In a Sad but Peaceful State

I stopped by and visited the home where I grew up this morning. My siblings and I helped our mother move out of this home and into assisted living in November of 2015. It was very hard on her; she did not want to leave the home she had lived in since 1970, the place where she had raised her children and enjoyed the beauties of living on the Wabash River and its surrounding woods.

But she could not longer care for herself, her shower and dishwasher were broken beyond repair, and the home needed to be entirely rewired for electricity. Moving her to a safe, clean, secure place where people would help her throughout the day was the right choice, but it was hard on us all.

Last January, the preservation group, Wabash River Enhancement, bought her home. Nearly nine acres of woods and pastures, with the river bordering the entire eastern boundary of the property, it is a key piece of property in their plans to purchase land along the river and allow it to return to its natural state. My mother very much supported that plan, as do I.

Still, it is difficult to see the home where I grew up, where I had my first horses, abandoned and falling into disrepair.

My view as I drove up the old glacial moraine that our home sits upon. The woods are definitely beginning to take back the property.

Vines now are taking over the barn where I stored my tack, grain, and hay. My father also used this as his workshop.

Because the floor was concrete, we never brought the horses into this barn. They used another one in the main pasture. It's become totally overgrown and the roof and sides have collapsed and fallen in.

The paddock and main pasture were in a sheltered ravine and down and at the base of the moraine. (The name of the home is actually "Morainewood.") One of the reasons the home never flooded when the river ran high was the fact that the home was built at the top of the moraine - we could not get out as the floodwaters covered the highway and our driveway, but we remained dry.

See that hand banister? There are concrete steps that go from our driveway and down the ravine to the gate. The times I hauled hay, grain, and water (when the pipes froze) up and down those stairs! More than once I fell down them when they were covered by ice and snow in the wintertime. Now, you can barely see they are there.

I drove back down the driveway which runs alongside the ravine and the paddock. This was once a nice, grassy pasture.

Parts of the original fence remain. But the woods have encroached upon and overwhelmed the paddock and pasture, too.

This old fence post was at the base of the driveway and marked the southeast corner of the main pasture.

We called it "Gossip Corner" because our horses used to stand there and call to a couple of horses that our neighbors owned down the road. More than once a car lost control and barreled through Gossip Corner, taking out the fence and setting our horses free. (Fortunately, none of the horses were ever hit by a car.) Those reflectors that remain on the post were to help drivers see the fence.

One of our pastures, the one right alongside the Wabash (see it behind the trees?) is being kept mowed. I don't know why as I know their goal is to let nature take over.

Although our fences have been removed, this pasture looked very much as it did when I was a teenager and had it full of horses.

As I drove home, the highway was deserted and so I was able to go very slowly and take a couple of more photos of the old main pasture.

 It is hard to believe that five horses used to graze in this place!

Wabash River Enhancement plans to eventually raze the home and barn. I don't know when, and I really don't want to know. As I said, I truly do support letting nature take back the land.

But there are so many memories wrapped up in that place, of family, of horses, and other things, that I do feel some sadness at what is coming.

Like my old home, I am in a sad but peaceful state.

To Buy or Not?

I found this at the same antique shop where I had those great finds on Saturday.

It's metal and heavy, and clearly a copy of either Breyer's Boxer or the original Boehm Boxer. At $25, I left it behind.

Having said that, I have a variety of Breyer's Boxers, including one of the only two known Breyer Boxer clocks.

Which I also found in the same antique shop! (Any wonder that I keep going back?)

Hmmm.. I am thinking of possibilities for a collector's class, and that metal knock-off might be a nice addition...

A Lucky Detour

School has been in session for six weeks, and today I felt I needed a bit of a break. My school work was all caught up as were things around the house, so I decided to go visit one of my favorite antique shops.

I didn't intend to, but I actually went the wrong way and past a shop I only rarely visit. (One of the roads has been renamed as it merges with the one I usually take, and I stayed on it instead of branching off. Just wasn't thinking!)

That shop, a vintage toy shop, usually has a good assortment of Breyers and this time was no exception. But there wasn't anything I had to have or needed, so I left it all behind for another collector to find.

I'd gone about ten miles out of my way when I'd missed my turn off, but it didn't take too long to get back on the right road and to the shop I'd intended to visit in the first place. I have had some really good finds there too.

 This piece of advertising caught my attention. Was that a Hagen Renaker Man o' War copy?

No, although it looks similar. It is an early Hartland? I keep thinking I have seen this piece before. I'll go through some of my books tomorrow. (Photo taken from Google Images.)

Then there was this - look at the label the seller has affixed to it.

 "Breyer Horse Pic"??

I even looked on the back of the picture for clues as to why the seller had it labeled a Breyer, but I found nothing.

I probably should have bought this HR elephant set. The seller had it listed at only $5, but I already have the adult and am not particularly interested in the baby.

The title of this book caught my eye - that and the cover illustration which looked familiar.

Wesley Dennis! One of my favorite illustrators from my childhood! The book came home with me to be added to my vintage horse book collection.

After paying for the book, I hopped in the car and began the drive back to town. Because there was a home football game (Purdue vs. Michigan) the traffic heading into town was pretty bad. I decided to swing around to a less direct route, and in doing so, had to drive by another vintage shop where I've had good luck in the past.

 Good thing I did - I hit the jackpot!

 A black point Proud Arabian Mare in very good condition! (For $20!)

 A 1964 Hartland ebony woodcut Tennessee Walking Horse! ($20!)

 With the original footpads still intact!

And a 1980 JAH unpainted Indian Pony - my favorite mold! ($20!)

Considering that I had not even planned to stop at this shop, I was feeling very grateful for that football traffic that had caused me to detour!

There were several other Breyers in that last stop that I left behind, including an unpainted Clydesdale Mare, also from the 1980 JAH special. I may go back and get her.

Who'd have thought that football traffic would lead me to some really good finds??

Addie - A Horsey Girl Like Me

Addie seems to have that horsey gene that so many young girls get. She was thrilled to get out to the barn twice during her week with me and then to Prophetstown to see the horses there. A trip to Columbian Park Zoo to see the miniature horses made it so that she was with equines four of those days!

(Which meant that so was her Grammy who also was happy to be with horses all those times.)

This is so reminiscent of me as a child - I was always right there with the horse whenever I could be.

 I'd given Tim a heads up that she was really horsey, so he let her help him saddle Diablo.

 And, she got the first ride!

 As well as the longest.

Addie was in her element and it was a thrill for me to watch her. I kept seeing myself and remembered my own pining at that age to have a horse of my own. It was a thrill for me to give her an opportunity to be around horses.

 Call me one happy Grammy!

Whitney's Turn!

Whitney may be the youngest in her family, but because she has older siblings, in may ways she acts far older than three years old. Hopping up onto Diablo did not phase her one bit.

 She spent most of the arena ride with a smile on her face!

Poor Tim - by this time he (and probably Diablo) had to be getting tired!

Look at that smile - she may be like Addie and be another horsey girl in the making!

Ian Gets Up His Courage and Rides

Ian, along with Whitney, is one of the quads - we had four grandchildren born within three months of each other and we've called them the quads ever since. (Cambria and Julie are the other two.)  Unlike Whitney, though, Ian is very afraid of horses.

I think having his cousins along with him and watching them ride helped him overcome his hesitations, because not only did he ride, he rode both inside the arena and outside on the grounds!

Listen to Tim's chatter - it's hilarious!

 I'm not sure what Ian is saying, but Tim appears skeptical about it!

The Florida/hurricane evacuee grandkids and our local ones. Add in a horse and you have one very happy grammy!

Corinne's Turn to Ride

Corinne, who is Abby's "tin" (twin) is five had no hesitations about hopping up on Diablo.

 Tim stayed close for a while and then let her ride by herself.

Like Braden, she was lucky enough to experience Diablo's running walk!

She also enjoyed hunting for flowers in the pasture and around the new barn.

Tim accepted one from her and put it in Diablo's forelock.

And then the sisters got a chance to ride triple! (Such a patient mare!)

Stay tuned for posts about Ian (who is very afraid of horses) and Whitney having their turns for a ride!

Braden Rides Diablo

Monday night Tim met us out at the barn, saddled up Diablo, and let the kids have a ride. (Disclaimer: my helmet got left at home by mistake, but since Diablo is older and very quiet, I let the kids ride anyway.)

Braden has only had limited riding experience, but Diablo was a good beginner's horse and she responded readily to his cues.

Other family members lined up to watch and to await their turn.

Diablo is half Arabian and half Tennessee Walker. At one point she went into a beautiful running walk for Braden - it was so smooth!

 I loved watching her head nod as she hustled around the arena.

She may be the herd alpha and bosses the big boys around, but she's very quiet and gentle with her humans. 

The Country Fair at Prophetstown

While my evacuee family was in town, Prophetstown was having its annual fall country fair. It's a fun place to go any time of year, but having horses trailered in for a breed parade? I'm there! Luckily, my family wanted to go, too!

My sister, Leslie is the head of Prophetstown, and she was delighted that we'd come out. Here she is letting Curt use the old fashioned corn shucker while Luann, Corinne, and Craig look on.

 She fired up the antique tractor, hooked up the trolley car, and took us for a ride around the state park.

 Lisa, Luann, Lance, Whitney, Addie, Mila, Ashley (mostly hidden), and Vanessa.

Ian and Braden were thrilled to be invited to sit on the high seat behind their great aunt. (Curt sat with them, just to be safe.)

The trolley ride was fun (and relaxing) but I was most interested in the horses that were there for the fair.

 Corinne looks up at a Paint horse that is used for gaming events. (He had a visible swelling on his left hind fetlock but did not seem lame.)

 She was a little more hesitant about the zonkey! (That's Whitney with her.)

 I loved the zonkey and had never seen one in person before. He was very quiet and gentle.

 And he loved having his big ol' ears scratched.

Ian was very intimidated by the miniature horse and would not get close to it. She is an older mare in her twenties and is a rescue from Indiana Horse Rescue just like Abby.

 Mila and Whitney play on one of the vintage tractors on display.

None of us wanted to go home, but we had other plans for the day as it was Braden's birthday, so we headed home at noon.

Pony Pal Pictures

Our hurricane evacuees left early this morning to head home to Florida. I'll miss them, and will also miss discovering that my pony pals liked to take pictures of my collection on my phone.

They're very random - I see no rhyme or reason as to why these pieces were selected! (I'm going to check that Misty's Twilight - is that a seam split on her chest?)

 My glass cases with some of my mini Hagen Renakers and other minis.

The chinas and porcelains in the living room display case. (And my head - I thought she was taking a picture of me!)

Looks like Corinne traveled all over the house specifically to photograph my collection!