An Unusual Show Donation

Danielle Feldman is hosting a chicken themed photo show this coming spring called "Why the Chicken Crossed the Road." It promises to be a super fun show, and Danielle is making a lot of the prizes herself. (She is an outstanding artist.)

We've been friends for years so I wanted to send her some donations for prizes. But Danielle already makes haversacks, so I decided to come up with something different for her show.

Boy howdy, did I hit the JACKPOT when I found this embroidery pattern. Wouldn't this look great on kitchen towels?

Since I only began embroidering last September, I didn't want to get in over my head. I checked the color sequence chart

and the stitch map before starting. While it would not be an easy stitch out, I felt I could handle it.

I am so happy with how the towels turned out. The one on the left is the first one I made and follows the color chart sequence, but I played with the colors on the other two.

It's an unusual show prize, that's for sure, but when I sent Danielle the photos to make sure she was okay with my donation, she was excited about them.

I am, too, and now I want to make more towels for donations as well as sell them on the HorsieMama Mercantile. I bought some other embroidery patterns with horses on them and am experimenting today.

Stay 'tooned!

NaMoPaiMo: From Pony Pal to Painting Pal

The last day to sign up for NaMoPaiMo is tomorrow. Entries close at midnight and the event officially begins Monday. I'm not yet signed up - I'll take care of that later this afternoon. But someone else is. Can you guess?

If you said Pony Pal Mila, you are correct. She is ready to go and in the coming weeks she and I will be getting together to paint ponies!

 

Knowing how she loves unicorns, I bought her one of the Breyer Unicorn Paint & Play kits for the event.

It will be interesting to see how she paints her unicorn as Mila seems to have an aptitude for art. This is a picture she drew last fall of Pepper in harness guiding her former partner, Sarah, on a very windy day.

Not bad for a three year old. She even got Pepper's harness correct - it's squared off like it should be. (I love how she drew those doggy ears!)

Pepper guiding Sarah on graduation day when Sarah received her Doctor of Divinity degree.

As for me, I have narrowed my choices down but haven't made a final decision. I have a couple of  Stablemates prepped but I'm still not sure of the breed and color I want to do.

From going with me to the barn to looking at my collection (and her infamous question of "Grammy, can I have this when you're dead?"), Pony Pal Mila really does seem to have that horsey gene and I am excited to find yet another way to spend time with her and share my love of horses.

This is going to be fun.

New to Windsong!

Years ago I had a beautiful glossy alabaster Fighting Stallion. And foolishly, I sold him.

Look what just arrived! Isn't he beautiful!

His shading is gorgeous and he even has felt pad remnants on his hind hooves and tail. I am so happy to add this boy to my collection!

His Stablemate-sized counterpart also arrived. 

This is the piece that those who joined the Deluxe Collectors Club received. (We are still waiting for the 2020 Stablemate as well as to hear what pieces are going to be offered to Vintage Club members.)

I have noticed that with the vintage molds that are shrunk down to Stablemate scale, their hooves are in better proportion to their bodies than many of the new mold Stablemates. I like that - one of the reason I don't collect Stablemates (Truly! I don't!) is the clunky hooves many of them sport.

That doesn't stop me from buying some of them. I just received the two Holiday Filigrees that I did not get when they were offered. Now I have the complete set!

The HO scale horses have also arrived. No have photos yet, but I'll get some taken and post them here when I do. Stay 'tooned!

It's Anne and Jennifer's Fault

I really didn't start out planning to recreate the doll setups for Pawnee Stables, the stable that I had when I was young. I blame Anne and Jennifer  for that; it's all their fault. They inspired me.

Anne made me two beautiful dolls and then sent Elecktra over to visit. Thinking of the wonderful scene setups that Jennifer does, I tried my own. And that was it - I was hooked on dolls, minis, props, and scenes.

I honestly did not intend to go too much further into buying furniture and props, but when I found those cute bolts of fabric on Sinny's Mini Art, I decided I needed a sewing machine. I mentioned that to Jennifer and Anne while we were chatting online one afternoon and Jennifer sent me a link to a mini sewing machine. 

Things sort of snowballed from there and before I knew it, I had bought a table (with working drawers),

a craft table,

and a couch. It looks so much like the one I had for Pawnee Stables, only that one was a wild yellow and orange pattern. (It was the 60s, you know!)

I found some N scale horses to add to the girls' collection.

and a desktop computer that looks just like mine.

The sewing machine is perfect and similar to my Janome, and I couldn't resist a miniature box of sewing supplies to set beside it. After all, when I sew, I have supplies scattered all over my craft table. Gotta be real, right?

The couch is too low, but I have an idea for fixing that.

The N scale horses are beautifully detailed and I was hoping to put them in the barn I am building for my recreation. Compared to the horses that came in the kit, though, they may be too small. But that's okay; I also have ordered the same set in HO scale and will use it if it works better. 

Thanks, Anne and Jennifer! I love it when you inspire me!

Random Horsey Happiness

The moon was very full and bright this morning when I got up. I'm an early riser (a holdover from my mama days) and had taken Pepper out to do her business. I shivered on the patio in my nightgown and sweater, but the sight of that beautiful moon made me feel a burst of happiness.

Something else that makes me feel happy are what I call "random horsey happiness." Those are horsey connections that I come across, often unexpectedly.  

Here's a text I recently got Mountain Mama Jessica - we were discussing the birthday gifts I'd just sent Pony Pal Cambria. The end of Jessica's text made me start in surprise.

Jessica? Fond of horses? My girl who has always had tepid feelings for horses? Random horsey happiness!

This photo that my daughter-in-love Emily sent me of Pony Pal Susie playing with a horse brought me some random horsey happiness.

So did this one of Pony Pal Julie. She was doing a book report on the book The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde and wanted me to know that one of the main characters in her book was a pony named Blacky.

Pony Pal Mila showed me her horse collection during the holidays. I see Cupcake in the blanket that we made together and Aurora, the unicorn I got her for this Christmas! Random horsey happiness!

Yesterday we had freezing rain and there was a glaze of ice on everything.

Look at the beauty of the icy glaze on my outdoor horsey decor. Random horsey happiness!

 

So treacherous, but so lovely, too.

This garden stake is in my stepping stone garden. I love how the rain froze as it dripped off its hooves.

Other random horsey happiness includes the seasonal decor I put out. I'm still experimenting on this year's Valentine decorations, but I have already grouped some of my red and pink horses on an open shelf in my office.

And in my library, too. (Truth: there are more horses than books in there.) I have Stablemates along with the pink NaMoPaiMo medallion I received last year on display.

I have never been able to explain why horses bring me such happiness, but they do.

And during this bleak, cold January, I am grateful for the happiness those random horsey connections bring me.

Organization is the Key

When people find out that I have six children they often say, "Six kids?? How did you DO it?" (Honestly, sometimes I wonder about that, too! Haha!)

I made it work through organization, one of my strengths. And now, with my haversack business growing so quickly, that strength has been needed.

My desk has been piled with cuts of fabric - I simply have not had a place to store them as my sewing supplies storage units are full. So, I went online and found a couple of Sterilight three drawer units for $14.99 at our local Meijer. Craig picked them up for me. 

They sat in our upstairs family room for nearly a week until I had time to sit down and reorganize my sewing supplies. (Organization usually requires DISorganization first.) The task took me about an hour, and I am very pleased with the results.

Like my other sewing storage units, these fit under my craft tables. That saves space but is also very convenient. They're on wheels, too, and will roll out from under the table or to another place  if I need to move them.

One of the tubs is dedicated to fabrics for haversacks and things I stitch up for Horsiemama's Mercantile. Since I have already used over fifty different fabrics (and keep finding more), the need for a space to put them all was great.

Marie Kondo's suggestion to put clothing (in my case, fabrics) on its side is a good one - I can see what I have without lifting everything out.

Sewing is going a lot more smoothly now. It's a good thing, too - I've already had four custom orders since January began.

Organization really is the key.

Abby is Better!

Thank you to all who commented here on the blog or privately contacted me after I wrote the blog entry about Abby missing Diablo and Sultanna. I am pleased to say that Abby has perked up.

Yesterday she saw me walking out through the north pasture and she quickly met me at the gate for a chat.

We had a lovely visit and she was acting much more like herself.

Her general demeanor was happier; for a while she had been a bit cranky and impatient which is absolutely not Abby at all.

Hokey watched Abby and me visit with each other. He could've walked over and joined us, but loner that he is, he stayed by himself.

As I walked back through the north pasture to my car, Sultanna and Diablo came over to say hello. They are doing well. 

The horses seemed to be happy that we had a little sun, too. It may have been a weak, winter sun, but it was far better than the dreary clouds we've been having day after day!

Barn hands. 

My girl had been lipping some hay off the ground and when she licked my hands after her treats were finished, she transferred some of that dirt to me. The joys of horse ownership. (Which I don't mind one bit.)

I drove home in a better frame of mind. I've been concerned about Abby, and it was good to see that she is adjusting to her new circumstances and acting more like herself.

What About Molly?

 Second post of the day and a non horsey one, too.

We are adjusting to life without our irrepressible Millie, but Teacher Daughter Lisa has another dog, Molly, who is having to adjust to the loss of Millie, too.

Molly and me driving to my house. She is NOT supposed to be on the console, but she was so excited to be coming for a visit that I didn't have the heart to tell her to get down. (Yes, I took a selfie while driving, but I was in my neighborhood with no traffic around.)

Like Millie, Molly is a rescue and came from a horrific situation. She spent four years as a breeder in a puppy mill and was rescued in December, 2017 when she came to live with us. It has been a long, hard road for her to get over her fears. I don't know what was done to her before she became ours, but I feel fiercely protective of her since so many things terrify her. She feels safe around Lisa, Craig, Pepper, and me, and she especially felt safe when Millie was by her side.

Molly on a walk with me in the park across from our house. She loves to go down by the lake.

This past week Lisa dropped her off at our house every day while she went to school so that Molly would not be alone all day. We do not think she would do well if she were left alone all day at home. At least not so soon after Millie's passing. 

I think she welcomed being around Pepper and us but it was clear she was missing Millie.

Go ahead and climb that console, sweet girl. I am so glad to see you happy and excited about something after such a rough month. We will help you get through this.