Beeswax Ornaments (with a Little Help from my Friends)

First, some blogkeeping:

While I like giving my blog friends the opportunity to see what I am selling, it seems as though my blog is morphing into a sales place, not something I want it to do. My blog is my journal first and foremost and I'd like to keep it that way.

With that in mind, I will be posting anything for sale underneath the blog post that I have written that day. (There is nothing today.)

Labrador Retrievers shed. A lot. So, when Nash (part Lab) and Molly (100% Lab) arrived yesterday for a play day with Pepper (100% Lab), my plans to continue cleaning and reorganizing my models changed.

Those dogs follow me everywhere when they visit and I knew that they would crowd into the horse room and keep me company while I cleaned.

Pepper is in there a lot, but she sheds less than most Labs. And Nashie's shedding is pretty negligible, too.

But Mama! Boy howdy! She sheds more than the other two dogs combined. (She reminds me of Charlie Brown's Pigpen who "sheds" whenever he moves, only Molly sheds hair every time she moves, not dirt.)

So, I changed plans and did some prep work for the upcoming living history event in Kalamazoo.

I decided to make a batch of beeswax ornaments.

I learned a long time ago to use the beeswax pellets rather than the big blocks of beeswax - the pellets melt much faster.

I use a double boiler to melt them. You can use a microwave, but I can control the melting process much more easily this way.

Almost ready to pour - just a bit of unmelted beeswax left. 

Molds prepped and ready to be filled with the hot beeswax.

Immediately after pouring. 

The yellow rim indicates the beeswax is cooling. The one on the bottom left, the first one I poured, is almost cool enough to remove from its mold.

The cooled but still warm ornament is popped out of the mold and put into a pie pan of cinnamon. This is tricky - if the ornament is too warm, you risk damaging it during the unmolding step. But if it's too cool, the cinnamon won't stick to it as well.

The same ornament after I have dredged it in the cinnamon. 

Mountain Mama Jessica gave me this mold of a tree for Christmas. Isn't it pretty?

 

Finished ornaments are set aside to cool and cure.

Then I will spray them with a sealant to keep any loose cinnamon from rubbing off.

Making beeswax ornaments is clearly a messy project - that's cinnamon all over my apron. 

But that mess does not include Labrador hair despite the fact that, as expected, my pack followed me into the kitchen and waited while I worked. (Obviously holding out hope that I'd take a break and play ball with them, too.)

I will let this batch continue to cure today and probably spray the fixative tomorrow. And with no doggos joining us today, it's back to cleaning, culling, and reorganizing a few more shelves.

Springtime with a Lab

 If you live with a Labrador Retriever, this is not an unfamiliar scene to you.

They shed and shed and SHED! You discover that you actually have TWO Labs, not one!

At least, it seems that way when you pet them or groom them.

Your clothes become covered by that "second dog" and you learn to wear colors that match the color of your dog's coat.

But in the end, it's worth every hair you brush off your clothes and vacuum up off the carpet.

We are Getting Close

Tim texted me last night to say that Sultanna was beginning to bag up and so he had moved her to the nursery paddock. 

She's got Hokey with her for company. If you look closely, you can see him on the left in the loafing shed. (Still can't see him? Look at Sultanna's forelegs - you can see his two white hind feet behind them.)

 She continues to be very calm and quiet, and was happy to see me and have a few pats and a scritch.

After I had visited with those two, I hiked up through the northeast pasture to the old barn to see my girl. That pasture has really grown up - when Tim finishes building the replacement fence, the horses are going to be very happy to wade through all that forage!

Abby was waiting for me at the gate and enjoyed the carrots I brought her. 

She has shed some of those longer hairs and is looking sleeker as a result.

Tim thinks there's a good chance that Sultanna will foal in the next day or so. I am really getting excited!

Incomplete Shedding

Shedding is complete and the horses are sleek in their fresh summer coats.

 Abby licking the fence, just to be sure she got any peppermint or carrot drool that may have gotten on them.

But even though shedding season is over, Abby has retained some of her winter coat.

 There are long hairs under the lower part of her neck...

... and on her chest and upper forelegs. 

Saturday while I was brushing her, I worked on those areas. They should have pulled right off, but they did not. They are firmly attached.

Several things could be causing parts of Abby's winter coat to linger. A horse's general health and nutrition are tied to a healthy coat. She gets high quality hay and pasture and has access to both salt and mineral blocks. Age is another factor - older horses tend to take longer to shed and, while I don't know Abby's real age, her teeth say that she is about 18 - 20. 

Exercise is another component that is thought to affect hair and shedding. Abby is free to come and go across acres of pasture so I have no doubt that she is moving around. 

A more serious cause could be Cushings Disease. Usually that's seen in older horses with a tumor in the pituitary gland. I'm not making the leap to Cushings yet but I do have a plan.

First, I will keep my eye on her and keep working with the shedding blade and brush on those long hair areas. As for exercise, I have no plans to put her on a longe line or to work her in the round pen to up her movement, at least not yet.

Fnally, I will bump up her nutrition in a way that will most certainly please her - more carrots! Vitamin A levels drop in hay as it ages, and a couple of large carrots contain 10,000 to 20,000 units of vitamins A. She loves carrots, and she's going to be getting more of those. 

If I don't see improvement in Abby's coat, then I may pick up a bag of Horseshine to up her essential fatty acids, amino acids, and lysine, all components of nutrition that are related to hair health.

I'm really not worried about her, but I love her and want to be sure she is in good health. We'll see how she does. 

Rain Rot

It's spring, Abby is shedding, and it's time to get out the shedding blade and a brush and get to work. (It also means that you come home absolutely covered in horsehair!)

As I was brushing Abby, I noticed that some of the hair was lifting up in places on her withers and back and coming out in patches. You can see one of the patchy places on her withers in this photo. 

Here it is after being brushed - all that hair lifted off down to bare skin.

 Normal shed out hair should look like this - not patches, just lots of fuzz.

I could see more bare skin rather than her summer coat in several areas, so I took some photos, went home, and did some sleuthing online. I was pretty sure it was just rain rot, but I wanted to be sure I did not have ringworm or, even worse, mange to deal with.

I sent the photos to Tim and asked him to take a look at her when he went out to the barn later that day. I'd also checked the other horses and I think that Hokey might have some rain rot, too.

 Rain rot is common and not serious, but you do need to keep an eye on it. I've got a scrim sheet that I can put on Abby to protect her skin from the sun if need be, and I will check and make sure her hair is growing back and that the rain rot is not worsening.

This is the first time since I got her eight years ago that I have had any kind of health issue with her, and luckily it is not a serious one. She'll be fine.

Warmth & Sunshine

Spring has sprung in Indiana! Finally!

We had some rain that flooded the lane to the new barn for a while, but it's all dried out now and the weather has warmed up.

 Hokey stood under an old tree taking advantage of the sun and warmer weather earlier this week.

Trouble took a load off his feet in the sunshine while Sultanna stretched out fully on the ground and snoozed.

 Until I woke her up taking her picture. She looks a little sleepy, doesn't she?

Surprisingly, the horses are not doing much shedding yet, but I think that will change very soon.

Happy Spring! At last!

Shedding Season!

Don't let this pretty face fool you.

 I think Abby is beautiful (I love the "eyeliner" around her eyes!) regardless of the time of year.

 But it is (finally) spring and that means it is shedding season.

A visit with Abby, even a short one, means you come home covered in horse hair!

(Not that I mind.)

A Beautiful Fall Day

Saturday was one of those gorgeous fall days you wish you could preserve forever. The sun was out, the temperature was just right, and the leaves were starting to turn colors. After lunch I drove out to visit with Abby.

Taking a selfie with her is always tricky - her head is so big it's hard to get it all in there.

She is just starting to shed, so I gave her a good rub down to get rid of the itchy spots. (That's Snickerdoodle's tail and rump just above her mane.)

 We are a third of the way through October, so I know we won't have too many days like this left before the weather becomes cooler, the leaves drop, and the light isn't as brilliant. In the meantime, though, I'll make the most of what we have and enjoy the time with my girl.

Shedding Season!

This is the time of year when horses' coats look long, dull and dry, and are often crusty with mud. Abby and her herd mates are no exception.

 (I still think she's beautiful, even with that winter coat.)

 I always pet her and give her some scratching while we visit. Today, this happened:

 Hair was coming out wherever I scratched her!

Her face, her neck and shoulders, under her jaw... goodbye winter hair! (Boy, did Abby enjoy the scratching.)

I have a meeting after school tomorrow so I may not be able to curry her until Friday. But she's going to get a good grooming soon!