December 2 - Yuletide Cheer Photo Challenge

 Today's prompt? A model from/because of a friend. Oh, wow. What do I choose? After thinking about it, I went for sentimental pieces, and boy howdy, these pieces are.

A Wade Whimsey Circus Horse

I've mentioned my best hobby friend, Kathy Bateman, before. Kat and I go way back to the early 1990s and we attended many BreyerFests and live shows together. There was no one I'd rather go to a live show with. (That's still true.)

Kat knew how much I loved teaching. She also knew how much I loved circus horses and ponies. So, when health issues necessitated an earlier retirement from teaching than I'd hoped for, she sent me this gift.

 The full story behind this gift horse can be found here.

Sadly, Kat passed away unexpectedly earlier this year. Her death hit me hard on many levels. Not only was she a dear friend, but I had a high level of respect for her. I have never written her back story here and I won't now, but Kathy overcame a lot of major challenges in her life. She was resilient, she was intelligent, she worked hard, and she never gave up. Well done, Kat! And oh, how I miss you, dear friend.

A Custom Abby & Two Socks

In an odd and fortuitous quirk of timing, Betz Everitt contacted me in Fall of 2023 and said she was working on a gift for me and asked if I minded if she painted Abby.

Mind?? Not at all - what a lovely thing to do!

And not only did she paint Abby, she painted Two Socks, too! (This is the perfect mold for that girl - she was so full of life.)

In light of the fact that both would tragically die in less than a year, this gift was an incredible coincidence of timing.

A few weeks before the lightning strike that took both horses' lives, I showed mini Abby at Midwest Model Mayhem and Betz's gift to me is now NAN qualified.

Betz, I have loved these pieces since the day they arrived here, but they are even more meaningful now that both horses are gone. I am so very grateful for your two gifts and keep both of them on the shelf right behind me as a constant reminder of two beloved horses and a very thoughtful friend. Thank you. xo

More about these two can be found in this blog post.

Tomorrow's Yuletide photo prompt is "Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins: a purchase you made on a whim." Hmmmm... Let's see. That will be hard because I have NEVER done that... 😇 

Stay 'tooned!