Susie was Here

First Post of the Day

Yesterday while working on some 18th century pockets, I needed twill tape to complete them. I walked over to the dresser where I keep it, and as I opened the drawer, something on top of the dresser caught my eye.

A tagged Stablemate?

Only very rarely do I tag a Stablemate.

I picked it up for a closer look. The tag was not secured around a leg or tail but simply draped over the model's neck. I had to dust off my teaching chops to read what was written on it.

"Susie. 3. Fav. Small."

Hmmm. Susie had tagged this model for some reason. 

Not only that, but I found a stick on top of some sewing supplies. That's Susie for sure - she is ways collecting things that interest her. (It's actually a long dried stem from my old fashioned day lilies.)

And, there were two origami stars. I keep origami paper and several books on folding various things on hand for the grands. More things that pointed to Susie's presence.

Susie and her family had stayed with us for a week in July while she and her sisters had gone to Camp Tecumseh. The sewing room had been used as a guest bedroom during that time and the origami supplies had been out on the upstairs overlook for the kids to use.

Kate and Susie had spent a lot of time with me and going through my collection, looking at pieces, labeling a few that they'd like to have some day, and even taking home Zulu (Kate) and the buckskin lying foal (Susie.)

Susie must've spied the mini Alborozo unicorn and decided it was one she'd also like to have. She knew where I kept the tags, filled one out, and put it on the model. Easy peasy, lemon squeezie, and Susie had let me know that she'd like to have that piece!

Sweet girl, I am happy that you want it and I will make sure that that happens when the time comes. And finding your tag, stick, and origami made me think of you and smile.

It's the last day to comment and enter the September Give Away!

Commenting ends tonight at 11:59 PM ET and I will spin to win Wednesday or Thursday.

Stay 'tooned!

The 2019 BreyerFest Live Auction

This year's BreyerFest has generated a lot of chatter and some controversy on several topics. One of them was that the Breyer Live Auction had a blow out day with one piece setting a new record.

(I pulled the following two photos off social media and forgot to write down who posted the photos. If you know who took them, please let me know so that I can give them proper credit. Thanks!)

The prices on this sheet are fairly normal for the BreyerFest Live Auction, although that Silver at $10,000 is pretty amazing.

As are these, except for that jaw dropping selling price for the Alborozo! - $22,000! That set a new record for a piece sold at the BreyerFest Live Auction.

This Five Gaiter was the 2018 high seller at $5700. 

Photo from Breyer web site.

If you look at 2019's results, there are six models that went higher than that in this year's auction. As someone mentioned on social media, that is indicative of a healthy hobby economy this year.

The hobby has been buzzing about someone having paid $22,000 for a model horse. Some argue that it's an Alborozo so it's worth it, while others claim they'd never pay that much for a model. Rebuttal comes back that it's that person's money so let them spend it how they see fit. And so on.

Jennifer Buxton has an excellent write up that includes a video of the Alborozo auction. Go here if you'd like to watch it.

Do I have an opinion? Of course! But I've stayed out of the controversy. It is not my business how someone chooses to spend their money any more than it is someone else's as to how I spend my hobby money. Personal choices are just that - personal. I learned that as a mom of six kids - I'd go out in public with them all and strangers would come over, ask first if they were "all mine," and then ask IN FRONT OF MY KIDS if I knew about birth control. No words...

We never know the why behind someone's actions unless they choose to tell them. And for the record, we chose to have six kids and would have loved more, but in an ironic similarity to the Alborozo, Cole, our sixth, "broke the mold" so there weren't any more!