Blogging is Hard

Jennifer Buxton of Braymere Custom Saddlery recently put her blog on hiatus. Jennifer has several very valid reasons for her decision, one of which was the title of one of her last blog posts - blogging is hard.

She is absolutely right - blogging is hard. Especially when, like Jennifer, Anne Field, or me, your goal is to post something every day.

Coming up with topics is part of what makes blogging hard. My solution? I keep a file of ideas on my desktop

as well as several handwritten lists of things I might want to write about. Writer's block is real, and these lists have rescued me more than once when I could not think of a thing to write about for the day's post.

Another thing that makes blogging hard is finding the time to write. Family, work, and other obligations can make it so you have to squeeze in writing time. Since I'm an early riser, often my posts are written at 5:00 in the morning. Any photos I take suffer from the poor light quality at that hour, but it is what it is.

So, what are my plans are when it comes to blogging? Will I keep writing and sharing about the pony pals and cowpokes, my collection, Abby, and horsey sewing projects? (A progress picture of the jacket of one of the 18th century riding habits.)

My plan is to continue writing. I enjoy writing, and as I said, Horsiemama (and its counterpart, Teachinmama) function as my journal. Yes, it's hard, but I am retired and have fewer demands and obligations on my time than many people.

I hope Jennifer will bring her blog out of hiatus. I hope Anne continues to write about her dolls, family, and work as an educator. Both are amazing women and I love the glimpses into their lives that they have shared over the years with their readers.

But I also understand if they make a different decision.

Because blogging is hard.

Friends Helping Friends

Last September, Anne Field generously loaned me a bunch of dolls and tack so that I could take some performance photos. Included in the box was Elecktra, Anne's portrait doll of her daughter.

When I finished my photos, I did a Flat Stanley project with Elecktra and took her out to the barn to meet Abby. I had her spend time at the circus with Circus Girl and do other things, and then I wrote a series of "Dear Anne" letters from Elecktra to her mama.

Well, one thing led to another and soon Elecktra was traveling the country. I sent her to Jennifer Buxton in Colorado, and then she visited Corina Roberts in California. Corina sent her back to Indiana for a visit with Allison Pareis and Action Stan.

During her travels, someone popped an autograph horse in with her. I think that it was Jennifer. But since it was after Elecktra had left my home, I had not gotten to sign it.

Enter Allison Pareis, master doll maker, master painter, master friend, and now she has added master forger to her resume.

Concerned that my signature wasn't on the horse, Allison explained the situation in a text and offered to add my name to Anne's autograph horse if I sent her a copy of my signature. I was glad to do so.

Allison practiced a bit, then penciled it lightly onto the horse, and finally went over the pencil in marker.

Because Anne wanted to redo Elecktra's hair before she traveled to the next place on her list, she asked Allison to send Elecktra to her and then she will send it to Stephanie. She plans to send the autograph horse with her and I think it will be fun to see where Elecktra goes and who hosts her.

Anne posted on her blog about receiving the autograph horse and other goodies we'd all tucked in with Elecktra when we sent her on. That is why I was finally able to spill the beans about Allison doing forgery being such a good friend to me and making sure my name was on the horse. 

Stay 'tooned for more on autograph horses coming soon.

It's Anne and Jennifer's Fault

I really didn't start out planning to recreate the doll setups for Pawnee Stables, the stable that I had when I was young. I blame Anne and Jennifer  for that; it's all their fault. They inspired me.

Anne made me two beautiful dolls and then sent Elecktra over to visit. Thinking of the wonderful scene setups that Jennifer does, I tried my own. And that was it - I was hooked on dolls, minis, props, and scenes.

I honestly did not intend to go too much further into buying furniture and props, but when I found those cute bolts of fabric on Sinny's Mini Art, I decided I needed a sewing machine. I mentioned that to Jennifer and Anne while we were chatting online one afternoon and Jennifer sent me a link to a mini sewing machine. 

Things sort of snowballed from there and before I knew it, I had bought a table (with working drawers),

a craft table,

and a couch. It looks so much like the one I had for Pawnee Stables, only that one was a wild yellow and orange pattern. (It was the 60s, you know!)

I found some N scale horses to add to the girls' collection.

and a desktop computer that looks just like mine.

The sewing machine is perfect and similar to my Janome, and I couldn't resist a miniature box of sewing supplies to set beside it. After all, when I sew, I have supplies scattered all over my craft table. Gotta be real, right?

The couch is too low, but I have an idea for fixing that.

The N scale horses are beautifully detailed and I was hoping to put them in the barn I am building for my recreation. Compared to the horses that came in the kit, though, they may be too small. But that's okay; I also have ordered the same set in HO scale and will use it if it works better. 

Thanks, Anne and Jennifer! I love it when you inspire me!

Generous Anne

Jennifer Buxton recently said, "Anne is awesome" in a blog post and she's right. Anne is also generous. I bought two folding chairs, two cell phones, some Cokes, and two flamingos from her  Black Friday sale and they arrived today. But there was more than what I'd purchased in that mailer.

Inside was this wrapped gift and note, too. (Anne loves pink, purple, and unicorns.)

I read the note first and then tore off the wrapping paper.

An apple, a rubber chicken, some Boston cream pie, a slice of pizza, four more flamingos, and some Starbucks drinks were inside!

Little Lynn and Wintergreen had been busy decorating so she decided she'd treat herself to a Diet Coke and take a brief break.

Thanks so much for your generosity, Anne! That was really sweet of you.

The December 10 Breyer advent calendar surprise is

an English saddle and a saddle rack!

Dear Anne - A Mini Circus Performance

 Dear Anne,

I'm back! Got my hair cut and colored and feel much better. It had gotten so long that I was constantly pulling it back into a pony tail to keep it out of my face.

Anyway, after those seals had bounded into the room and romped around, Circus Girl had an idea - a way to let Elecktra and Little Lynn see a bit of a circus performance. The side show acts, like the seals, were small and easily set up. Plus, some of those performers (specifically the Hagen Renaker Circus Ponies) liked any opportunity to show off. Why not do a mini side show?

The seals were so happy when Circus Girl pulled the ring out that they insisted on helping her set it up, too. (Notice that it's upside down. We didn't tell them because they were so proud of themselves for helping.)

They may be on winter break, but the seals were still in top form. I missed the photo op, but that seal on the pedestal threw the ball to Elecktra. Was she surprised! (And she caught it, too!) We all had a good laugh about that.

The dogs wanted to go next. Somehow one of the monkeys joined them - how did he get loose? I made a mental note to make sure he got back safely with the other monkeys when we finished.

The dogs were very energetic, and the smallest one was so exuberant that, when the act was over, she jumped up onto Elecktra's lap and give her a kiss!

Following the dogs were the pygmy elephants. Minnie, the baby in the middle, stole the show. She isn't actually in the act yet, but she followed her mama into the ring and then wandered around while the others performed.

The elephants had barely exited the ring when we heard the sound of approaching hooves. Coming into the ring at a gallop was a herd of miniature horses. Fondly called the "Phony Ponies," they packed themselves into that ring. 

Ten miniature horses, all at once! 

Last, but not least, the Hagen Renaker circus ponies performed. They are the real pros of the show, and their performance was flawless. 

Then we were in for a real surprise. Circus Girl brought Mr. Nedz out in full circus regalia and let the girls work him! What a showstopper he is!

After untacking and turning Mr. Nedz out into his paddock, we all sat around and chatted a bit. And then, Circus Girl had one last surprise in store for Elecktra.

She gifted her with her favorite model. Elecktra thanked Circus Girl and told her that she would treasure it always. (Your girl has such good manners, Anne!)

With some teary hugs and good-byes, Little Lynn, Elecktra, and I piled back into the car and headed to West Lafayette.  Elecktra had a box to catch so that she could go out in the day's mail to her next stop, Aurora, Colorado and a visit with Jennifer Buxton. (Lucky girl!)

Since we were all teary, I didn't take any photos of Elecktra's departure. I made sure that she had everything she needed for her trip and gave her one last hug.

Little Lynn and I will miss her, but we look forward to hearing about her adventures with Jennifer. Thanks again for letting her visit us, Anne! And we hope that some day you can visit, too!

Love always, 

Lynn xo

Pandemic Performance Panorama

The pandemic has spurred the hobby to return to its roots - since live shows are currently not safe to hold or attend, many hobbyists have returned to photo showing. Only instead of doing the ol' physical photos stuffed into a large envelope with a SASE to return them, modern photo showing is done digitally and online.

The options for specialty shows have been creative, but probably none more so than Jennifer Buxton's Pandemic Performance Panorama. (The teacher in me LOVES that alliteration! A+, Jennifer!)

The class list is unique and allows for a great deal of personal expression and creativity from the exhibitor. I'm not great at making tack, props, or dolls, but I can use what I have and come up with entries.

I have a whole bunch of Thelwell rubber horses and riders. Using some appliqués tucked away in my quiet book supplies, I created a scene of dedicated fox hunters heading out despite the looming hurricane. (The appliqués are taped to the wall.) This is for the Teeny Tiny Performance class.

My lovely doll from Anne Field is here, and while I intend to use her for a more elegant entry in live shows, I also used her as I toyed with ideas for the Mixed Scale Performance class.

Another quiet book appliqué was taped to the wall and a narrative was posted with the entry.

When I saw there was a Vintage Performance class, I entered this photo taken in the early 1990s.  (I love looking at the entries in that class - so many old photos that bring back lots of memories.)

I am working on one last photo that I will enter in Bad Performance. It will include my new doll and my new Rubbernedz. Anne inadvertently gave me the idea when she sent me progress photos on the doll, and I am hoping I can pull it off. 

I'll post the photo here when I do.

Give Me a J! (Sort Of)

Earlier this year, Karen Crossley (aka Pawprint) wrote a blog post about the models that Kathleen Moody had sculpted for Breyer and other companies. In it, she mentioned that she loved Kathleen's Trail of Painted Ponies Norwegian Ford. Wait a minute! Kathleen had done a Norwegian Fjord?

Curious, I clicked the link in her blog and my jaw dropped - I was expecting the standard Trail of Painted Ponies model that had been decorated around some particular theme. That certainly wasn't what I saw.

It was a realistically painted Norwegian Fjord! I fell in love with it, did a little research, and had soon ordered one for myself. Then I emailed Karen through the link in her blog.

Hi, Pawprint! I read about Kathleen Moody's TPP Norwegian Fjord on your blog, looked it up and fell in love, and now have one myself. I'm writing a blog post about the piece and I want to include a link to your blog post that prompted me to get my own. If you don't mind, may I use your real name? I won't if you'd rather I didn't. Thanks much!  Lynn

Karen responded right away.

No problem.  I just use the pseudonym to protect myself from spammers.  And I'd love it if you linked to the blog -- the more readers I can get the better! My real name is Karen Crossley -- I use pawprint because it's been my email address since I first got connected online many years ago. I'm so glad you like your fjord! Cheers!   Karen Crossley

I knew what I wanted to name this piece right away - Affjordable. (See? There's the J!)

Affjordable lives on top of the china cabinet that houses my Metlox, Freeman Leidy, Cheval, and other non-Hagen Renaker horses. He's out where I can see him frequently, and has been a reminder of Karen ever since.

That reminder is even more poignant for me now.

Another Super Bowl Connection

I am not a football fan, although I do enjoy the game atmosphere. Craig played football and was All-State for Indiana his senior year, recruited by Notre Dame (but chose to attend Purdue where he was too small for the team), and was recently named to his school's commemorative 100-year team when they selected the best players of the past 100 years and put together a sort of dream team.

Craig's football genes won out over my horsey ones when it came to our kids; all six are huge football fans, while only one is a horsey girl like her mama.

I have tried to learn the game, and even chose two teams to follow: The Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos. (My choices made my family smile and say, "Oh, Mom!")

Our oldest daughter and her family live in the Denver area and avidly follow the Broncos (and the Packers and the Seahawks and...) They took me to the stadium once for an August scrimmage, so I actually have seen the team live and in person.

My classroom colors are orange and blue, too, but actually that is because my college degrees are both from the University of Illinois, a Big Ten team. (If there's anything I will root for avidly myself, it's Illinois basketball! )

But I have another connection to the Denver Broncos - one of  those "who'd have thought" ones.

Denver's mascot horse, Thunder, is ridden by a woman I went to junior high and high school with, Anne Judge-Wegner.

Anne trains Thunder (not the horse's real name) and is a judge and horse trainer, living in Bennett, Colorado.

She is a year younger than me, but we were in choir, band, and drama club together. I remember her as a very nice gal, one who was quiet and even a bit shy.

I actually remember very little of her horsey side. I think that is because, even as a teenager, she was riding in big Arabian breed shows while I was on a backyard Appaloosa mare participating in local fun shows. She and I were both in 4-H together,  though, attending Horse and Pony Club meetings and showing at the local 4-H fair and show every summer.

Our paths haven't crossed since high school, although her family is still here in West Lafayette and her father recently published a book titled The Bronco Girl. 

The book is available on Amazon, but I haven't read it. Anne came back and did some local book signings with her dad when it first came out. I thought about going to one and saying "hello," but had a conflict and could not make it.

I usually don't watch much of the Super Bowl (aside from the Clydesdale commercials...) but I am rooting for Denver in this Sunday's Super Bowl. I am also hoping to catch a glimpse of Anne and Thunder racing across the football field, and hopefully in the winner's celebration.