No More Trouble

Yesterday Tim and I crossed paths at the barn and as we took a few moments to catch up, Tim dropped a bombshell on me.

"I sold Trouble," he said.

You could've knocked me over with a feather, I was so surprised.

Long story short, the couple who'd bought Diablo last fall divorced and the husband moved to a fifteen acre farm west of town. The lease for the blue barn was up at the end of this month and so he bought Trouble to ride and as a companion for Diablo. Wednesday both horses were moved to their new home.

I've always thought that Trouble looked a lot like Breyer's Quarter Horse Gelding.

Trouble was bred by Tim and born out in the northwest pasture. He's spent his whole life here, so moving will be a new adventure for him. (I'm glad he has his long time pasture-mate Diablo with him.)

Despite my surprise, I can understand Tim's decision to sell. Tim and I are about the same age, and horses are a lot of work. I understand the feeling that you are slowing down a bit and need to lessen the work load.

Happy trails, Trouble.

New Sales Assortment

About a year ago, I put my sales/trade models into one large tub, all wrapped and ready to travel, instead of keeping them on shelves and having to find and pack them when I was heading to an event. I made a spread sheet to keep track of everything, and while that still needs some tweaking, it has made things easier when I have people over (like for Happy Trails or my student and her family popping in) or when I am going to a show. I just bring out my sales tub, unwrap, and display!

In a week and a half, I am heading to Muncie, Indiana for a swap meet. And with already having had my own small live show this month plus inviting the kids over last Friday who took a few pieces, I discovered that I needed to add to my sales pieces as well as update that spread sheet.

The new assortment of things for sale or trade.

I  find that my collection is "tiered" in my mind, ranging from things I would never sell (childhood carpet herd pieces, gifts from my children) to things that I have bought at antique shops specifically to get into the hands of collectors. In between are those things that I might like having personally but am happy to part with for a fair price, or duplicates that I got because I was upgrading or making a conga of variations. Those tiers make it easier to organize and decide what might be offered for sale and what remains in my collection.

Having said that, the sales tub contents are very fluid, so what actually goes to Muncie may be very different than from what's on the table at the moment!