The BreyerFest 2024 Quagga

It's never good when a box arrives looking like this.

And with only that odd, honeycombed paper wrapped around the model, I was worried that the contents might be damaged. 

Fortunately, my Quagga was okay.

When this mold first came out as a Zebra, I passed it over.

But then the candy striped Christmas Zebras came out and I was all in - I have all four and love them.

I don't have Coal, the black one, but I'm fine with that. (Photo by Breyer.) 

What I'd really like, and did try to get at the time, was the BreyerFest 2015 Caves of Lascaux. (Photo from Identify Your Breyer.)

Having missed him and regretted it, I tried to get the Quagga this year but did not.

Fortunately, there were some available in the Second Chance Sale and I snagged one before they all sold out.

Those white stripes are such a brilliant white that I wondered about them being chalky. Look at their color compared to the white on his legs. But how would Breyer do that? Regardless, I like the effect.

I'm still waiting on the Indian Pony from the Second Chance Sale. Somehow, it got hung up in shipping but it is on its way at last. And I still need to get together with Barn Buddy Kelsey to pick up the BreyerFest models that Liz gave her at Marilou's show. It's not Kesley's fault that our schedules have not aligned; it's mine. 

I don't mind waiting, and besides, that gives me something to look forward to - new models and chatting with Kelsey. It's gonna be fun!

Fortitude: The 2024 BreyerFest Crystal

I got my first BreyerFest 2024 model! Fortitude from the Second Chance Sale arrived!

I really like Breyer's crystal pieces. They only make one a year so the market isn't flooded with them, they are unique in that they are crystal, not plastic, china, or resin,  

and they come in really nice foam-filled boxes that protect them well from breakage.

This year's crystal horse is a vintage mold - the Fighting Stallion! 

Isn't he lovely?

The Breyer stamp is on his hind leg. 

I don't have all sixteen crystals that have been made; I only purchase the ones I really like.

Passion on the Huckleberry Bey mold was the first crystal Breyer produced.

I had two Home Straights but I sold my extra.

Originally the seal on the top of the box was gold. Breyer switched to silver in 2014. I think the silver looks nicer and is easier to read.

Fortitude is back in his protective box now and is stacked with the other boxes of crystals in my office closet. Some day I'd like to have a small, enclosed display cabinet dedicated to my crystal pieces. 

But Fortitude wasn't the only box from Breyer that arrived yesterday. I'll share that piece tomorrow.

Stay 'tooned!

A Beautiful Day

You know it's going to be a nice birthday when your daughter drops off a beautiful cake for you (along with her dogs) as she heads to work.

Of course, that can make for a tempting day since you have to wait for the family celebration dinner to dig into it! But, I made it. (It was worth the wait!)

Craig grilled burgers and hotdogs and Lisa, Curt, and Vanessa did the sides. Eight people and five dogs gathered around the kitchen table - we were crowded but we were happy.

We had a good laugh at all the "Amazon wrapping" of my gifts.

This is a perfect gift for me. When these stamps were announced, I told my kids that they should get me these for my birthday or Christmas and Curt came through on my birthday!

Knowing my love of Fall and especially Thanksgiving, Lisa gave me this decorative pillow. We have a park bench by our front door that I put pillows on, and I can't wait to add this one to the mix!

My amazon list was full of silicone molds that I wanted so that I could make blackened beeswax ornaments from them. This one from Hawkeye Sarah and her family is a buffalo.

They also got me a snowflake. 

The dragonfly is from Music City Son Cole and his family,

and the howling wolf on a ledge is from Mountain Mama Jessica and her crew. 

Tammo was tired, sad, and feeling left behind after all the people and dogs went home. He plopped himself on the rug by the front door, waiting hopefully for them to come back in through that door again. Luckily he still had Pepper, Craig, and me to cheer him up.

Tammo wasn't the only one who was worn out. Teacher Daughter Lisa's dogs sacked out on the carpet when she got home - they didn't even make it into their dog beds!

I've received some special letters from my kiddos over the years, and this is one of them - a Happy Birthday letter from Beach Son Kyle while he was living in Chile for two years.  Written in August of 2001, I pull it out every year on my birthday and read it. (Makes my eyes leak.)

Gosh, what a lovely day it was. I spent it with people (and dogs LOL) that I love and who love me. And those who don't live close to me called and chatted for a while.

The day wrapped up with one little extra gift from Lisa - a picture of a gorgeous sunset as she drove home.  With no mountains to block them, midwestern sunsets sprawl across the horizon, and this one was breathtaking.

It also reflected the happiness and contentment that were in my heart.

Time is Flying!

 And the heat continues.

As predicted, it got up to 97 yesterday and that made for another hibernation day.

Craig and I walk the dogs around 9:00 every morning. Normally we don't run into too many people at that time and have the neighborhood park to ourselves. But with this heat, lots of people are exercising their dogs or walking and jogging earlier than usual.

Yesterday morning we ran into our next door neighbor, Nan, down at the pavilion watching a pair of Great Egrets who were fishing in the lake.

Nan and Bob love the dogs and even come out of their home to pet them when they see the dogs out in our back yard. Tammo loves them right back and has been known to ignore our calls and gallop over to their home when he sees them appear. Needless to say, he was delighted to see Nan at the park!

Hibernation due to the heat means I am getting a lot of sewing for the Feast completed. 

Last week I got a new, updated pattern for pinner aprons that better reflects current historical research. I love how it stitched up.

18th century bib aprons did not tie around the neck like modern aprons; they were pinned to the bodice with steel straight pins at each top corner of the bib.

After selling 18th century block prints for 30 years, Leslie's supplier in India knows her well and once in a while sends her something new that he is trying.

In July he sent her this new block print fabric to try. Leslie passed the fabric on to me and I am working on a men's voyageur shirt to see how it looks when made into a garment. So far I really like how it is turning out.

After this shirt, I need to make one more men's shirt and then I will move on to new shirts for Ian and Lukas. They've grown enough that their original shirts from two years ago are getting a little small.

Lukas doesn't really care about fit - he loves his voyageur shirt so much that he wears it to church and to school.

I hope he likes the next one just as much. (I may use the elephant block print for his shirt.)

There are just 39 days until Feast. I waffle between feeling like I am in good shape and then feeling overwhelmed with all I want to accomplish. Timeline-wise, I should have the men's shirts, boys shirt, and two bed gowns completed by September 14. I'd like to make Mila a new dress, too, which puts me at September 18. 

That's two weeks before set-up on the grounds begin, so I should be okay sewing-wise. Then, there's finding time for the 100 blackened beeswax ornaments I need to make... 

Yeesh!!  Time is flying!

The Necklace

I didn't make it out to see Easy yesterday. We are under Excessive Heat warnings and temps have been in the 90s (97 is expected today!) with heat indices in the 100s. After walking Pepper and Tammo around 9:00 AM, I was done for the day and hibernating at the sewing table. It is doubtful I will visit the barn today either due to the heat that is expected.

I want to share what my dear friend Lisa gave me Saturday night but first, a disclaimer:

My family has joked for years about my habit of blinking just as a photo is taken. Getting good ones where my eyes are open almost always takes several attempts. Three to five clicks of the shutter are common. (I try not to blink! I really do!) And of course that propensity for blinking happened when my dearest friend Lisa gave me a birthday gift Saturday night. 

It was in a beautiful tiny box with a small bow. (Model horse collecting readers are looking at it and, like me, thinking, "Sweet! I could use that in a set up with my dolls and models!" LOL)

I removed the lid and the tears began spilling down my cheeks. I couldn't even speak. I was so moved, all I could do was whisper to Lisa.

"Oh, no! I made you cry!" she said. "Good tears; they're good tears," I was finally able to whisper back as I put her gift around my neck.

We decided to take a selfie together.  Four pictures later we were laughing - not only do I blink, but those tears were still sliding down my cheeks, my face was red and blotchy - I was a mess. A happy mess, a very touched mess, and those truly were happy tears, but I was a mess nonetheless.

I really wanted Lisa to have a better picture of me wearing her thoughtful (and tear inducing) necklace, so after I got dressed Sunday morning, I took some selfies. The one I liked best and texted to her was the exaggerated see-I-can-keep-my-eyes-open selfie. I knew that that one would make her laugh; besides, I could always send her one with the real smile and more natural features if she wanted me to. (But I suspected she would prefer the exaggerated one. I was right.)

"See, Lisa! My eyes are open, I'm smiling, my hair is under control, and I'm wearing your necklace without crying! I did it!"

Such a thoughtful, wonderful gift. A reminder of my sweet Abby as well as a dear friend who went the extra mile to give me a gift to remember. 

I will treasure it and Lisa's friendship always.

Where's that EZ Button?

Sunday after church, Lisa and I raced out to the barn. She and I had corralled Tim after the service was over and pumped him for information, but Tim still would not tell us his new horse's color or name. He'd just smiled and told us to go look at him. So, off we went.

Oh, my! Look at this beautiful boy!

He is a beautiful buckskin gelding with the brand EZ on his left shoulder. See those dapples in his coat?

I'd guessed bay, black, palomino, and even pinto, but buckskin wasn't even on my radar.

He is pretty shy but he did come up to say hello.

He did not know how to eat a carrot which surprised me. (Hokey was happy to gobble up all those dropped carrots.)

Church clothes and barn hair - don't care! I'm at the barn again! And Hokey was happy, too. He sure seemed to like his new barn buddy.

As for a name, Lisa combined his color and the brand and came up with "Buc-ees" for her guess. That one made Tim laugh. His registered name is Easy Bucko and Tim plans to call him Easy.

He's a tall boy, taller than Hokey, and at 3 years old, he still has some filling out to do.

I don't yet know Easy's back story yet, or why he is branded. I look forward to talking to Tim and finding out the story behind the horse.

It felt really good to be back at the barn. And not only did I make it to the barn, I actually made it down the lane and to the pastures. I think Easy's arrival has helped me make a breakthrough in my grief. 

It hasn't been EZ (hah!) but it's a start.