Happy Birthday, Pepper! She turns 8 years old today, and she is definitely a senior (if not exactly "vintage") dog.
Pepper retired unexpectedly in 2018 when she suddenly became deathly ill. In fact, she nearly died, but her alert and savvy partner, Sarah, knew something was desperately wrong with Pep and got her into veterinary care immediately. Without a doubt, that saved Pepper's life.
The diagnosis of Addison's Disease meant it was impossible for her to continue partnering and guiding Sarah. Guide dogs and their partners become very close and retiring a guide dog is an absolute wrench for the human partner.
To help Sarah with her grief of losing her partner, I started a blog for her called My PenPal, Pepper. Each post was a letter "dictated" by Pepper through me that kept Sarah apprised on how (and what) her sweet Pep was doing. It included details of Pepper's crush on Nacho, her love of toy donuts, her perspective on her life with us, and basically let Sarah know that she was doing well.
One year we threw Pepper a birthday party. In honor of her birthday, I include that blog post from My PenPal, Pepper here today.
--------
October 4, 2020
Dear Mom,
Lynn says that I am now a mature dog since I turned four years old on September 25. Do you think that means she plans to take away my balls and donuts and rope tugs and frisbees? Oh, I hope not! Especially the frisbees - they are my absolute favorite toy!
Oh, wait. Lynn just used the "Oh, Pepper" phrase. And then she said that she had no plans to take any toys away from me. Whew! I was a bit worried there for a minute.
Anyway, Lynn and Craig gave me a birthday party! And my favorite folks came - Nacho (swoon!), Millie, Molly, Lisa, Curt, Ian, Mila, Lukie, Kathy, Mary Anne, and Bill all dropped in during the day. And they came to celebrate me! Oh, did we have fun.
Lynn hung a birthday banner up and set out a squeaky toy birthday cake and candle, cupcakes and cookies for the humans, and the yummiest doggie cake EVER for me!
Photo of Pepper sitting in front of the table that is set for the party.
It was made for dogs, but Lynn said it smelled so good, she was tempted to try it. I gently pointed out that she had cookies and cupcakes and to please leave my birthday cake alone. (Photo of the doggie cake which smelled like gingerbread and had white icing and sprinkles on top.)
After we were all set up for the party, we sat down to wait for our guests.
She also put a bandanna on me that said, "Happy Birthday to me." I wore it all day so that everyone would know that it was my special day. Photo of Pepper wearing her blue birthday bandanna.
Lisa was our first guest, and she brought Millie and Molly with her. And you know what? Even though Lynn said to not bring me any gifts (why she said that is beyond me; I can always use more toys and stuff), Lisa brought me a box of treats! Of course we opened them then and there. (I was a good girl and shared them with Millie and Molly. Lisa, Lynn, and Craig declined. Their loss.)
Photo of Lisa with the dogs gathered around her, handing out treats.
Lisa had to go to work, but Millie and Molly stayed all day with me. Oh, how I love it when they come over to play! But we soon had more visitors - Curt arrived and he brough Ian, Mila, and Lukie! They were SO EXCITED to come to my party, and the first thing they did was to sing Happy Birthday to me. Ian played the Happy Birthday roll on our player piano while Mila, Lukie, Lynn, and I danced.
Ian pedaling the piano with Lukie and Mila dancing around the living room.
Then we played games. One was to guess how many dog biscuits were in a jar. Ian won, and his prize was to feed me a biscuit. Mila and Lukie's consolation prizes were to also feed me biscuits! It was my favorite game of the party!
Next we went outside to play some games with my beloved tennis balls. The kids lined up and all three threw their balls at once. I went running for the balls, and whoever's ball I picked was the winner! (I asked for the prizes for this game to also be biscuits, but Lynn said I had had enough already plus we would be eating birthday cake soon.)
Lukie, Ian, and Mila with me standing in front of them. Will they EVER throw those balls for me??
And then something REALLY funny happened. Watch this video, Mom!
Lukie's ball just smelled so good, I had to switch! He'd grabbed a cookie and had frosting on his hands. I just couldn't resist!
Well, after the games in the backyard, the humans ate the cupcakes and Millie, Molly, and I had some of our special birthday cake. Curt took the kids home and things were quiet for a while.
A few hours later, my sweet Nacho (swoon!) arrived.
And promptly grabbed my new birthday cake squeaky toy! I almost broke up with him over that, but he gave it back.
I was still a little miffed - after all, it's my new birthday toy! - so I sat by Craig and well, Mom, I am a little embarrassed to say, but I pouted.
Nacho (swoon!) slipped up behind me and gave me a sweet kiss on the ear and all was forgiven. Photo of Pepper sitting at Craig's feet while Nacho stands behind kissing her ear. Mary Anne is sitting on the couch watching. (There are ALWAYS chaperones around - the two of us never get any alone time!)
Bill gave me one of his legendary ear rubs, and he, Mary Anne, Kathy, and Nacho brought me a new frisbee! Oh, joy and rapture! (I have decided that I like it when people ignore Lynn when she says, "No gifts, please.")
The afternoon party just kept getting better and better - Lisa came back!
We four dogs were so happy to see her that she finally sat on the ground so that we could all cuddle her. (And be cuddled, too. We are pretty smart like that.) Photo of Lisa with Nacho (disappearing around the side of the couch), Molly, and Millie.
Oh, Mom, I just had the best day. But I still was a little sad because some other important people weren't there - you, Dad, the kitties, and Ursula. Maybe next year you can come to my party? (Lynn just said, "Wait! What party? We just got through this one, Pepper!")
Okay, so I'll talk to her privately and let you know. Anyway, I love you and send lots of licks, wiggles, and wags to everyone. Please pass them on for me!
Love always,
Pepper the Birthday Girl
--------
I'm going to pull out Pepper's birthday scarf and have her wear it when she goes to the vet for her monthly Percorten shot this afternoon. The vet staff loves her (they call her "the seal" because her face looks like one) and Pepper has a bag of Twix to hand out to everyone.
Feel free to browse through Pepper's blog - I don't write in it much any more as it's served its purpose to help Sarah adjust, but we are still in touch through texts, calls, and social media.
Happy Birthday, sweet girl! Guess who's getting a new donut stuffie?
Note: I probably won't get the part 3 about the vintage clothing written today but you never know. Stay 'tooned!
If you are a vintage Breyer lover, then these photos should make you very happy. (And possibly cause you to start adding to your list of "must haves"... Haha!)
Just three decorators sitting on my kitchen island along with some other gorgeous 1960s Breyer goodness!
This photo does not do this model justice. Its spots were like very fine powdered sugar sprinkled on its hips and its whites were bright.
Two presentation models and a buckskin Lady Phase from the 70s class.
I think this was the My Favorite Model class.
The real deal! Breyer is offering this set (sans doll, sadly) as the first piece in the 2022 Vintage Club.
A hard to find black point Proud Arabian Mare with lovely halo spots.
One of the handful of pink elephants known to exist.
The variation class.
Doubles!
Triples!
This class was for the same color done on different molds.
As a nod to my 50 + years friendship with Sue Seese, I had a class for bay Stretch Morgans. (She gave me hers years ago.)
She also gave me On the Run, her bay Jumping Horse, so I had a class just for bay jumpers.
We had a pot luck for lunch, and I recommend that if Kelsey Kramer ever offers to make you her crockpot macaroni and cheese, you say "YES!!" and bring a big spoon. Best macaroni and cheese I have ever had.
Since it was Yvonne's birthday, Jamie brought a cheese cake and we sang to her.
We also sang a few lines from this old Beatles song, too! (It was rather timely, if you catch my drift.)
I made her a special birthday haversack to celebrate.
Pat Reed's winning entry in the old style collectors class.
Classic Love foals still in their blister packages from the 1970s! (These are Allison's.)
There were several classes for vintage customs.
These models were in fabulous condition despite their age.
Not only was it her birthday, but Yvonne won the championship rosette for the Celebrating 50+1 Years division with her amazing Indian Chief with Prancer music box.
The judging was tough but the friends (and food) were great. Happy Trails IV is in the books; now I am getting ready for the Great Lakes Congress show this weekend.
I have found a new source for fabric, especially fabrics that are vintage. Recently I ordered a yard each of two different fabrics so that I could check the quality - if I am making haversacks to sell or donate, then I want good quality materials to create them.
This circus horse fabric was listed as a vintage fabric, but the name of the designer was printed on the selvedge edge and so I did some research on it. It's not really vintage, but it is no longer available.
I'll make several haversacks from this fabric, but I'm not sure that I'll sell any of them - they may all go into my personal stash for shows!
I also found this really cool jockey in silks fabric.
A close-up of the fabric.
This really is a vintage fabric; I can tell by the feel as well as by looking at the selvedge edges. The seller told me it was from the 70s and that it was from a non smoking home. I washed it when it got here to check colorfastness, and no colors ran so I feel comfortable using it to make haversacks.
Vintage horsey fabrics - what a rabbit hole for me!
I have been doing some mode horse shopping, both online and in thrift shops, and have three new goodies to add to my collection. This Andalusian Foal looked like a possible pearly or chalky, so I bought it.
It's not, but it's still cute.
I did not have a matte bay Family Arabian Foal, so I snapped this one up when I found it.
I am such a sucker for the old Breyer molds, and the Stretch Morgan is a favorite!
He's a diamond-faced semi-gloss with a USA stamp.
He's in great shape for his age, and will look nice on my shelf with the other Stretch Morgans.
I'm thrilled to have found three nice vintage pieces out in the wild. (My favorite place to find things for my collection.)
Vintage molds are my love when it comes to collecting model horses. And the Family Arabian Mare (FAM) is one of Breyer's matriarchs in their lineup of models.
First released in glossy grey Appaloosa as "Speck" in 1960, early pieces have an extensive bald face reaching well down the sides of the face and grey or charcoal legs. The earliest pieces also have a large white blanket that extends well up the body and is the hardest version to find. The second version has a white belly band, and the third is a small blanket on the hindquarters.
I have an early belly band version (left) and a later matte small blanket version in my collection.
That belly band extends onto her shoulders on the near side.
The glossy version's bald face is extensive with a hint of pink on her nose and ears, whereas the matte has a smaller blaze with a very pink nose and ears.
Look at the difference in the spots! I love the big ones and actively seek models like that.
The matte FAM is also significantly taller than the older model.
The hoof bottoms are interesting as they both appear to be made from grey plastic.
The belly band mare's hooves.
The matte version's hooves. It is from 1968-1971 according to Liz Cory, its original owner. That's too early for the chalky era. Breyer has reground flawed models and used colored plastic in the past to economize. Perhaps that's the story behind these gals?
No USA stamp on the belly band FAM
while the matte FAM has a USA stamp, confirming its later date of production.
Both are in great shape considering their age, and while the Family Arabian Mare is not one of my favorite vintage molds, I do like them in this color and am pleased to have them as part of my collection.
