A November Hodge Podge

Not a mish mosh post this time; I'm changing things up and doing a hodge hodge post! Which is essentially the same thing, but hey...

Lots of things are happening, here in my life as well as in the hobby world. First, some news that made me really happy. There's a new model horse blog - Mel Grant's  Mel's Model Horse Collection.

The second line in her very first blog post referenced Lewis Carroll (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass) and then and there I knew that this was going to be a blog I wanted to follow.

I met Mel at the first FAMulous Collectibility Show in 2019 and she and I have been friends ever since. Nice woman, excellent writer, and she knows model horses - what a great addition to the hobby's blogging world Mel will be.

There is a link to her blog to the right under "My Blog List." Go check it out; you'll be glad you did. I'm already looking forward to Mel's next post.

Moving on to Breyer news, I'm late in sharing this and no doubt ya'll know already that Breyer has announced the 2026 BreyerFest Celebration model. (Photo by Breyer.)

I think she is lovely - I like the mold and I like her soft color. It's been a while since I actually kept the Celebration Model for my personal collection, but she's a keeper for me. 

Breyer also released Killington, big and small, yesterday. Collector Club members can order the pair until November 6 and then, if any are left, they will open sales up to everyone.

A vintage mold that I conga and its mini me? In silver filigree? I never even read the text in the advertisement - I clicked on the Buy It button and ordered them! (Photo by Breyer.)

ELauer, one of the winners of the September Give Away for the Halloween keychains and wristlets, sent me a photo of what she'd done with the wristlet she'd won. A little Fall decor!

It made a perfect neck wreath for Breyer's Welsh mare. With her permission, I sent the photo on to Cambria and Titan who were thrilled to see their work used that way.

I ordered my second copy of Dr. Seuss' Horse Museum - this one to give to Teacher Daughter Lisa to use in her classroom.

To my dismay, the packer had used white tape of some sort and taped the book to a box insert - with the tape on the dust cover!

I could not get the tape off and was concerned the cover would rip so I contacted Amazon for a replacement.

That is the third problem with Amazon shipping I have had in two months. Just before the Feast and then again this past Monday, I received empty Amazon packages. When I reported them, I was asked if I was sure the package was empty or if perhaps I'd just missed the package on my doorstep because they had a photo of it having been delivered. (Which they then sent me.)

Both times the missing orders were buttons for making sleeve buttons. I'd had four custom orders for Trade Shirts from the Feast and the customers had asked for specific sets of sleeve buttons for the cuffs.

Two of them wanted a pair of the flat brass ones but I only had one set; no problem, order more of those buttons and make them.

Except... the replacement order would not arrive for two weeks and I needed them within a day or two.

Fortunately, the customer was very nice and said another pair would be fine.

I sent them several photos of the metal sleeve buttons I had in stock

and they selected this silver pair. 

The customers were local and I dropped the shirts, sleeve buttons, and a bonus little girl's petticoat off in the afternoon.

The woman who ordered this trade shirt asked me if I could make something out of any leftover fabric from her shirt. It was a bit of a squeak, but I was able to get a petticoat from it. I can't wait to see aunt and niece wearing their matching clothes at the next Feast.

I've been checking the weather frequently as the Happy Trails V/The Dan Patch Show gets closer. We've had accumulating snows as early as October in the past and I was hoping that that would not be the case this year. To my dismay, I saw the first snowflake icon on my weather app yesterday.

Two days after the show - we are good. Looks like we may deal with rain, but that's no problem.

Meanwhile, Montana Mama Sarah (who has had several snows already) discovered that hubby Todd was doing some "holiday decorating" while she was in Idaho playing Gimme to new baby Elise May.

After speaking with Brooke, I am going to set up the show Thursday instead of Friday. (Which works well for me - Tim and Loni are hosting a hay ride out at the barn Friday evening.)

Yesterday I sat down at the sewing machine and made a show apron from the leftover Standardbred fabric.

I already had one made from another racing themed fabric, so I pulled it out,

folded them both up, and added them to the donations tub for the raffle. With that, I am calling it good for donations although I expect some will arrive on the day of the show. I'll add those to the raffle table then.

Belle and I met up at a spaghetti supper last night. We had done the old high school trick, texting beforehand and asking, "What are you wearing? Are we going cowgirl?" 

Finally, we were going to wear the tee shirts we'd bought together!

We had a lot of fun going matchy-match with our boots and tee shirts. (And horseshoe necklaces!) 

Belle is doing so well with Sultanna. She is riding a lot and is really growing in her skills. She's discovered the joys of horses and it's fun to be a part of that journey with her.

Believe it or not, there's more mish mosh hodge podge I could write about, but that's enough for today. Have a good one, and don't forget to go take a look at Mel's blog!

Winter Hodge Podge

I've mentioned before that I keep a file of ideas for future blog posts. Sometimes I end up with a lot of mini topics that are too short for a stand alone blog entry. That's when I combine them into one and title them a mish mosh or a hodge podge.

Enjoy today's hodge podge. 

Wouldn't you know it - just a few weeks after I bought Breyer's Unicorn Advent Calendar,  Breyer announces that next year's Mini Whinny HORSE advent calendar will be a new one!

 Unlike in the past where the same Mini Whinny horse calendar was offered for three years.

I knew I was taking a chance by buying that unicorn calendar but honestly I doubted that Breyer would offer a new horse one and that I would be safe in purchasing the unicorn one. Ah well, maybe a Pony Pal or a Cowpoke would like that one for next December because you can be sure I will buy the horse one when it is released.

The below zero temperatures we had earlier in January thrust up the east slab of our patio causing my horse head fountain/planter to tilt as it straddled the place there the two slabs meet.

Temperatures are now above freezing and the slab has settled back down, with the fountain/planter returning to a more level position, too. 

I find shifting ground fascinating. Our Great Blue Heron statue in the stepping stone garden also is an indicator of the ground shifting.

We have to be a little careful when this statue leans as we don't want any wild animals digging underneath it. My huge goldfish, Miss Moment/Fishy, was lovingly buried below  it after she died. I've already reset the statue once this winter; looks like I need to again.

Ever heard of Blue Ridge Pottery? My Grandma Honeywell had a beautiful set (see below) and my sister Leslie collects it. (Photo from VintageVesselFinder on Etsy.)

This was my grandmother's set - so pretty! And 100% handpainted.

I don't know a lot about Blue Ridge Pottery, but generally I can recognize it when I see it. So, when I am scouring antique and thrift shops for HSOs (horse shaped objects), I check out any Blue Ridge pieces that I spy.

Like this pink berry dish I came across the last time I went thrifting. It had the look of Blue Ridge Pottery, and sure enough, when I flipped it over,

I was right. This piece came home with me and you may have already spied it in pictures taken while I sew - it sits on my sewing table and is great for holding pins and small notions. 

Holding Feast buttons that my mother drew.

Speaking of sewing, I have been waiting for ten days for an order of fabric to arrive.

It made it to Lafayette January 23 but then it was sent on to Spring Green, Wisconsin. It sat there for several days before being rerouted. Currently tracking says it has arrived at a "USPS facility, United States" with no indication where that facility is located. I sure hope it gets here soon!

Having said that, it is winter and there has been a lot of snow that could be impeding its progress. Iowa has been hard hit, and Hawkeye Sarah sent this text describing how a family from her church is getting groceries.

I guess I should not be surprised that horses are being used to pick up groceries. Iowa got absolutely walloped by the storm we had ten days ago or so.

Sarah's truck on a plowed road near Kent Park in Iowa. (Gotta get out there and photograph those snowy owls!)

Our snow has been gone for a few days, but we have had a lot of rain. Look at this unusual stone I noticed yesterday in my stepping stone garden. Isn't it pretty?

Craig found this stone in the field around us when our neighborhood was first being built.  

I'd never noticed this color before - normally is is a grey like the other field stones that surround it. For some reason, this lovely color came out when a cold rain was falling. I smiled and just had to take a picture.

On the docket today is heading out to Church this morning and then we have someone stopping by for a visit this afternoon. After that we will hop into the car (Pepper, too) and go over to Local Son Curt's home for dinner. (We get together as a family two Sundays a month for dinner.) In between those plans I'd like to do a barn visit with Abby and the herd. 

It's gonna be a good day.