Christmas 2022: December 23

I have decided that I will go ahead and write about this past  Christmas - while James' passing was incredibly sad for us, we did have many moments of joy. If you don't care to read about it, just come back in a few days and the blog will be back to usual.

December 23 - time was moving slowly and quickly at the same time. Lisa was on the phone a lot with James' extended family in Washington state sharing information, answering questions, and doing the million tasks that happen when someone dies.

The winter storm was right on top of us and it was so cold outside!

 

The air temperature was -11, the wind chill was -38, and that curtailed any plans we had had to go to the barn, ice skating, or sledding. It was simply too cold to be outside.

 

Plus, we had six dogs in the house, and while they were very well behaved, they still took up space and liked to romp with each other. (They were also very good to cuddle up to when you wanted a nap.)

Gus is obsessed with balls and we always end up having to hide them from him after an hour or so of play. After everyone went home, I was still finding hidden balls around the house!

Titan and Blue enjoying being together on the couch.

Here Pepper is staking a claim on Craig, telling Rhett (snoozing under his arm) that he is HER dad, not his.

So we stayed inside and played games in the kitchen and in the dining room (I had a really good Skyjo round!),

we wrapped the gifts that were in the spa tub and then began filling it up with food for Christmas dinner,

and we began loading up the counters with snacks and sides for lunch and dinner.

Despite using paper cups and plates most of the time, the dishwasher ran constantly while the dish drainer was always full of freshly washed dishes.

Our garage doubled as a place to put food since the fridge and spa tub were full (even when the temps get very low outside, rarely does the temperature drop below freezing in our garage.)

The garage almost got to the "no room at the inn" point, but we made it through.

Lisa was hanging in there, and while at times she went back to our bedroom for some solitude, we were glad that she was with her family.

Christmas 2022: Day of Shock and Mourning

Second post of the day.

I have decided that I will go ahead and write about this past  Christmas - while James' passing was incredibly sad for us, we did have many moments of joy. If you don't care to read about it, just come back in a few days and the blog will be back to usual. 

December 22, James died of a heart attack at home. First responders made it to him before he passed, and we find comfort that he did not die alone. Our entire family was knocked sideways with grief and disbelief at the news.

An immediate worry was getting down to Indianapolis to check on James' four cats as the storm had finally hit Indiana and the winds were howling, the temps dropping, and the snow blowing. The first responders, though, had taken care of that - they told Lisa that she did not need to come down for a couple of days. They had cleaned out the cat pans and added fresh litter, filled water bowls, and put out enough cat food to last for several days. The cats would be okay. Those folks will always be heroes in my book.

While Craig and I were at Lisa's helping her through the first hours of loss, Sarah made sure her siblings knew what had happened and the rest of the family all gathered at our home, subdued and quiet, wondering what they could do to help Lisa through this terrible loss. 

She joined us mid afternoon, and the family closed ranks around her, offering shoulders to cry on, solace, and privacy if she wished. Craig and I told her to take over our bedroom - there was still just a smidge of room at the inn left. In fact, Lisa stayed all night with us.

Christmas preparations continued and we tried hard to not totally derail the holiday for the eight younger grands; they knew that James had died and that we were all sad, but I don't think they really understood much beyond that.

Aside from Todd making his famous Oreo balls and Ritz Cracker Tagalongs, the only other pictures from that awful day are very personal ones of Lisa so out of respect for her, I won't show those.

Late in the evening, Curt, Vanessa, Cole, and Emily took their families back to Curt's home for the night. Instead of going back to her Aunt Lisa's home, Trinity stayed at our house and slept on a couch upstairs. Craig slept on the living room couch, and I slept in the recliner in our bedroom where I was close to Lisa if she needed me.

I cried myself to sleep that night - I cried for James, I cried for his children, and I cried for Lisa.

Christmas 2022: Kids on the Road

I have decided that I will go ahead and write about this past  Christmas - while James' passing was incredibly sad for us, we did have many moments of joy. If you don't care to read about it, just come back in a few days and the blog will be back to usual. 

Due to the tremendous winter storm that was blowing across the United States, our kids all decided to leave their homes a day early to beat that storm to our home. In retrospect, this turned out to be a very good idea.

Jessica and her family had the farthest to go, coming all the way from Santaquin, Utah and through the Rocky Mountains and then across the high plans of the West on 80. They left on Tuesday and drove into the wee hours of Wednesday morning when they pulled into Sarah's home in Iowa City and crashed for a few hours.

The storm was barreling down behind them, so they only slept a few hours, and then they piled into cars and continued on to Indiana. Jessica, Andrew, Todd, and Sarah went in one car so that Jessie and Andrew could continue to sleep,

while JC and Trinity, both university students who were home on break, drove the "cousins car"

where Cambria

and Titan caught some shut eye, too.

 

Aside from a stop for lunch in Peoria, Illinois, the two families kept moving and made it here before the weather turned nasty.

Craig and I had worked hard to prepare for everyone - Cambria and Titan would be sleeping on air mattresses in my office/horse room,

Sarah and Todd in my sewing room,

Jessie and Andrew in Craig's library,

and last but not least, JC had the bed in Craig's office all to himself. (Trinity was staying in her Aunt Lisa's spare bedroom across town.)

It was good to have them safely in town and to know that Cole, Emily, and their crew had made it up from Nashville, Tennessee safely and arrived at Curt's home.

I would be even more grateful for that when I got a phone call at 6:30 the next morning from Lisa.

Another post will drop around 10:00 EST.

 

Opening Altair

Breyer's packaging has been frustrating collectors for years.

When I wrapped Pony Pal Mila's Altair for Christmas, I wondered if I should open his box and cut him free from his bubble wrap. I was glad that I did not.

She recognized that Breyer box immediately and crowed in delight. And then the struggle began.

She had no idea I was filming her and I got some pretty hilarious candid shots

as she worked to get that bubble wrap open.

At last Altair was free, and her eyes met mine across the room. She grinned the grin of a fellow collector who has just scored a model of her dreams.

Mila examined him and squealed how much she loved him, and then kept him with her the rest of the day.

She showed him to Aunt Jessica who had also received a Breyer Jewels from me.

Altair was so loved that he was with her the entire holiday - here he is guarding the stairs so that no parents could come up and get into the kids' "hideout."

I remember getting a few models that meant that much to me for Christmas.

And I am glad it is now a shared experience with Pony Pal Mila.

The First Antiquing Trip of 2023

You know how running one errand can turn into several? That was me yesterday - I needed to run to JoAnn's for one thing and ended up spending time antiquing, too.

I had above average HSO (horse shaped objects) sightings.

In fact, the vendors' booths seemed much more full than usual, and it wasn't due to Christmas items - most of those had already been cleared out.

Someone had converted a Breyer Stablemate barn into a display for miniature cars.

Breyer's barn in its current iteration on the Breyer web site.

I was tempted by this early Stablemate play set. I tried to look it up on Identify Your Breyer, but the site is down.

This piece was a shrinky and had the powdery dulling on its legs that comes from the shrinking process. I've been known to buy shrinkies, but I already have this piece. (Mine shows no evidence yet of shrinking but I figure it is only a matter of time.)

The color on the Stablemate beside it was pretty and unusual, but it was covered in rubs and I left it behind, too.

I considered these two prints, thinking they might be good for Happy Trails or live show donations but the cost was more than I felt their detail merited.

I found lots of MIJ (made in Japan) chinas throughout my wanderings.

I'm not sure this is actually a manufacturer's set but instead is a set formed by the seller. The pieces varied in what they were made from; some had finished hooves while others did not, and the eyes differed from dot to more detailed.

I'd never seen this particular piece before, although I have seen labels like that. 

This print made me smile - I used to have it when I was a girl. 

A pretty cool Fred Stone racing print but so many other things were piled in front of it, I could not get close to see it.

A trio of very different horses grouped together.

This palomino pinto almost came home with me.

Do those front socks look odd to you, too? I think someone may have painted them on.

 

The ubiquitous Kentucky Derby glasses. Since Louisville is only two and a half hours south of me, rarely do I go antiquing and not find at least one or two.

I think this is a Breyer, one of Kathleen Moody's molds that had hair manes and tails with combs and brushes. But since Identify Your Breyer is down, I can't check,

I thought about buying this lamp - the price was right, but I didn't have a place for it and it was too expensive to be used as a donation. 

Some pretty cool Pegasi (and a dragon),

coupled with some unicorns. I wonder if these are a hobby mold of some sort?

Another nope!

I walked around the antique mall for about an hour, another bit of healing normalcy that did me good.