Burnished Gold: the Grazing Mare & Foal

The Grazing Mare and Grazing Foal are two vintage molds that I count as favorites.

(This grazing mare and foal are favorites, too!)

I have one of each in the burnished gold color and the foal is especially stunning.

It stands out among the three that I have in that color. (For the record, burnished gold is simply a term I use to refer to this unusual carmel coloring you occasionally find.)

It's not a pearly, although photos like this one sometimes make me pull it out for another look.

There is a depth to the foal's color that the semi-gloss really accentuates.

The inner ears and the muzzle are heavily pinked. Breyer's red/pink is known to fade in sunlight, but this foal has been kept away from the sun over the years.

Mama has lovely coloring, too, although her mane and tail are now a creamy color. 

She is matte, too. (Sorry for the poor quality pictures of her - I thought I'd taken some when the light was good but discovered the I had not. 5:00 AM photos just aren't the best.)

The Western Prancer and two Grazing models are the only models I have in this unusual color variation. But as I was pulling pieces out for this series, I noticed several things about Breyer's early carmel palomino color as well as an interesting connection to another piece Breyer made during that time. I'm still doing some research, but I will post some photos (taken when the light is better) and some thoughts soon.

Stay 'tooned!

Burnished Gold - that Odd Palomino Color

Palomino was one of Breyer's longest used colors on several of its early molds - the Fighting Stallion, Grazing Mare, 5 Gaiter, and Family Arabs just to name a few. The color can range from a lovely carmel to a light yellow with lots of shades in between. 

But there is a "gold" variation that is my favorite and I found a Western Prancer in that color recently.

Isn't this piece beautiful? Look at that pink muzzle and the gorgeous shading.

Its reins and saddle may be missing, but there was no way I was leaving this model behind.

I have always called this color "gold" or "burnished gold," but this is not a gold charm decorator - the color is not metallic.

This piece is a very early Western Prancer, too. It has the early Breyer round stamp

and the two black dots that Breyer used to put on their stallion models. See that drainboard pattern on the hooves?)

I have a Grazing Mare in burnished gold who may/may not also be a semi-gloss. 

And, I have the Grazing Foal in the same color. Isn't he pretty?

I thought it would be fun to delve more into the early palominos and do some comparisons across the shades. They really are lovely and the variations are fascinating. I'll try to to get some photos of other early palominos in my collection and show you what I mean.

Stay 'tooned!

Video of the Tornado Hitting Southwestern Middle School

 Here is actually video from security cameras of the tornado slamming into Southwestern Middle School in 2013. A couple of things to note:

1) There's an ad at the beginning that I cannot get rid of.

2) At times the screen goes black - the power has gone off and when the picture comes back, it's because the generator has kicked in. 

3) Two moments most chill me - when the brick wall of the gym peels off like it is a stack of blocks, and when the lights and ceiling fall down in the hallway. Had kids been in the building, they would've been sheltering right there in that hallway.

Here is the link:

https://www.indystar.com/videos/news/2013/11/27/3767855/

The Ups & Downs of Spring in Indiana

 Springtime in Indiana has a beauty all its own.

My favorite bush in the yard always has the most beautiful blooms.

And this year my clematis is so heavy with flowers that it pulled the trellis over!

Seven baby bunnies lived underneath our rolling planter on the patio for a little while.

And my morning walks to the park with Pepper to play frisbee have been warm and breezy.

So breezy that it couldn't have been a bad throw from me that put her frisbee in the lake, could it? 

The grass in some of the pastures is as high as the fences. (Abby is playing hide and seek again!)

Because she is nursing a foal, Sultanna gets grain every day despite that excellent forage in the pasture.

And Miss Two Socks is growing just as fast as the pastures!

But spring in Indiana has its downsides, too. Tornado season.

Thursday evening we were sitting down to dinner when the tornado sirens began wailing. And like every good Hoosier, I went outside to check the clouds.

Sure enough, the southwestern horizon was growing dark and was looking a little ominous.

A shelf cloud was passing right over us.

A confirmed tornado was on the ground in the southern part of the county close to Local Son Curt's home. In fact, it was by his kids' school which had been taken out by a tornado  several years ago - it was two years before the kids could go back to class in that school. 

Curt texted me that they were okay (they have a basement to shelter in) and the tornado dissipated. A half hour later, the sirens began wailing again.

The news reported that the rotation was heading our way and would pass right over my neighborhood. (They even named our neighborhood on the newscast, that's how sure they were of their forecast!) I stepped out again, snapped this shot, and quickly went back inside.

Fortunately, that rotation over us never came to anything, and the final tally was just two tornados from that system. They were small and weak, and there were no injuries. Grateful!

If you're interested, here is a link to a video about the two schools, Southwestern and Mintonye, that shows some of the damage when they were hit.

Caption Contest Winners

The entries for the caption contest were really funny. So much so, I decided to award a winner and two runner-ups.

Our two runner-ups are:

"Repost if you like this post." (Cheryl Mundee)

"If the treats appear, I appear." (Teagan Russ)

And the winning caption (which did in fact make me choke on my Vanilla Coke Zero) is from Adah Richards.

"Don't look! I'm Neighkid!" 

Congratulations to the three winners! Please send your mailing address to horsiemama8@gmail.com and I will get your prizes into the mail.

Thanks to all who entered!

 

A Gift for Nancy Falzone

Nancy Falzone's birthday is coming up and I wanted to send her something that I'd made just for her. Since she doesn't show any more, haversacks were out so I decided to send her a form of 18th century art that I am learning.

Blackened beeswax ornaments!

They are not difficult to make, but they are tricky. (And messy. I've learned to put parchment paper under any place where there will be hot beeswax.)

There are several points in the process where the wax has to be just at the right temperature before you move on to the next step.

Inserting the wire, ribbon, or twine for holders has to be at a very specific moment in the cooling process, and that moment can vary depending on the size of the mold and the depth of the wax you've poured into it.

But, if you miss the timing like I did on this horse, you can always melt the wax again and repour.

You just pop the imperfect ornament out of the mold, put it back into the double boiler on the hot plate, 

and pour the ornament again when it has melted.

Even trickier is the actual blackening process. If the wax is not still warm during the blackening process, it will not stick. It also works better to use a paintbrush to dust the ornaments with the cinnamon. (Between the beeswax and the cinnamon, my kitchen smells so good when I make these.)

I really like this mold and how the horses turned out. This is my first attempt.

I experimented with the amount of cinnamon on the second one and tried to simply emphasize the details. I love how this one turned out and I wrapped it up and asked Liz to give it to Nancy when she sees her on her birthday.

I also found the best birthday card for Nancy.

Perfect, huh? I am sure she will laugh when she reads it.

Nancy and me at her home just before the pandemic shut everything down.

Happy Birthday, Nancy! 

My Kind of Dance Recital

Pony Pal Mila's dance school recently held a recital and Mila invited me to come watch her perform. After the show was over, we decided to take some pictures behind the auditorium. 

When we stepped outside the building, I saw EXACTLY where I wanted my picture with Mila to be taken.

Right by the looks-like-a-fighting-stallion statue!

A dancing pony pal and a pseudo Fighting Stallion? That's my kind of recital!

A Glimpse of the Feast

It is difficult to describe The Feast of the Hunters' Moon. It is quite an experience and this video from Zack's Beyond the Plate catches a lot of the activity.

He focuses on the food that can be found but you can also see a lot of what goes on there as he wanders the grounds. It was taken at last year's Feast. (October, 2021.)

Lisa and me walking in the opening ceremonies/military/indigenous peoples parade.

It's worth a watch. (Click on the "Watch on YouTube" link.) And if you ever get an opportunity to come to the Feast, don't pass it up. What he shows is just a smidge of what goes on.

Indy Blooms: Saturday's Show

Since the Indy Blooms show was just forty miles away, show day did not feel nearly as rushed as it usually does. We left the house at 6:00 AM and arrived just as the doors opened at 7:00.

The show hall was huge! There was plenty of space for everyone plus nine show tables in the middle. Those nine divisions ran concurrently -  if you were showing in more than one division, you had to listen well for the judges' announcements as classes were loaded and pinned. That's Liz Shawhan in the coral tee - she is a GLC friend from Illinois.

The show tables stretched across the hall and that room in the back was where the raffle was held. Jamie was a judge and did not bring anything to show. That's Trina Houser in the white tee shirt.

There were a lot of raffle items and I was pleased that the haversacks I'd donated got a lot of tickets.

It took Kammie Fenwick two years to create her tinker's wagon. There are so many details on it!

Here's a someone from our earliest hobby history - Michelle Evans!

Michelle is from Indianapolis and has been part of the hobby since the 1970s. I believe she is the first Black person to join the hobby, so she is a pioneer in hobby diversity, too. Michelle has a wonderful collection of Hagen Renakers and can often be found at shows with Pat Reed (also an early hobbyist.)

Michelle and I first met at Pat's show, Indycon, in the 1990s and have been friends ever since.

My show string ready to go. Steff Bodamer was across from me and Liz was behind me with Jamie across from her. They were all judging so they were back and forth all day.

I did well in the china division.

Vader Too, my Cheval Friesian, won his class and was sectional reserve champion.

Merrily Strolling did the same in her section.

Windsong Sherif was the champion of the Foals section.

Oreana, my HR retro Modern Horse surprised me. It was a last minute decision to take that piece.

Freeman Leidys are SO fragile that I rarely bring them out. Violet did herself proud and was the collectibility champion. (Those eyelashes!!)

The callback table for China Champion and Reserve. I think Steff won those two ribbons with one of those pieces going on to be named reserve grand champion of the Indy Blooms show. (yay, Steff!)

After the show we all went out to dinner together at a Mexican restaurant that Barn Buddy Kelsey suggested. 

Andrea Gurdon, Shannon Call, Kelsey Kramer, and Steff Bodamer. The place was packed and it was short staffed, so the wait was long.

But that was okay - that gave us the opportunity to keep talking!

Indy Blooms was a terrific show - I could see it being nominated for NAMHSA's Show of the Year. Chelsey Benge and Robin Hudson did an excellent job in the planning, preparing, and executing of the show.

I plan to be back next year.

Last call to enter the captioning contest! Entries close at 11:59 PM tonight.