2020 in Review: October - December

 The last installment of the 2020 review.

October is my very favorite month - I love the weather, the fall colors, and the anticipation of the upcoming holiday season. This year, it was also the month when I marked 50 years in the model horse hobby. I spent the entire month celebrating through the blog - 45 blog posts were written, the most I have ever written for one month!

It was so much fun for me to trace my time in the hobby back to its very beginnings. I wrote about my carpet herd stable, Pawnee Stables, and shared a bunch of drawings I'd done about it.

I wrote about my early hobby friends, all of whom are lifelong friends - Sue Seese (I found a letter from her in my mailbox today!),

Beth Dickinson, and Kathy Bateman.

I did giveaways and laughed (and cried) as I went through boxes containing my childhood past. October was a very good month.

November, 2020

Anne Field made me a second doll, a portrait doll of me at 17, named Little Lynn. 

And, she was kind enough to loan me some tack and dolls so that I could create some performance set ups.

When I finished the two day photo shoot with those, I decided to have a little fun with Anne's own portrait doll of her daughter, Electra.

Little Lynn invited Elecktra to stay for a couple of days

and see what Indiana has to offer. We went out to the barn and fed Abby her favorite treats of peppermints and candy corn,

and then attended the circus with Circus Girl and her flamingos. I had a blast playing with the dolls and then writing "Dear Anne" letters about Elecktra's adventures.

December, 2020

"Grammy, can I have this when you are dead?" I still laugh at Pony Pal Mila's comment as she examined a new piece in my collection.

My heart soared when I received her Christmas list - five Breyers were on it! 

I had fun writing a parody of The Twelve Days of Christmas using my models in an intentionally cheesy, unrealistic, and gaudy (that backdrop!) photo shoot called The Twelve Days of Horsey Christmas. (This picture was inspired by several readers who had noticed that one of my Lady Phases did not have a blanket while all her sisters did. I received several private messages about her!)

The year culminated in a wonderful, loud, chaotic family Christmas at our home.

We were grateful for family members who were able to self isolate and then test negative and come join us for an Isenbarger family Christmas (although we missed those who could not be with us.)

2020, I am not sorry to see you go. Here's hoping that 2021 is a much better year! 

2020 in Review: July - September

 Continuing on with a look back at the year 2020.

July, 2020

Music City Son Cole and his family came up from Nashville for the 4th of July, and the pony pals and cowpokes wanted to go to the barn and see the horses.

With help from their parents, aunts, and uncles, everyone took a ride around the barnyard on good ol' Hokey.

BreyerFest went virtual this year due to the pandemic. There were some issues with shopping, but overall I think Breyer did a fantastic job of bringing hobbyists together for our favorite annual event. Thank you, Breyer!

Pony Pal Cambria not only participated in mutton busting at the rodeo, she had the longest ride and won the championship belt buckle!

I participated in Breakables at BreyerFest (an online photo show this year) and did better than I'd expected.

I formally opened Horsiemama's Haversacks and Mercantile on Facebook and began selling quite a few haversacks. 

August, 2020

Allison Pareis and I were surprised and very honored to discover that our show, The FAMulous Collectibility Show, had been nominated for NAMHSA's Member Show of the Year.

While we did not win, we were thrilled to have been nominated - after all it was our first show together.

Anne Field made a long time dream come true when she created a beautiful doll for me.

As kids, Leslie and I used to pretend that we were "circus girls" and had an elaborate game that involved "traveling" to different towns and performing as bareback riders. I treasure Circus Girl.

An even bigger dream came true in August for me - after 25 years out of the saddle, I finally rode a horse again. Teacher Daughter Lisa, my biggest "back in the saddle" advocate, stood there and cried as she watched. (I cried, too.)

September, 2020

September was a fairly quiet month. It was also the month where I bought myself an embroidery machine.

Between quiet books, haversacks, and rodeo shirts, I was sewing daily. I had looked into getting an embroidery machine before, so when I came into a bit of an inheritance from an uncle, I decided to spend part of it on something that I could use to create gifts and things for family and friends.

September wasn't without its trials, though.

A hardware fail on a gate sent me tumbling into the pasture and sprawling at Abby and Sultanna's feet. I already had a torn rotator cuff, and with that arm caught in the gate's rails as I fell, I was sore for a few days afterward.

Wildfires were raging across the west. One came far too close to Mountain Mama Jessica's home in Santaquin, Utah. (She took this picture from her kitchen window.)

September had some of those perfect fall days and I was able to spend some time outdoors with Local Son Curt's family...

... and even have a bit of a shoe show and tell with Cowpoke Lukie and Pony Pal Mila. (Cowpoke Ian was on the soccer field.)

Tomorrow I will wrap up the 2020 review. Stay 'tooned!

2020 in Review: April Through June

 Continuing my review of 2020, today we look at April, May, and June.

April, 2020

In April, the country started settling into the new normal of life during a pandemic. Masks for hospital workers were in short supply; even shorter for non medical folks. I joined an online local group who volunteered to make masks for the two hospitals in town as well as for others who needed them.

I've been sewing since I was sixteen, and I have quite the stash of fabric on hand. I lost count of how many masks I made. (And I still make them occasionally if asked.)

Teachers were very stressed and so when my friend and former teaching colleague Kathy asked me to join her in doing some online teaching to give some relief to teachers, I jumped at the chance.

Kathy and me in my last classroom with her guide, Nacho.

Using Google Classroom and with each of us in our own homes, we recorded several lessons that were sent out to teachers in the area. 

Sultanna's foaling date grew closer in April. Tim moved her into the nursery paddock with Hokey for company.

My sister Leslie found a treasure trove of our father's slides, most of which we'd never seen before, and she began scanning them and sending them to me.

This is one of my favorites - Leslie is riding Pokey out in the shallows of the Wabash. We were so lucky to live on that beautiful river.

May, 2020

This month was full of ups and downs. I ended up in the emergency room after falling and hitting my head hard against the door jamb of our bedroom. (I had been mopping the tile floor hallway; I was sure it was dry!)

Because of the pandemic, I was not given a cubicle but was kept in a hallway. I had given myself a concussion and ended up with a headache and nausea for several days.

A bright spot was that I finished Pony Pal Melissa's quiet book and sent it down to her in Florida. I was sad not to give it to her in person, but with the pandemic...

The brightest spot in the month was when Sultanna foaled Little Feller.

And the absolute saddest part was when he died unexpectedly two days later. My heart still hurts over him.

June, 2020

For the third Happy Trails show, the annual pony party and live show that I hold in my home, I had planned a big celebration of my 50th year in the hobby. Sadly, I had to cancel my live show, but I was able to hold a photo show instead.

I made pony pouches for everyone who entered, and that grew into Horsiemama's Haversacks & Mercantile. 

My surgery was finally rescheduled for June which made me glad because the lump was getting bigger and my shorts and jeans were uncomfortable to wear. When surgery finally happened, they found not one but two hernias under the incision from the pancreatic surgery - no wonder the bump was so big!

I continued sewing nearly every day during June - now I was working on a cowgirl shirt for Pony Pal Cambria to wear when she went mutton busting in July.

Stay 'tooned for the 2020 review to continue tomorrow!

2020 in Review: January Through March

 I almost did not do a year in review series - 2020 has not been a good year in so many ways. But as I skimmed back through the blog, I saw that, despite the grimness of the pandemic, there were many bright spots. Maybe looking back on the year would be a reminder of the good things that happened as well.

January, 2020

I started the year off on a sad note. My absolute dearest friend, Pam, passed away the day after Christmas. She'd been battling cancer for a decade and finally lost.Our last visit together, just before her death.

Her husband asked me to come back to Illinois and speak at her funeral. That was very difficult for me, but I wanted to honor her and so I did it. 

January is my least favorite month - it's so cold and dreary. Visits with Abby always make me happy, even when it's through the fence.

It was in January that I also decided to finally take the plunge and join NaMoPaiMo. That was one of the best decisions I made in 2020.

February, 2020

February began with another loss - a former student was killed in a horrific accident.

The car split into three pieces after hitting a tree, and my former student and another teenager were killed, while a third boy survived but is still healing from his injuries nearly a year later.

On a brighter note, after 50 years of looking for that perfect Beswick Appaloosa (first version), Simone Smiljanic sold me hers. I named it Worth the Wait and he is doubly special because he came from one of our hobby's earliest founding members.

With several days to spare, I finished my portrait of Sultanna for NaMoPaiMo. I am so proud of her and instead of displaying her with my other Stablemates in the other room, I keep her in my office with my Traditionals.

March, 2020

I attended what ended up being my only live show of the year. It was Great Lakes Congress, my absolute favorite live show of all.

Knowing that I always come to Chicago on the night before the show, Liz Cory invited me to stay at her home - that's always fun as we catch up on models and family and hobby news.

Chris Wallbruch, Nancy Falzone, and Liz Cory.

In March, I discovered a large and growing lump under the incision from my pancreatic surgery.

It was so large and noticeable that I felt very self conscious. I had to go back to Indy to visit my surgeon who scheduled me for surgery later that month.

Two days before the surgery, the surgery was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were shortages of protective clothing as well as fears of exposure for those having non-emergency surgeries. 

I was told by my doctor to absolutely not go out in public - since he'd also removed my spleen in addition to half of my pancreas, I have a very compromised immune system. I made one last run to the grocery, not realizing at the time that it would be the last time I would be in a grocery store for months. (As of this writing, I still have not gone inside one.)

Stay 'tooned tomorrow for a look back at April through June!

An Isenbarger Family Christmas

 (A little background - those in our family who were coming for Christmas self quarantined for two weeks and then had COVID tests to ensure they were negative. This let us feel comfortable in getting together.)

Every other year, our family gets together for Christmas at our home here in Indiana. It's a monumental task coordinating the schedules of 28 people, but usually most of us make it. And while this year we were missing Mountain Mama Jessica and her family as well as Beach Son Kyle and crew, we were grateful to have four of our kids and their families with us for Christmas.

Back row left to right: Todd, Denver Daughter Sarah, JC, Emily holding Pony Pal Susie, Music City Son Cole, Local Son Curt holding Pony Pal Mila, Vanessa. Seated left to right: Horse Buddy Trinity holding Cowpoke Ian, me holding Pony Pal Kate (who insisted on wrapping up in the 10' pink python we gave her for Christmas), Craig holding Cowpoke Lukie, and Teacher Daughter Lisa holding Pony Pal Julie.

Of course, we went out to visit the horses. Julie, Mila, Lukie, Kate, and Vanessa with Abby. (A longer blog post on that barn visit is coming.)

On Christmas Eve we always reenact the Nativity. I got to be a horse in the stable. (Typecasting? Haha!)

I was also asked to read The Night Before Christmas to everyone. The unicorn who was in our Nativity reenactment hung around to hear the story. (What?? You didn't know that a unicorn came to see Baby Jesus? Well, she did in the Isenbarger family version!)

Speaking of unicorns, Pony Pal Mila loved her new Breyer Aurora. I took it out of its Breyer box, wrapped it in bubble wrap, and put it in a Breyer mailing box before wrapping it. She was SO excited and liked the box so much we had to save it for her. 

Craig and I got at least one gift wrapped in unicorn paper.

Guess who got new cowgirl boots for Christmas?? I am hoping to ride some more this spring.

Craig also surprised me by having a blanket made with a picture of Abby and me on it.

The Not Mares in Black, Music City Son Cole, Todd (Sarah's hubby), Craig, and Local Son Curt, chat around the kitchen island.

JC (Denver Daughter's oldest and a college student at BYU Idaho) was a patient cousin and let Julie, Lukie, Mila, and Ian tackle him on the trampoline.

Since we had told everyone that their dogs were welcome to come to our home, we had five dogs among the chaos.

Horse Buddy Trinity (JC's sister) stretched out with her dog, Blue and our Pepper.

Pony Pal Julie with Millie and Molly, Teacher Daughter Lisa's dogs.

Music City Son Cole took a nap cuddled up with with Rhett, Denver Daughter Sarah's Australian Goldendoodle puppy.

And while we only had a little dusting of snow on Christmas Day,

it was still a magical day. (Must've been the unicorn.)