The Candy Corn Challenge (with Apologies to Dr. Seuss)

Out of the thousands of blog posts I have written, this is my all time favorite. Originally written in October, 2018,  I am reposting it today in honor of Halloween. 

Jennifer Buxton of  Braymere Custom Saddlery wrote on her blog that she had discovered that some people do not like candy corn. One of her blog readers posted in response that her real horses loved the Halloween treat, and Jennifer decided to see if her horses liked it, too.

They did. And so Jennifer challenged invited those of us with access to both horses and candy corn to try a little experiment and see if our horses liked candy corn, too.

Well, I was up to the challenge, and I figured Abby would be as well. Her favorite treat is a freshly unwrapped candy cane; since both sweets have a high content of sugar, I figured that Abby would quickly snarf up those little kernels of candy corn goodness.

As usual, she came up to the paddock at a fast clip, eager to say "hello" and to see what I had brought her. I held my hand out with two candy corns in it and she lipped them up without even smelling them. (Such trust in me!)

Then she gave me a dirty look when she realized that they were something new and not what she had been expecting. That face!! I could not help but think of my favorite Dr. Seuss story, Green Eggs and Ham. So, with apologies to him:

"I'm not sure I like them, Mom-I-Am."

She chewed thoughtfully for a moment, considering if she liked the taste or not, just as the main character in the book did.

Picture retrieved from Google Images.

Then Abby's face brightened, and she eagerly put her head over the wooden bars of the paddock fence.

"Say!! I like them, Mom-I Am! I do! I do like candy corn!"

 "And I will eat them from your hand,"

 "And I will lick you where you stand!"

 I would eat them off the ground,"

"And I sure would like another pound!"

"They are so good, so good, you see! Thank you, thank you, Best Mom-You-Be!"

Happy Halloween, ya'll!

Horsey Halloween Decor

I did not put too many decorations out for Halloween this year, but what's out are things that I like.

With a little help from Pony Pal Mila (the music box sewing machine and the pairs of Stablemates), the upstairs overlook and playroom has a bit of a Halloween vibe.

The player piano gets used often enough that I don't like to put too much on it. Less is more when it comes to decor on that piano!

Cryptic is my favorite Halloween horse of all time. Oh, how I wish Breyer would do more of the "headstone horse" look on other molds.

Illuminati looks neat whether it is lit up

or not. 

I had to change the batteries in him this year but the result was worth the fuss.

While I don't care for the Mustang Mare mold, I do love classic literature, 

so buying Nevermore was a no brainer. (I'm not a fan of Edgar Allen Poe's works, either but I do think he was an incredible talent.)

The decor may be minimal, but what's out makes me happy and that is enough.

Happy Halloween!

Pokey, the Picket Fence, and a Poor Idea

Yesterday when I looked at those photos of the family bell, I noticed the picket fence in the picture and another set of long forgotten memories came flooding back.

That picket fence enclosed a small dog run. Access to it from the yard was through a very tiny gate. (You can glimpse that between the two trees.) Getting a mower between the posts of that little gate was difficult and frustrating. So, my dad used a different kind of mower.

Pokey.

Pokey was small enough to squeeze through the gate and into the dog run. Even better, he was too small to jump or step over the fence. So, we would bring him up from the pasture, lead him through that little gate, and he'd spend the next couple of hours happily "mowing." Win-win for us and for Pokey (Me leading my sister Jenny on Pokey.)

One day, though, it inspired a not-so-good idea. Pokey was in there munching and I got the bright idea of seeing if I could get Pokey up the porch steps and into the house. (I was seventeen and should have known better.)

No one else was home, and so... up the stairs he went and through the door into the back foyer. And then I heard the crunch of gravel as my mother drove up the driveway. I began hurriedly backing him out but she caught me with Pokey half in/half out of the house. Needless to say, she was NOT happy.

Amy and Pokey

Ask me then why I did it, and I would respond, "I don't know." Ask me now, and you would get the same response. I truly have no clue! (When a student would give me an "I don't know" response, I understood - sometimes you do things and don't know why!)

Pokey in his late thirties.

The story of me bringing Pokey into the house is a favorite one of my kids and grandkids and they enjoy having me recount it just as much as I enjoy retelling it.

I'm glad that little white picket fence prompted those memories.

The Family Bell

There has been a little more weight in the trunk of my car for a couple of months now. It's so heavy, I didn't even remove it when I packed for The Feast of the Hunters' Moon or the Great Lakes Congress show.

It's the bell that hung outside the back door of Morainewood, our home on the Wabash River.

I have no idea how old it is - it was there when we bought the home in 1970.

Thanksgiving 1970. Leslie on Pokey with (left) our great Aunt Clara, Great Uncle Howard, and (right) our mom and Grandma Martin. (Owner of O'Boy, the circus pony.) Check out my mom's hands - she's got a couple of apples for Amy and Pokey!

My siblings and I used to roam all over the place - down along the river, up in the woods, and go way back through the ravines and creeks of the moraine we lived on.

When she wanted us to come home, Mom would ring that bell and the sound would travel long distances - no matter how far we wandered, on horseback or on foot, we could always hear it. (Look between the two trees in the middle and you will see the bell.)

I can still hear its beautiful sound calling me home. So when Leslie found it tucked away in her barn and asked if I wanted it, of course I said I did. I'm not sure what I will do with it, but in the meantime, a very important piece of my childhood resides in the trunk of my car.

And I am happy that it is there. In a way, it still calls me home.

Woodstock - SR or Vintage Club Offering?

Originally I was on the fence as to whether or not Woodstock was truly intended to be a SR or if she was the fourth offering of the club that was subbed in due to supply chain issues. Doing some research has helped me come to a conclusion.

I sat down and went through all the past Vintage Club specials. I looked at if they had a belly stamp, blue ribbon sticker, and certificate. That was informative, but it did not clarify things to the point where I felt I could make my decision.

My "Aha!" moment came when I looked at past Gambler's Choice club offerings. Breyer has offered a Gambler's Choice every year since 2015 as one of the four annual Vintage Club models.

We have not yet had that Gambler's Choice yet this year. And that leads me to conclude that yes, Woodstock was intended to be a Special Run. The delayed piece has to be the Gambler's Choice. (And judging from the pattern I see in my notes, it will not be a decorator this year.)

There are still things that puzzle me, though.

Why was the Stablemate included? Is that this year's free VC Stablemate? And if it is, will Breyer have to pull it out of those unsold boxes of Woodstock and send it to VC members?

Woodstock is double boxed not only with the Stablemate but with with a Vintage Club information sheet that is numbered with club members' individual numbers. Breyer is going to have to open both boxes and remove those in order to sell the model to someone else. (Woodstock is an optional offering.)

That's a lot of time and effort for Breyer to go through UNLESS those two boxes were left open and, as orders came in, Breyer added the member's certificate and then sealed both boxes and slapped on a shipping label. (My guess is that is the case.)

I'm still puzzled about the Mini Me. Since Woodstock is an optional purchase, there must be another Stablemate for Vintage Club members. And if that's the case, I am hoping the it is another vintage mold that Breyer has shrunk down to Stablemate size.

I guess we Vintage Club members will just have to stay 'tooned on that one!

Bonus Post: Heirloom Orchard Dedication

Last week, our family's orchard was honored by The Farm at Prophetstown when they dedicated their new heirloom orchard in our orchard's memory.

It was a sunny but chilly evening, but my siblings and I were all in attendance. (When did I get so short??) 

Steve and Jenny walk through the orchard checking out the varieties of apples.

Many were varieties that were familiar to us - our orchard was planted in the 1920s so its varieties would all be considered heirlooms now.

A ceremony was held with apple snacks and cider offered to all in attendance.

And a special plaque that is now posted in the orchard was shared with us.

That's when I got teary - I had not realized that something would be in the orchard memorializing our orchard.

Bill Hoover, the Purdue Forestry professor who spearheaded the project also spoke about the process of getting the Prophetstown orchard planted and producing.

And he and Leslie did the ribbon cutting.

It was quite a night for my siblings and me - our orchard was a family project and many, many hours were spent together working in it.

Thank you, Farm at Prophetstown. Our parents would be very honored to know that your orchard was planted in memory of ours.

More blog entries on the orchard:

The orchard in spring

High winds hit the orchard

Apple varieties for apple spaghetti

The barn fire

Back to Woodstock

Woodgrain was an early decorator color, but the original technique for painting models as woodgrains was lost over time. Breyer and Stone both struggled to recreate it, but finally in 1999 Breyer brought it back at BreyerFest on the G2 Clydesdale keychain. 

Getting it right, though, is still a challenge. My Woodstock has very little visible graining.

Although graining varied among early woodgrain models, too.

The chalky white markings that early woodgrains had are replicated well on her.

As you can see from these photos, early woodgrain colors varied from dark to medium 

 to light. (Note how similar the graining on this early Racehorse is to Woodstock's.)

Woodgrain variations of the Fighting Stallion range from light to dark.

Out of all the woodgrains in my collection, Woodstock most closely matches the dark version of the Fighting Stallion.

Click here for a better look at my woodgrain collection (including Hartland woodcuts.)

One last blog post on Woodstock tomorrow. And a bonus post on a family event coming later this morning!

Stay 'tooned!

Great Lakes Congress Show: Saturday

The doors to the show hall opened at 6:00 AM and people began hauling in tubs of models shortly after Liz, Sam, and I arrived.

Since I had set up the Mercantile the night before

and unpacked and organized my models, I was in good shape.

The photo booth, ready for pictures.

The show is held in a community center that can host simultaneous events (a stamp show this time) and sometimes visitors wander in. 

My sales were brisk - I'd brought five tubs of haversacks and pony pads to sell and came home with two empty tubs.

Competition was fierce in the China and OF Plastic divisions.

I'd kept my show string small - seven chinas and sixteen Breyers.

Classes were huge so any ribbon was a compliment.

Ribbons are recycled and it is always fun to see the shows they were originally for.

Finding a Great Lakes Breyer Registry ribbon (the forerunner of GLC) made me smile. Kerri Gerhman started that club when she was a sixth grader. (Go here to read the history of that show.) She got a kick out of seeing one of her show's old ribbons.

Selling and showing at the same time kept me hopping.

While I did not miss a single class (a first for me), 

I didn't take as many pics of people and models as I normally would. I just didn't have time. (Although I did get to talk to a lot of folks.)

At least I remembered to get a selfie with Liz as I was preparing to leave.

Now I am home and am slowly unpacking and updating inventory on the Horsiemama Mercantile page. Unless I can rearrange something on my calendar, this was my last show of the year so there is no rush to replace the inventory I sold. 

Having said that, I did just get some new fabric in and another fabric store I frequent is have a really good sale, so...