Jennifer Buxton and I have been friends for a long time. We share a love of horses, we are writers with blogs that span several decades, we have children and husbands who make frequent appearances in our blogs, and our dogs are considered family.
A sadder commonality is that we both lost our heart horses last year, six months apart to the very day. We've now both trudged through that experience and understand the terrible sadness and grief that accompanies it.
In a private conversation after Abby died, Jennifer shared something with me that helped lift my grief and I will always be grateful to her for that. She gets what I am going through and vice versa - who better to make an understanding comment than someone who is walking the same walk?
Last Sunday Jennifer got a new horse, Winslow. He's temporary, but he seems to be a real sweetie and is helping lift her heart as she moves forward. Sunday afternoon she sent me a picture of the two of them together and I said something about a win-win situation. Jennifer then quipped, "Win Win Winslow."
Win Win Winslow indeed! Isn't he a pretty boy! And Jennifer looks so happy.
I'm not yet at the point of getting another horse. A large part of that is due to health issues, but another part is that I have not been able to even think about Abby without crying. I can't even go to the barn without the tears starting to slide down my cheeks.
But yesterday I had a glimmer of hope that that might be changing.
On a whim, I decided to drop by the barn while I was running an errand.
I didn't have a brush or a peppermint with me - my buckets of grooming tools and treats are no longer in my trunk but are sitting in my garage gathering dust. But I decided to go anyway.
As I pulled up, I saw Tim's car was there and I found him in the barn. He was getting ready to work with Easy and invited me to stay and watch.
Tacking up.
Working on flexibility. I was impressed with how far Easy had come in his training.
Isn't he a pretty boy? He's four and had been running free on a Texas ranch most of his life. It is clear that he trusts Tim.
Warming Easy up after some flexibility exercises.
And we ride!
It is fun to see Easy coming into himself. His personality is beginning to emerge and while he is inexperienced and a bit hesitant, he is willing to learn. (He's walking over a buried tarp in this photo.)
Tim has other things in the indoor arena such as a pole to step over and some barrels. (No clue about the basketball except that this is Indiana where every barn has a basketball hoop on its side.)
I was so happy to be there that it was only when Tim finished Easy's training session that I realized I was chilled to the bone. And as that realization sank in, another one popped into my mind.
I had not cried once the entire time I was at the barn.
I had not looked around, wishing Abby was standing at the fence and doing her soft whicker that she saved just for me.
My thoughts had been happy - I was with horses, talking horses with Tim, smelling that wonderful scent of horses and barns in the winter...
I had not cried or mourned my girl once!
And then, when I drove home, I had that long lost but oh so familiar feeling of happiness and contentment that I have always felt after time with horses. There was no crying on the way home, either!
Well, thanks to some help from Mountain Mama Jessica, I've figured out where Mila's Grammy Game came from. After reading my blog yesterday, Jessie sent me this clip from Bluey.
That is exactly how Mila was talking as she and Lukie played! And I even had a Grammy Mobile kind of like the one in the video clip. (And it's still clicking. How do I fix that??)
Anyway, thanks, Jessica!
Moving on to the upcoming Horsie Mama's Horsey Super Bowl II, here is the final list of books that I pulled questions from:
Sleigh Bells for Windy Foot - Frances Frost
Misty of Chincoteague - Marguerite Henry
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
a Sam Savitt question
The Black Stallion - Walter Farley
National Velvet - Enid Bagnold
Brighty - Marguerite Henry
Stormy, Misty’s Foal - Marguerite Henry
The Eighty Dollar Champion - Elizabeth Letts
A Pony for the Winter - Helen Kay
Flip the Story of a Horse - Wesley Dennis
Born to Trot - Marguerite Henry
It took me two days of browsing through those books (and doing a little reading of some old favorites while I was at it) but I have finished the quiz questions. There are fifteen of them, twelve of which are multiple choice and three which are short answer.
While I may tweak these questions just a bit, I do not plan to write any more. (Hint: Some of these books have been written about in the blog. Just sayin'...)
Another prize arrived yesterday. Judging by the spine of the book, I don't think anyone has ever actually read it. I carefully peeked at a few pages but decided to let whoever wins it be the first reader. (It was published in 1964 so this volume is 61 years old!)
For football's Super Bowl LIX, many people are preparing to gather with friends and family and FOOD is a big part of those gatherings. Our family is no exception and last year I shared recipes for Carmen's Taco Dip and my own Toffee Bars. I'm sharing a few recipes again this year.
Jessica has made this delicious appetizer for holiday gatherings in the past. It does not last long around here! Give it a try!
Fresh Cranberry Salsa Dip
Ready to be eaten at the Isenbarger family Thanksgiving, 2023. Doesn't it look yummy?
Jessie got the recipe from Our Best Bites. Click the link for the recipe, and if you make it, I'd love to hear what you think of it!
Kansas City and Philadelphia are the contenders in Super Bowl LIX. Any guesses as to who I might be rooting for? (Besides the Clydesdales? LOL)
I'm not really a football fan, although I do enjoy our Friday Night Lights in the fall. But I actually do care about who wins this year.
George Karlaftis, who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, is a home town boy and attended West Lafayette High School, Craig's alma mater. We watched George play football during our Friday Night Lights for four years. He then played here for Purdue before going into the NFL. He is a humble, nice kid.
So, go, Kansas City!
More tomorrow on HMHSB II and other things - stay 'tooned!
Still renown for her hilariousinnocent infamous question, "Grammy? Can I have this when you're dead?" , Mila did it again. Saturday I overheard her say to Lukie, "Let's play Grammy!" and his excited "Yeah!!" response.
Play Grammy?? Just what did that entail? I wasn't sure I wanted to find out.
Apparently, you grab your Grammy's walker, stick your backside out behind you, scrunch up your face for wrinkles, squint your eyes because your eyesight is gone, and then start speaking in a high pitched quavery voice. With an English accent.
(No clue where the English accent came from. I am very much from Indiana and I know I have a Hoosier accent.)
Lukie hopped onto the seat for a ride and "Grammy" was happy to push him around the house. Even when they ran into their older brother. (Which they were also happy to do. Ahem!!)
"Grammy" got tired (she is old, after all), so Lukie let her ride for a bit. Looks like "Grammy" lost a sock along the way. But you know those old ladies. They're always losing things.
As Sam the Snowman said,
"Ah, youth!"
Right? Sometimes you just have to laugh.
Now, how do I get rid of the clicking sound that my walker now makes? It is driving me CRAZY!!
This is Lorna, my sister of the heart, former teaching colleague, and one of my closet friends.
We haven't lived in the same town for nearly twenty years but we still text each other every single day.
We clicked immediately when we began teaching together, and soon we were so close, she dubbed me her "sister of the heart." We've considered ourselves sisters ever since.
I trust her completely - she is someone I can confide in and know that she will keep my confidence and offer me great advice. (She can also be a bit sassy. Her advice usually begins with a long, drawn out, "Giiirrrrllll..." which always makes us both start laughing.)
Lorna's students loved her, too - she had a no-nonsense approach coupled with a very strong sense of caring. They responded very well to her big heart.
Lorna just retired last May and that is a terrible loss for her students, colleagues, the school staff, and the families whose lives she touched during her career. She will be missed in so many ways.
Happy Birthday, Sis. It is an honor to share sisterhood with you and I appreciate all the love and caring you have given me over the years. Enjoy your big day!
The Horsie Mama Horsey Super Bowl II is only a week away! This afternoon I plan to sit down and write the quiz questions and then this coming week drop some hints or do some other fun things in preparation.
The prizes have begun to arrive and they are books! In fact, they are some of my favorite books from those old Scholastic Book orders I did in elementary school.
And of course I am reading them (actually, that's RE-reading them, LOL!) as they arrive.
Their charm is still there for me - I am taken back to my childhood and dreaming of when I would have my very own horse. A lifelong dream that, lucky me, came true several times over.
Here is a reminder of the books that I am referencing as I wrote the HMHSB II quiz. I have updated it and removed some titles as well as added one. (The last on the list.)
HINT: Search the blog as you prepare, too. Some of these books have appeared in past entries and I will be checking those blog entries as I prepare questions.
Sleigh Bells for Windy Foot - Frances Frost
Misty of Chincoteague - Marguerite Henry
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
Sam Savitt question
The Black Stallion - Walter Farley
National Velvet - Enid Bagnold
Brighty - Marguerite Henry
Stormy, Misty’s Foal - Marguerite Henry
The Eighty Dollar Champion - Elizabeth Letts
A Pony for the Winter - Helen Kay
Flip the Story of a Horse - Wesley Dennis
Born to Trot - Marguerite Henry
What will the questions be like? I'm thinking a mix - multiple choice, fill in the blank, and maybe a short answer or two. Like last year, I'll provide the answer key the following day and you will self grade and then send your answers to me.
(You will be on your honor to not look for answers by googling online, referring to the book itself, or going back through the blog.)
Anyone who enters, regardless of score, will be entered into a spin to win for a prize. Prizes will also be awarded to the top scorer and most likely another person or two.
She and Curt married fourteen years ago and she is a much loved part of our family.
She has a terrific sense of humor and is always up for the hijinks my kids can get up to.
Sarah and Lisa lifting Vanessa and Emily on the 4th of July. I'm so lucky to have these ladies as part of my family.
Curt and Kyle doing their best to distract her as she snaps photos of the kids.
A professional photographer, she has owned and operated her photography studio, Pearl Photo & Design, for over a decade.
Shortly after I got Abby, Vanessa met Tim out at the barn and shot a series of photos of Abby that she later gifted me.
Every time you come to my blog, you see my favorite photo from her gift.
She has a real artistic flair. Case in point, one of my favorite of her photos is Jessica's engagement ring on the frosty railroad tracks next to the battlefield for the Battle of Tippecanoe.
The ring on one of the 130 year old iron fence posts surrounding the battlefield.
The two of us on my birthday a few years ago - her gift to me was a makeover and then a photo.
Happy Birthday, Vanessa! Our family is better because you are part of it. We love you!
The white work table by my desk is finally clear! Well, except for things I am sorting through for the Kalamazoo Living History Show. But the Stablemates are either packed away or on display at last.
All the carpet herd pieces and old customs have been carefully wrapped and put back in the box that had had the case of 70th Anniversary Stablemates.
Wanting to safely display the Indian Ponies led to all of this sorting,
and they, along with the filly Two Socks, are displayed on a shelf right behind my desk chair. I can just swivel to see!
I definitely wanted to display my Donovans, Vintage Club Stablemates, Fighting Stallions, key chains, and decorators.
I started with the Breyer Barn, and filled it with models that fit. Not all do. That barn is very limited in the pieces it can hold unless you start angling them (like you do with Breyer's Traditional shelf eaters.) But angling them also makes them more prone to tipping over, and I don't want to do that anymore - hence the Stablemate Racks I bought.
The longer models are all in the Stablemate Racks in front of the barn. I thought I would need to buy more of the holders, but I actually have a spare set. Having said that, the 75th Anniversary Limited Edition Brilliance Gift Set is due to arrive soon - that's four more to find places for.
Cut (the Donovan) will be put with his conga, but the other three are too long. Hmmmm. I'll need to decide if I want to use the extra rack or maybe even put them in the barn at angles after all. Stay 'tooned on that!
Speaking of new releases, the last BreyerFest model announced was indeed the crystal.
This is Standing Ovation on a miniaturized Moody American Saddlebred (which is celebrating its 25th year.)
It's a Limited Edition and available to all ticket holders. Standing Ovation is definitely on my list to buy!
Breyer wasn't done announcing models, though. The first Vintage Club piece dropped!
In a nod to Walter Farley, Chris Hess' sculpture The Black Stallion was used to create Inferno. Not only is a copy of Walter Farley's book The Black Stallion's Blood Bay Colt included,
but a red blanket that is "a fun throwback to some of Breyer's earliest forays into realistic tack." One of my "collections within a collection" is Breyer's blankets, and I am super excited about Inferno's blanket!
This blanket from my collection and shown on Stud Spider is the one that they are recreating. It also came in
blue,
and red. (The red and blue blanket pictures are screenshots from Identify Your Breyer.)
A word of caution from a sewist who knows fabrics: If the blanket is NOT lined, put something under it or remove it from the model. Red can be an unstable color in fabrics and can transfer onto other things. It doesn't need to get wet to do so, either.
2022 Vintage Club Cooper also came with tack - a red bareback pad. It was separately wrapped in plastic and it has stayed in the wrapper for the same reason.
Hopefully the blanket will come separately wrapped like Cooper's and not on the model. If that's the case, I'll leave it in its wrapper. But if it is on Inferno, even if it's lined, I'm taking it off. Red transfer is dismaying when it happens and I'm not chancing it.
The Horsie Mama Horsey Super Bowl II is only eight days away! And the prizes have begun to arrive. Stay 'tooned!
