), me, Judy (Emily's mama.) Pony Pals & Cowpokes left to right: Mila, Ian, Lukie, Julie, Kate, and Susie (notice the flamingos?)