Slowing the Pace a Bit

Yesterday I worked for an hour trying to write a blog post. Normally I don't have any kind of writing block (which is why so often there are two blog posts in one day.) So what happened?

I am sure it was simply tiredness. I had spent all day Friday pouring and popping blackened beeswax ornaments. 

Then, Saturday I helped my new neighbors' children make stepping stones for their own garden. 

It was fun, but when we finished, I laid down thinking I'd just rest for a few minutes, and woke up three hours later.  Three hours! And then, last night I slept nine hours. Between the Saturday nap and longer sleep last night, I am feeling much brighter and more like myself this morning.

Fall is in full swing in Indiana. It was 45 degrees when I got up this morning, and for the first time in months, I could see my breath when I took Pepper outside.  I'm not ready for cold weather yet although I never mind having a cup of hot chocolate on a chilly morning.

Today's plan?

After I sort the beeswax ornaments and pack them up for their trip to Fort Ouiatenon, I'm heading back into the sewing room. 

I spent some time Thursday measuring remnants and labeling them.

and I have decided to part with some pieces of fabric that I've had for a while but just haven't used.

This piece is from my mother's stash and is hard to let go. She loved birds and she loved blue. When she was alive and sewing 18th century clothing, this print was considered appropriate.

Since then research has shown that prints were generally smaller than a human hand, and so this print is not period correct despite its beauty. However, there are a lot of quilters and sewists who reenact history, and I would not be surprised if this remnant sells quickly.

A large remnant from a wool petticoat that I completed last week.

The teal green wool petticoat.

My to-do list is far more manageable than it was and I've got two and a half weeks before I set up my tent, so I plan to slow down my pace and not let myself get so overly tired again.

Go ahead, fast clock! Do your thing because I'm in good shape!

Stay 'tooned!

Taking the Day Off

I'm taking the day off from writing. Nothing's wrong; I'm just tired and have a major writing block. (I know. Me. Who usually has several posts written ahead and ready for publication!) 

Lots of things are happening that I would love to write about. Some I can't share for quite some time (but I will eventually), others I just don't feel are blog-worthy.

So, here's a photo of my oldest three, Kyle, Sarah, and Jessica, who've dubbed themselves "the mountain siblings." (As opposed to "the flatlanders?" For Lisa, Curt, and Cole?)

Some of my most-loved people right there.

Sarah has been in Salt Lake City all week in meetings with Utah's leaders for Healthy Birth Day and Count the Kicks, so they all got together for sushi Saturday night before Sarah has to fly back to Montana today.

Again, I am fine. I've just been working hard and I think I simply need some down time. I'll be back tomorrow.

Stay 'tooned!

A Pour & Pop Marathon

By 10:00 yesterday morning, my back had calmed down (again) and I decided I would go ahead and make the beeswax ornaments as I'd intended.

It's a big undertaking, one that takes over the entire kitchen. I get the wax started melting, and then pull out the molds I plan to begin with.

And when that's done, I wait for the beeswax to be fully melted and ready to pour.

That's a good time to cut and tie the thread hangers.

Accompanied by my best girl, as always. Who is lying right next to my chair, making it difficult to get over to the island where the ornaments are actually created.

Almost ready to pour. That round, lighter orange disk is unmelted beeswax at the bottom of the melting bowl.

Soon things are happening quickly. While a new batch of beeswax pellets begins melting, the previous one has cooled enough so that it's time to pop the ornaments out of their molds and blacken them with beeswax.

I generally pour 7 - 8 ornaments per each melted batch.

By the time I have blackened a batch, the beeswax is melted and ready to pour. And thus begins a cycle of pour and pop. Or pop and pour depending on where I am in that cycle! LOL

Usually I pour and pop for three hours or so and then stop for the day, but with the Feast only three weeks away and my back being iffy, I decided to go until I'd made all that I'd planned to make to ensure that I had a good selection for the Feast.

I worked until 5:30 and then was still pouring and popping a few throughout dinner.

I was exhausted when I finished but the pour and pop marathon was worth it. I have 65 new ornaments completed for a total of 166 blackened beeswax ornaments to take to the Feast of the Hunters' Moon.

Checking that project off my Feast to-do list felt good!

Stay 'tooned!

Derailed!

Second Post of the Day

It's October and just three weeks from today, I'll be out at Fort Ouiatenon and speaking to the children at School Day about horses in the 18th century.

One part of me feels like a kid waiting for Christmas ("It'll never get here!") while the other part of me is wishing the clock would slow down. ("The Feast is three weeks away?! Nooooo!")

I'm nearly ready, and honestly, if the Feast were tomorrow, I could set up, sell, and be fine. But still, there are some things I'd like to complete.

Today's plan was to make the first batch of blackened beeswax ornaments but that's on hold at the moment. 

Yesterday, I had just hung this newly completed petticoat on the mannequin and turned to grab my phone to take pictures, when the muscles in my back began spasming.

Out of the blue, no warning, no idea why. I spent the rest of the day on a heating pad and taking painkillers.

This morning I felt normal and was pain free when I got up at 5:15. I let Pepper out (Tammo prefers to sleep in) and when we came back into the house, my back suddenly seized up again. Badly. More pain killers, more time on the heating pad, and a late breakfast for Pepper. (Meanwhile, Tammo continued to sleep on, even as I write. He hasn't poked his head out of the covers yet. But then, neither has Craig. LOL)

It's only 7 AM and I am able to sit here at the computer and write. I am hoping to get into the kitchen and make a batch of ornaments later today. Currently I have 101 ornaments made and ready to go. (Like I said, I could set up and be ready to go.)

But I am completely out of the cardinals, my best seller, and very low on other favorites. And if you won one of the Highland Cow ornaments in the Give Away last Spring, I haven't forgotten about you. Making those are high on my priority list.

The spasms are still present but I am feeling better. I am going to lie down again and hope for the best for later today. Wish me luck and stay 'tooned.

Getting Angry & Taking a Stand Pays Off

First Post of the Day

It worked! I'd  thought it would, I'd hoped it would, but I was prepared to do battle if it didn't.

Remember my anger at a principal who was allowing food trucks to block handicapped parking spaces? And there were no other handicapped spaces except those that were blocked?

I'd spoken with him when I'd arrived for a football game and had discovered there were no handicapped parking spots available to those who needed them, and, more importantly, WHY there were no handicapped parking spaces.

 He'd said he'd "consider" my request to not block the handicapped spaces in the future. I decided to give him a chance to do the right thing and didn't go to the Superintendent then. 

But, the following week, there they were again. Parked in the handicapped spaces and blocking them.

And that's when I really got angry. It was wrong - legally and ethically. And a bad message to send to his students and their parents. 

After that second check where nothing had changed, I composed a letter to Scott Hanback, the Superintendent of Schools.  I did not expect an immediate answer - I knew he would want to talk to the principal and get his side of the story. That's only fair.

He responded more quickly than I'd anticipated. As busy as he is, it must've been an important issue to him, too.

Thank you for calling this to TSC's attention. I spoke with Principal Roop and in the future the school will use regular parking spots, or elsewhere, instead of the designated handicap spots.

Sincerely,

Scott Hanback

Kathy had been following the issue, too, and knew that I had written to Dr. Hanback. She worked far more closely with him than I ever did (the last years of her career, she administered a mentoring program for the new teachers hired by TSC).

 She said when she heard the outcome, "I thought Scott would do that. He is a good man."

And she's right. He is a good man and a good superintendent. So much so that he is Indiana's 2026 Superintendent of the Year.

Thank you, Dr. Hanback. You took action when there was a problem. I appreciate the support in correcting the issue.  And congratulations on your recent award. Well deserved!

Collections Within My Collection: The Halloween Horses

I try really hard to not put any Halloween decorations out until October. There's no reason except that I just don't feel like September has that October/Halloweenish vibe.

Well, what a difference the turn of the calendar makes! It's October 1 and time to begin setting out things to make our home feel more like Halloween.

Truth be told, I am not into the macabre or gory aspects of the holiday. And I really detest skeletons. (Says she who has her own femur head in a jar in her dresser. Really, I do. When my right hip was replaced in 2004, I asked my orthopedic surgeon if I could have it to use in my classroom when we studied the human body.)

Almost always, I begin decorating with Breyer's Halloween horses.

Breyer began offering Halloween horses in 2001 when they produced Skullduggery, a black appaloosa on the Silver mold.

I have regretted many times that I did not buy one back then, but I did not (and still don't) like that grinning skull on his hips. (Photo from Google Images.)

After the success of Skullduggery, the Breyer floodgates were opened. Breyer began producing a Halloween horse annually (mostly) which morphed into Stablemates, Freedom series, plushies, and more.

The next year was Nosferatu on the Cigar mold (which I do not care for), and the third year was Merry Widow on Marabella. (I was tempted by her but didn't get her.)

But when Cryptic was released in 2004, I was hooked.

Big Ben done as a concrete statue that glowed in the dark? Oh, my, YES, please! To this day he is one of my favorite pieces in my collection. A truly unique decorator, for sure.

Illuminati was the next one that called my name. A vintage mold, the Running Stallion who lit up at the press of a button, was released in 2006 although I missed out on him. 

We'd just moved back to Indiana and I was hired to open and teach the inaugural 2nd and 3rd grade gifted class which required that I write all the curriculum that we used. It was a huge challenge and I don't think I even knew who the Halloween Horse was that year. Gotta love the secondary market.

Then there were some gaps where no Halloween horses were offered, from 2008 - 2010 and then 2011 - 2014. I have no idea why - they were (and are) very popuar.

In 2015, another must-have was released. Ichabod. I had been asked to move up and teach the inaugural 4th and 5th grade gifted class (where again I'd had to write all the curriculum that we used), and we studied children' classic literature in Reading/Language Arts. 

Naturally I read aloud The Legend of Sleepy Hollow to my class every October. (If you have never read the unabridged version by Washington Irving, DO IT!) Plus Ichabod was on the Fighting Stallion, a vintage mold that I love.

In 2016, Crane was released, the companion piece to Ichabod.

Done on another vintage mold, the Classic Rearing Stallion, he was another must-have for me.

It was for a similar reason that I bought Nevermore when she was released in 2018. Most definitely I did not think Edgar Allen Poe's poetry was something I wanted to use in my classroom. (I remember being absolutely TERRIFIED by The Pit and the Pendulum as a girl) but, it is classic literature, albeit more for adults than kids..

Just because the kids were intelligent enough to be able to read and comprehend Poe's poems, that didn't that mean they had the emotional maturity to handle it. 

2021 brought Eek. I really like that mold, but find the spiders on it pretty creepy.

Still, no regrets from me for buying it.

In 2023 I purchased Slither and immediately regretted it. I simply do not care for that mold and its flying mane and tail. He was the Freedom series Halloween horse for that year. 

He's for sale if you want him. He's listed as $30 - $40 on the Breyer Value Guide, but I'd sell him for $25 plus postage.Put a comment in on this post or email me at horsiemama8@gmail.

2023 also brought the Spooky Surprise Blind Bags Series Five and I wanted two of the three models offered:

mini Nevermore (that classic literature connection plus I like that Stablemate mold)

and the candy corn colored Cornelius. I mean, who doesn't like him??

The Semi-Rearing Mustang is my favorite mold, and so when Beowulf was released in 2024, I bought him immediately fearing he would sell out quickly. I should not have worried - Breyer must've anticipated that he'd be popular and made a huge amount of him as two years later he is still available on Breyer's web site.

My most recent Halloween horse is this year's Freedom series offering - Cryptid. The Lippizaner is my favorite Classic mold and Lippizaners are one of my top three favorite breeds (Appaloosas, Tennessee Walkers, and Lippizaners.)

I've begun gathering all these models and will set them out in a day or two. I may even wait until Sunday as I'm working so hard with Feast prep. Pictures to come!

Stay 'tooned!