Much Better

Second post of the day.

I spent the day moving all my sewing and embroidering supplies and furniture out of my horse room and into...

... my other horse room! Honestly, it was supposed to be a library but somehow those plastic and china ponies snuck in there, too.

There are several sets of shelves and two china cabinets in there full of horses, so I am still surrounded by part of my collection while I sew and embroider.

The other room seems so much less cramped now.

No doubt I will fill it up again - with horses!

Family & Ponies Lift My Spirits

This morning I made it upstairs and into my horse room!

It's been eleven days since my surgery, but I finally felt I had enough energy to get up the stairs and into my happy spot. It's amazing how a little bit of normalcy can lift your spirits and make you feel better.

Friends have been dropping by to cheer me up - look what my dear friend made me!

And family has come by, too. Pony Pal Mila, complete with a new, large, sequined UNICORN, dropped by for lunch on the patio the other day.

I can only have soft liquids to eat for a while, and Curt had thoughtfully brought me a Frosty from Wendy's. We all ate lunch together on a beautiful day under the patio umbrella. (Sorry for the photo quality. I was not up to moving into the sun at that time to get better shots.)

It feels wonderful to be back amongst the models and to be able to have the energy for a family visit and other things. And now that I can make it upstairs, blog posts should become more regular again. (While I have a laptop downstairs, I prefer to use my desktop as it is easier to write with.) I did write eight entries ahead of my surgery and scheduled them to post daily while I was in the hospital, but that wasn't enough.

It's good to be back.

Another Hobbyist's Horse Room

One of the things I enjoyed most during our trip out west was visiting with Cristine Holt and her daughter, Tara Holt Oliver. Both are long time hobbyists, and have been friends of mine since the mid 1990s. During our visit, Cris gave me a peek into her horse room.

She had a wonderful assortment of models and other horsey objects and art all around the room. (Don't miss that art hanging on the door from a grandchild!)

 Her horse room doubles as her office, and there are several comfy chairs for visitors.

Cris has a collection of cattle - her other collecting love. And the shelves also reflect her love of God, family, and things from her career as a breeder of Tennessee Walkers.

Cris pared much of her collection down when she moved from her native Iowa to Utah five or six years ago.

Customs, long ears, and five gaiters all made the cut. (I love the two long ears on the right who appear to be talking to each other.)

It was fun to sit in there with Cris, chatting and just absorbing the horsey atmosphere. And, it kind of made me homesick for my own horse room!

Horse Room Sorted? Check!

I finished! It took a couple of weeks, but I have gone through every box and tub in my office, sorted out tons of stuff, and put everything back together again.

I bought a cube unit to help keep things organized and visible in the closet. All my reference books and binders are now easily accessible.

 One tub on the floor is awaiting a shipment of used trophies and awards that I got for a terrific price and will use for future Happy Trails live shows; the other is for some of the Star Wars and Star Trek items on the table that are going to be sold. I want to go through the comic books and organize them first.

 My craft table is clear once again (except for a box and three Hagen Renaker minis I just sold and will pack up tomorrow). I have three small sewing projects I plan to get done in the next few days, so I will be setting up my sewing machine on it soon.

And, while going through the tubs I found a bunch of ribbons that still need to be sorted. I keep a file for each model that receives a NAN card, and put its first and second place ribbons in that file. Other placings go into my used ribbon pile for Happy Trails. The ribbons that I found are currently stacked on my desk on the other side of my computer monitor.

It feels good to have one closet done on my retirement goal of sorting every closet before May 30, 2019. One down, nine to go, and if they all take several weeks, I am going to need a whole year!