Wrapping Up the Odds & Ends

I was scanning through my file of blog ideas and realized I had not finished sharing things that I have that are horsey but which do not necessarily fit into my model horse collection. Today I will finish that topic with one last blog post.

This Navajo wedding vase was a gift from friends when we lived in Illinois. We had watched their dogs while they traveled and, knowing my love of horses, they purchased it as a thank you gift.

My favorite colors are orange and pink; add in the horses and this vase is perfect for me!

I have a candy dish that goes with the hunting teacup that belonged to my mother. This is actually my second one - the first was broken and, thanks to eBay, I was able to replace it.

These vintage Kentucky Derby salt and pepper shakers were an antique shop find. 

There is a creamer that goes with them, but I don't have that. Yet, haha! (Photo from eBay auction of seller champions15.)

And finally, I just can't resist. Thinking of salt and pepper makes me think of Salt-N-Pepa!

Music City Son Cole at a Billboard event with Salt-N-Pepa.

That wraps up the last bits and pieces of horsey items that that are tangental to my model horse collection.

Tomorrow? We are going to Disney.

Stay 'tooned!

After the Snow and Ice

The day after the ice and snowstorm dawned bright, sunny, and cold. I opened the back door to let Pepper out to do her business and thick amounts of ice covered our patio.

Pepper skidded and slipped around, but she was able to do what she needed to do and then hustled back inside for warmth and breakfast. (Not necessarily in that order. She's a Lab.)

We'd gotten a layer of ice and then three inches of snow that then blew and drifted, but the roads, while slow going (and occasionally flooded so detours were in place) were passable if you drove slowly. We normally have Molly and Nash on Fridays and Lisa felt comfortable bringing them to us and then she went into school.

Molly next to the patio, debating if she wants to attempt walking on that ice and go in through the kitchen door or walk around the house and use the front door instead.

Craig and I took the dogs outside to play in the snow for a while. Molly was too shy to join in, but Nashie is a big puppy at heart and he and Pepper had fun bouncing around in the snow.

He nearly pulled me off my feet in this video, and he did actually pull the leash out of my hands later in his enthusiasm to play and run, but he came right back to me when I called him. (He doesn't always do that so we keep him leashed when he's not in a fenced area.)

The "pack" followed me around the house all day.

Pepper and Nashie slept on the bed behind me while I sewed. Molly prefers to stay downstairs, so Craig took work from his office downstairs and worked down there so she'd have some company. (Craig is a real softie when it comes to the dogs.)

There was a layer of ice under the snow and Molly was very cautious about walking on it. She is eight and has arthritis; sometimes normal everyday activities can hurt her.

Having said that, she ALWAYS comes running when I pull out the Skinny Pop. I lost almost 100 lbs three years ago, and Skinny Pop is my go-to treat now rather than M&Ms, Reeses, and potato chips. (Not that I wouldn't like to have those sometimes.)

I usually take a break from sewing late in the morning or early afternoon to read and have some popcorn, and the dogs know that I will share. (Nashie was with Craig upstairs and preferred to stay there.)

We were very lucky that the storm didn't drop as much snow and ice as predicted. As it was, though, I-65 which runs through Lafayette was closed for about 12 hours.

 And Liz Cory sent me these photos of a 100 car pile-up on I-39 near her.

Fortunately there were no reports of fatalities but Liz said that emergency personnel from as far away as St. Louis and Springfield came up to help sort the wreck out and get the interstate open again.

It was the right decision for me to stay home from the GLC show, no doubt about it although I will miss being there. If you are going to the show, good luck, have fun, and tell everyone "hello" from me!

The Storm Rolls In

The storm that is keeping me from attending this weekend's Great Lakes Congress show rolled in around 1:00 PM yesterday. Despite the fact that the rain portion of the storm had already begun, I decided to run to the barn for a quick check on the horses before the ice and snow arrived.

That rain (2 inches!) coupled with the melting 13 inches of snow from ten days ago had turned everything into a muddy mess.

I didn't feel like slogging through it to get to Abby, and since Tim was also at the barn, I knew he'd checked them and that they were fine.

A quick check showed that the water trough was full and the heater working, and so I chatted with Tim a few minutes and then headed back home.

Shortly after I got there, the rain transitioned to sleet and freezing rain. I cleaned up from the barn and then went upstairs to my sewing room to work on some projects.

This is the sound of the sleet and freezing rain being blown against the windows in my sewing room.

It didn't take long before the ice had accumulated enough that I could not see out those windows.

Because of the snowmelt from the last storm as well as the rain from this one, we are experiencing heavy flooding along with the snow and ice. The Wabash is over many roads including the one I lived on growing up.

This is a picture I took a few years ago of that highway during another time when the Wabash flooded. My home is to the left and behind about 100 feet. The Wabash had jumped its banks and covered the road. (Unlike those crazy drivers ahead of me, I did NOT drive through that water. I turned around and went back the way I had come.)

The Wabash, Tippecanoe, and Wildcat are all out of their banks and causing travel issues. Couple that flooding with the ice and snow, plus the bitter cold coming in tonight, and it's going to be a while before I leave the house again.

As I write, the schools are on a two hour delay this morning. With the way the roads are, I am hoping that the school superintendent ends up canceling school and keeping students and staff safe.  Go here to read about a time when he made a different decision.

As for the GLC show, there's no doubt I made the right decision to stay home.

Live Show No Go

Since early January, I have been looking forward to attending the February Great Lakes Congress show. I was planning to bring Horsiemama's Mercantile and vend as well as show some of my models.

I spent quite a bit of time stitching up haversacks to bring 

including some orders that I said I'd deliver in person, weather pending.

Well, that weather really started "pending" about a week before the show date. My heart sank when I saw this Futurecast for snow early in the week and I began checking the weather several times a day in the lead up to the show date.

On Wednesday the Futurecast turned into the forecast, and and it was even worse than anticipated. Not only was a heavy amount of snow expected, 

but ice was, too. And West Lafayette was right in the bullseye for the heaviest amounts of ice. Even a trace glaze of ice is treacherous; a quarter inch of it would bring this part of Indiana to a halt for several days. (And that may happen; we are expecting bitter cold for several days after the storm.)

Sadly, I started contacting those who had wanted me to bring them haversacks and explained that I would not be there. 

My customers were all understanding and so I will be mailing their haversacks to them instead of hand delivering them at the show.

I'll miss the showing, I'll miss the buying, selling and trading, 

but most of all, I'll miss reconnecting with friends who I haven't seen for a while. 

Marilou Mol (above) and Liz Cory with me at GLC shows.

My 2022 show season isn't beginning quite as I had hoped.

The Dog Days of the Music City Bowl

While I am a football fan, I don't take it to the level that Craig and Lisa do, so I volunteered to stay home and watch the dogs while they traveled down to Nashville for the football game.

It was actually a lot of fun.

My "pack" followed me absolutely everywhere (yes, even to the bathroom, and if I didn't latch the door, a nose, usually Nash's, would nudge it open.)

Nash is especially full of life, but he is not naughty; he just does things that make you laugh.

"More, please."

Molly feels very safe with him around and she has blossomed - her personality has really surfaced 

and she is a loving, happy girl who likes nothing better than to be where you are. (Look at her smile!)

The pack followed me upstairs to the sewing room where they lay on the bed behind me and stared at my back while I worked. (I could feel those eyes as I sewed!)

And every morning they joined me in my office while I wrote. Nash enjoyed reminding me if I forgot to occasionally reach down and pet them.

Nash and Pepper both wanted to be in my lap when I watched the football game.

This line from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer came into my mind multiple times as I watched the game with two dogs piled on me!

I had such a good time having the dogs with me, that I was a little sad when Craig and Lisa came home and Nash and Molly went back to their own home.

The Music City Bowl - Purdue Wins!

A non horsey post from the holidays.

When Purdue's football team was invited to play against Tennessee in The Music City Bowl, I knew I wanted Craig to be able to go. It was only a six hour drive to Nashville and he could visit Music City Son Cole and Emily while he was there. So, I gave him tickets for the game.

I asked Teacher Daughter Lisa and Local Son Curt if they wanted to go, too. (Someone had to stay home with the dogs; that would be me.)

Curt couldn't go, but Lisa and Cole did! The game was played on her birthday and her ticket to the game was her gift from us.

They were way up in the nosebleed section, but that just meant they had a great view, right?

Apparently the steps up to their seats were really steep but Cole was still smiling when he found his seat. They were like the third or fourth row from the very tip top!

The Purdue All American Marching Band played during halftime. I have two former students who are in the band and on the field in this photo. (Not that I could pick them out from that far away, haha!)

Probably a good thing I stayed home with the dogs - I am terrified of heights.

As you can tell by those faces, they had a great time.

The game went into overtime with Purdue winning the game!

Cole may have been just a little excited by that.

I watched the game from home with the dogs. More on that tomorrow.

Stay 'tooned!

Horsey Girls are Everywhere

You can't always tell by looking at someone that they are horsey or that there are hoof prints on their heart. I had a very real example of this recently.

Craig and I were hosting some fairly well known people*** at our home for lunch, people we were acquainted with but did not really know well. They were traveling and we invited them to come to our home for lunch before they left town.

The woman stepped into our living room, looked around, then turned to me and said, "Tell me about you and horses."

That isn't too unusual a question when someone comes into our home - the china hutch with my Hagen Renakers and other china model horses is right there.

But it turned out that this woman was a horsey gal, too. She'd grown up in California riding and showing hunters and jumpers. She told me that she'd love to have a horse now but feels it would not be fair to it since she could not see it very often.

And with that, the horsey conversation took off - lunch forgotten.

We ended going upstairs to see the models in my office and sewing room. As she looked at my collection, she told me that she used to have model horses but had had no idea that there was a hobby with collecting, live shows, and more. 

That night, the woman texted me this photo of two models from her childhood collection.

"These are the two pieces I still have from when I was a little girl."

I smiled when I received that photo of the Family Arabian Mare and Marx Pancho. Never would I have associated her with horses but it just goes to show - we horsey girls are everywhere.

*** Their names are not given as I did not ask for permission to share them.