Mila's Gasp-Worthy Surprises of Love

Continued from yesterday...

There were three gasp-worthy moments as I discovered all of Mila's sweet expressions of love and support.

This lockable cabinet is full of all my Freeman-Leidys and a whole lot of other fragile and vintage models.  Usually I keep it locked and the key put on top of the cabinet.

But the key is iffy, and it can be a struggle to get it placed in just the right spot to open the cabinet. So, sometimes I just leave the key inserted in the lock after locking it. Easy peasy for me the next time I want to open that door.

The gasp I let out when I spied that piece of hot pink notepaper inside the cabinet could probably be heard throughout my neighborhood. 

Mila had slid a note behind a ballerina and under the hoof of one of the Metlox Drafters I got from the sale of Karen Grimm's collection. 

Carefully I removed the ballerina and then slid the note out from underneath the drafter's hoof.

Another note from "the horses." And thankfully everything looked fine. I checked the Freeman Leidys and then glanced down the shelves to be sure that all was okay.

And let out another gasp.

Oh, gosh, another note, folded and tucked into the front legs of my DeBrekht Circus Pony. (The three legged Animal Artistry model was broken by me, not Mila, and is awaiting repair.)

You don't see these very often. They are made in Santa Ana, California

and mine is #0006/1500 and was produced in 2003.  This is the only DeBrekht piece I have ever seen.

I set him on the top shelf for a photo and then retrieved his note.

A compliment from "the horses!" 

But the final gasp was probably the biggest of all.

The note on the outside of the minis cabinet looked pretty harmless and innocuous. But I could also see a bright pink note on the second shelf.

Oh gosh, there are so many fragile, old, and tippy pieces in that cabinet. Almost all Hagen Renakers, with a sizable amount of them from Nancy Falzone's personal collection.

Deep breath, Lynn. Deep breath.

After all, she's been holding pieces from your collection for years. She knows how to be careful.

The folded note was on top of the oldest HR minis in the case - complete families of the earliest HR minis, all from Nancy.

Carefully I retrieved the note and opened it. And then I started to laugh. And then I got teary. Mila's sweetness at its finest, coupled with a healthy dose of tact. (That girl is growing up!)

Grammy, 

In the far, far future when you join Heavenly Father, can I take care of your miniature figures cabinet that this note is in. And maybe some other horses... Put this note under the couch on the main floor when you have your answer and it will wait for me until my next visit. 💜

Love, Mila

P.S. Look on the back side

So, basically another "when you are dead, Grammy" request from Mila to have my collection, only now she is phrasing it more gently and tactfully. 

Oh, my heart. That girl. Of course, she can have the mini figures cabinet. I will let her know that some pieces are already spoken for, but that she is welcome to have all that are not. (And hopefully, it will be in the far, far future!)

The back side of the note that I need to fill out and tuck under the couch in the living room.

What a thoughtful thing to do for me; I loved finding all the notes and reading them, although were I not already totally grey, I think I would have added some more grey hair from the location of the last couple of notes!

But Mila was not only thoughtful, she was very careful as well. 

My minis are going to be in good hands in that far, far future. And that makes me very, very happy.

Thanks, Mila. I love you. xo

Mila's Surprise Gift of Love

Saturday we had a rousing family Easter egg hunt up at Leslie and Rick's farm. 

My sister Jenny is sooooo competitive.

Afterward, we gathered at our home for a dinner of Curt's yummy homemade lasagna and Lisa's delicious Hershey pie.

We were together all day, playing games, watching the NCAA basketball tournament (my Illini won and made it to the Final Four!!) and just enjoying being together. 

Sometime during that afternoon, sweet Mila slipped upstairs and into my sewing room where she prepared a surprise for me. A tender and very sweet one, but also one that made me gasp a time or two. Luckily, Mila is old enough and has had plenty of experience of being around my collection and knows to be careful. (Still, I honestly did gasp.)

As they were leaving for home, Vanessa quietly gave me a heads up that there were surprises hidden upstairs for me by Mila.  

Vanessa was not kidding.

Sunday morning I came upstairs to write and went looking. 

The first thing I saw was a bright pink scrap of paper tucked under my 18th century pincushion.

I also noticed that she'd chosen to tear the paper rather than use my expensive sewing shears to cut the paper! Thanks, Mila!

She'd used some of the colored ball-headed pins to make a smiling face

and then created a mohawk out of the machine needles, hand sewing needles, a pin or two, and my favorite bodkin.

Ian had done the same years ago with a regular pincushion and I keep it displayed as it still makes me smile. 

I use that 18th century pincushion every time I sew so I can't keep it as is, but I took lots of pictures to help me remember it.

Looking around the room, I noticed that the sewing basket I take downstairs when cutting out patterns had a note in it.

Honestly, I don't get bored so I flipped it over anyway.

A list of things to do! Pick one a day. I will have to begin with baking cookies for my grandchildren, but the nap and reading a book are awfully appealing to me.

Looking around the room again, I had my first heart-stopping moment.

A scrap of pink paper under the hooves of my large (and expensive) Cheval Thoroughbred.

A little bit of love from the horses in my collection! No harm done. But then, Mila does know how to treat model horses. I kept repeating that to myself as I continued to look around the room.

Over on the other side of the room was a note I'd already walked past and missed.

Again, I went ahead and flipped it over.

More suggestions of things I might do, all of them service oriented. (Mila followed her own idea by writing all these notes and not leaving her name.) 

And I will try hard to "be me," although I'm not sure what I should do to be me besides, well, just be me! (I think it's actually a form of the old adage, "Be true to thine own self.")

Hmmm. Some socks on the floor by some sewing supplies. Too small for Craig or me!

Two more things! A note with my name on it and another pink scrap under the hoof of a plastic (thankfully) model horse!

More encouragement for me. 

Another flash of pink caught my eye, this time among my Hartlands.

Folded up and stuffed into the open mouth. (Yeesh, I never did dust my collection this past winter like I'd wanted to...)

Another note of encouragement from the horses! 

I took a moment to open the note I'd found with my Weather Girls. Mila had taken a sheet off my Thanksgiving notepad and filled it in.

And Mila was not done. I've saved the three most gasp-worthy signs of love from Mila for tomorrow's post.

Like the others, they were very sweet and kind (and even tactful in their writing), but my heart beat fast and hard for some time after I discovered them.

Stay 'tooned!

"We Owe Our Equestrian People for Our Circuses"

My favorite living history friend is Carol Jarboe. 

A retired English teacher from Kentucky, we share not only a love of history, but of teaching, horses, and more.

She has several historical personas that she appears as, but her most beloved by the crowds is Maggie, an indentured Irish woman with a sharp wit and tongue. 

Sometimes she is so believable that people offer to help her. A man once drew her aside, said he was a dentist, and offered to fix her teeth. He was quite surprised when she shared that she actually had all her teeth and was wearing a retainer that made it look as though they were in bad shape!

Proof! Carol, me, Carol's husband John, and Lisa at last year's Feast set-up.

Carol is doing research for a new presentation on how 18th century folks entertained themselves when their work was done. And she told me a remarkable story, one that is equestrian related, about how the circus came to the United States. 

You know me, a horsey girl all the way (plus one who collects circus horses), so I asked if I could record what she had to say. Carol was agreeable but said she was still doing some fact checking on a name or two. She will let me know if she got one wrong.

Here's what she shared:

Pretty interesting, isn't it? I had never thought about the angle of the horse's body as a rider jumped on and how important the size of the ring was to facilitate that.

Carol is planning on doing this new presentation at this year's Feast. I hope I can get away for it and hear what she has to say.

Vintage Club Release #2

If you are a fan of Breyer's vintage molds (and I am), then this year's Vintage Club is making your heart sing. Offering  number two has been released, and it is on my all-time favorite Breyer mold, the Semi-Rearing Mustang!

Named "El Dorado," the run is split 50/50 between an iteration of the Appaloosa Performance Horse in Florentine and Copenhagen.  Although in their advertisement for him, Breyer called that blue wedgewood. (Photos of El Dorado by Breyer.)

You can see how well Breyer has replicated the polka dot spots pattern. (This is my model, but the person I bought it from took the pics. I cannot remember their name to give them credit.)

Breyer did not show pics of El Dorado's off side; my guess is that they will look like this, too.

And, I am wondering if Breyer might have made some of them as chalkies. Wouldn't that be awesome?

The Appaloosa Performance Horse's color is wildly popular among collectors and Breyer has used it several times for the Vintage Club. (Eagle, Halo, and Leopold.)

Regardless, I will be happy with either color that I get. And, I may even see if I can find the other color, too. So if you know of someone selling theirs, please let me know.

Catching Up on Life Before the Event

Time for a mish mosh post!

It's Spring in Indiana, but being Indiana, you could be having a blizzard or you might have a heat wave.

Yesterday we got the heat wave. And severe thunderstorms. And then (no surprise), the tornado sirens began wailing.

Earlier this month the tornados were north of us. Yesterday, they went south. Curt and his family live south of town, and were sheltering in their basement after having (as he put it), "...pretty violent winds." Curt isn't one for hyperbole, so those must've been some very strong winds.

Severe thunderstorms and tornadic activity are not unusual in our part of Indiana. But I do get a little jittery when they are down by Curt's.  I've written before about the tornado that hit the kids' schools and badly damaged them. That has stayed with me ever since.

Ian's Spring band concert was just before Kalamazoo, and Craig and Lisa attended.  

This is the infamous wall that peeled open like a banana in that tornado. I cannot go into that gym and not think of that. 

Video footage from security cameras inside Southwestern as the tornado hits:

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

And a news story showing the damage outside of both schools:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwolRjqW0Hg

Craig and I had to split duties - the very same evening was Grandparents' Night at Mila and Lukie's school, the other one that was hit by that tornado. While he and Lisa went to Ian's concert, I joined Mila and Lukie.

We played a giant Candy Land game along with their other grandmother, Nancy. It was a clever idea and we had fun together.

Also just before Kalamazoo, Lukie chose to be baptized.

He asked me to speak at the service and share about my own baptism which happened to be 50 years ago to the day of his. Lukie knew that, did some mental Math, and piped up, "So, Grammy, you must be 58 years old now." Not true, buddy, but if you say so, I'll take it! LOL

Any college basketball fans out there? I prefer basketball over football, and my three teams are Illinois, Purdue, and Iowa. I took time out of my Kalamazoo preparations to create a bracket and enter the family's annual NCAA tournament bracket, The Bitter Bocce Losers. (That's Cole's sense of humor right there on that name. LOL)

I'm pleased to say that I am second in the family bracket and that those three teams are all in the Elite Eight! Seven year old Susie has been in first place until just recently. I think her strategy was to pick her teams by mascot, or so the family rumor mill says. Whatever it is, it has been working for her! Haha!

It took me several hours, but I have almost everything from Kalamazoo inventoried and packed away.

And I was able to keep the window open for Tammo so that he can watch the world go by and maybe see his buddy, Salem.

Pepper slipped into her bed under the table while I worked, taking advantage of the extra shelter provided by a shawl hanging over the side.

Kalamazoo is almost in the books. I need to send my sales taxes to the State of Michigan, file my records in my event binder, and put away some sleeve buttons and I will be done. 

Oh wait, order maple cake bags and ornament bags for the Feast, pack up an order, and...

Good thing I enjoy this, right?