People, Ponies, & Places Plus a Pup

Second Post of the Day

(How's that title for an alliteration! Proud as punch of myself this morning! Haha!)

My sister Leslie sends out a daily family photo to our sibling email group, something Steve, Jenny, and I all look forward to.

I'd never before seen this photo of my very first horse, Amy, with Leslie.

Taken at Leslie's farm in Brookston in 1993, it was the last photo taken of Amy as she died several days later. Still beautiful despite the grizzled face at 28!

Me with my penpal, Sue Seese, in 1976 at Prophet's Rock. She'd flown out to visit me, just as I'd flown out to California to visit her the previous summer. 

If you were in the hobby in the early 1970s, Sue's name might be familiar to you as she was a first generation hobbyist along with me and Beth Dickinson, the other penpal in our trio of friends. Beth is still active in the hobby, live shows in Region 10, and attends BreyerFest every summer.

The photos Leslie sends us each day run the gamut as she digitizes and discovers people, ponies, and places from our past. 

Another fun one was our Honeywell grandparents, Earl and Georgia (he called her "Georgie") on their first date in 1924. 

Early in her career as a historian/anthropologist, Leslie traveled and presented at various conferences around the country. Sometimes she shares pictures from those events.

Several times she was asked to present about Annie Oakley, 

and was lucky enough to be allowed to handle some of Annie's own artifacts when she did.

One time she was doing a mini museum about Annie Oakley at the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, and was loaned many of Annie's things by the Annie Oakley Foundation. Les had then asked if I would loan her some of my model horses for the mini museum, so I can proudly brag crow say that my ponies sat side by side with Annie's things!

Wondering how Miss Rosie is doing as she settles into her second week with us?

She is absolutely devoted to Nash and he is very tolerant of her puppy-like antics. (Lisa was told that it was thought that she was two, but we think that she is much younger than that.) He is delighted to have companionship and a playmate and at the end of the day, they both sleep hard. (Um, so does Lisa if you catch my drift.)

Rosie is learning to walk on a leash, to tell Lisa when she needs to go outside, and to respect boundaries. She's come a long way in all of those areas, and is a sweet and friendly girl who just loves everyone and hopes you love her right back. (We do.)

"Hey, Pepper! Why are you under the table? Can I join you? Can I play with your toy? Do you wanna be best friends? I love you so much! Can you scoot over and give me a little more room?" 

Snugglesnugglesnugglesnuggle. (I see some Dogs of Our Lives posts comin' on!)

We have yet to hear her bark. Not once. A play growl once that was more like a squeak but that's it. Even when Nash and Tammo are protecting the homestead, and she's right there beside them and in the thick of their commotion, she hasn't uttered a peep.

I looked up the traits of Shar-Peis and apparently they do not bark much. Not a bad thing, not at all, but it has surprised us. 

She's fitting right in, and clearly making herself at home (the foot sticking out is Lisa's) and we are happy to have her with us. 

Off to go work on the quiet book. I'm working on the very last page and I should be able to finish today! Of course, then I have to make the cover...

Stay 'tooned!

Well, Of Course They Did!

First Post of the Day

A few hours after I posted the "last" of the BreyerFest auction lots, Breyer posted four more pieces. Well, of course they did! Hah!

Another vintage mold! And, my all-time favorite Breyer mold, too. A pinto, but a pretty blue coloring. I'm guessing this will go for high mid to high.

Croi haș a lot of fans and this piece is lovely. The dapples are soft and well done. Low High.

What a handsome piece! And I love the customized mane and tail, plus the color is nice and soft. High mid to low high.

There were a lot of people on social media who were excited over this Silver Pegasus.  As to the color, the Knob-Billed Duck has no connection to Scandinavia so it's a curious choice. Pretty and unusual, but curious, too. I think this might be the top auction model of the evening.

Breyer mentioned the missing lots, saying the two of them would be an in-person reveal at BreyerFest and that two of the models would be only for on-site bidders. 

That's four lots, and yesterday I noted that five lots were missing. My guess then was that the 5th missing lot is the set of Mystery Surprise Horses that is always included in the auction. 

But still, those numbers do not add up. Currently the missing lots are #2, #3, #8, #10, #14, #18, and #21. Seven lots. Subtract the four Breyer mentioned yesterday, then the Mystery Horse Surprise set, and two lots are still unaccounted for.

"Curiouser and curiouser," as Alice said. 

Stay 'tooned.

More BreyerFest Auction Pieces

First, for those of you who find things like this interesting.... today's date is a palindrome. 6/26/26 reverses to 6/26/26. Share that tidbit and amaze your friends! 

BreyerFest is only two weeks away. I have been so consumed with completing the quiet book and other things that I haven't really kept up with news like I usually would. 

I was able to go back through the Breyer blog and take screenshots of the rest of the Auction models that have been released. Continuing a reveal in an earlier blog post, here are the others that Breyer has let us have a peek at. (All auction photos and their information were taken from the BreyerFest Blog.)

The iconic Family Arabian Stallion in a gorgeous pinto! Trust Lesli Kathman to design such a beautiful color. I think both vintage mold lovers like me as well as those who prefer modern molds are delighted with this piece. I'd guess his auction price will be low mid range, maybe even low because of the mold that Breyer used.

Another Kathman pattern design, one of the things I like best about Goffert is the impulsion the mold has. You can just feel that boy MOVE. Goffert has a lot of fans; I think he will sell for a high price.

 

I like the Geronimo mold but when there are spots on a horse, I want them to be Appaloosa spots. Personal preference, don't get me wrong - this piece is pretty, too. Maybe mid range for the auction bids.

Susecion and Le Fire are wildly popular among collectors and feedback on this sweet set has been very positive. No designer is listed and compared to the other auction pieces that have been released, it's a "quieter" coloring on both of them. Pretty, but not an eye popping one like some of the others. Still, due to the molds' popularity, I predict this set will sell in the mid higher range.

The Western Prancer as an auction horse? Very unexpected! And I saw a lot of happy hobbyists about it. ("Jovial" is not a word I'd use to describe this or any horse.) A vintage mold, but not a highly popular mold, yet it, too, has its fans. (Says she who has a conga of eight of them.)  But make it chalky, and that pulls in another group of collectors - those who seek after chalky models. Still, my guess is mid to low range in the auction.

A popular Moody mold and yet another pinto paint job. It's glossy, too, a big draw for a large part of the hobby collecting base. High mid to low high range in the auction.

Another pinto, another chalky, and no designer listed. The Roxy mold has her fans and this piece is pretty. Mid range.

While the auction pieces are pretty, if I were planning to bid (and I am not) there is little in the auction offerings for me. The Cantering Welsh Pony is the only lot I would bid on. (Although I do love having two other vintage molds on offer.)

Why? Because I am not a pinto fan. They have never appealed to me, not in real horses nor in model ones. Pinto is just not to my taste. 

So far we have seen eleven auction lots. Out of those, eight are pintos in one form or another. Only one, Lot 4/the Cantering Welsh Pony, is an Appaloosa. The remaining two lots have the word "dapple" in their descriptions. 

Granted, there are at least five lots, maybe more, that we haven't yet seen. Will those lots balance out the heavy number of pinto iterations being offered? 

Unless Breyer releases a few more sneak peeks, we will have to wait two weeks to find out. 

Stay 'tooned.

The Quiet Book - Nearly Finished

After two weeks of lack of inspiration (and garage cleaning), the last three pages are underway. 

The ninth page was completed during that two weeks - I was just waiting for the bee appliqués to arrive. I stitched them down and drew their little buzzy flight paths.

I am designing many of the pages to reflect the JCs^2 childhood love of The Wiggles and that has been a real challenge for me. 

Modifying designs and pages that I created and drew myself for earlier quiet books has been helpful. 

This dinosaur page features in several quiet books and I decided to modify it into the Wiggles dinosaur, Dorothy.

I ran into a problem right away.

Her teeth are located at the very base of her face, not midway. (I.e. it's like she has no chin or bottom jaw.)

To cover the zipper (which has to be very low on Dorothy's face), the teeth have to be large enough to hide it.

If I put the zipper too low, there will be too much stress on the smaller portion of her jaw and a big chance that the fabric might tear from little fingers pulling on that zipper.

I'm still thinking about how to solve this dilemma.

I needed a small Wiggles Jeff doll for another page.

Believe it or not, I found what I needed at a toy shop in Australia, and the cost for the doll and shipping was reasonable!

It'a actually a later iteration Wiggle, but it has a purple shirt which Jeff wears in the show. Wiggle Captain Feathersword will also be represented on this page by the ship and the feather. (Commercial feathers for hatmakers that are sterilized and sanitized first.)

For the very final page, I had a special request from Gimmee Sarah - a Caps for Sale page. She reminded me of how much JC loved that book (so do I) and so I am creating a scene where the monkeys steal the caps.

I had a made-for-school felt board story in my quiet book stash so I've pulled it out. I don't like the monkeys that came with it, so I am using some patches that were also in my stash. 

The last three pages came about after making a list of the activities already in the book and their tactile abilities and checking to see if I had any skills missing. I think the quiet book is in good shape. Almost done!

There was still something else left to do - shop for the cover fabric.

My current favorite TV show is Bluey. It's gentle, it's funny, and it's charming. So when I found some Bluey fabric, Lisa and I took a closer look at it. We rated it a maybe. ("Rita! This is on sale for only three hundred dollarbucks!")

 

More Bluey fabric! In, well, blue! Another maybe. (::growl:: "What?? Janet, one hundred dollarbucks is too much. Argh!!")

This sage green llama fabric was flannel, which would add to the tactile aspect of the quiet book. And yes; we bought a yard.

Mama Jaycie wants to own a farm some day, fill it with animals, and do animal therapy for veterans and others. Not a tactile fabric, but another yes. This fabric could be used to teach about animals, the sounds they make (which would not be very quiet but still!), colors, and more.

As we shopped, Lisa and I came around a corner and ran into a face that looked familiar and took me a moment to figure out who I was seeing.

Former student Lacie from my very last class of teaching!

Lacie and me on her first day of 4th grade. She'd brought me a vase of cut flowers from her own garden and we took a picture together.

It was lovely to see her, catch up a bit (she's going to Purdue in Elementary Education!), and to hear about her brother Trey, who I'd also taught, and his plans as well as his upcoming wedding.

Off to go work on the quiet book. Family starts arriving in eight days so I am working every moment I can grab.

Stay 'tooned!

A Late June Mish Mosh

Think retirement is a time of slow days with nothing to do? I don't know a single retired person who hasn't quipped, "I am busier now than I was when I was working!"

Craig and I echo that sentiment. Here's a late June mish mosh of some of the things keeping us busy.

Lila Rose Update

Take a look at these photos for an indication as to how things are going with Rosie.

Boompa is wrapped around her paw. (The feeling is mutual.)

Enjoying the patio on a nice summer morning. (Can't wait to see the results of her DNA test. Shar Pei, anyone?)

Watching the World Cup Rosie-style.

No kidding! She put herself into that pose and was quite comfy.

A paws-up nap. Note the head hanging over the edge again. She does that a lot.

Snuggling into a brand new bed, just for her.

Checking out a napping Nash who was having a doggy dream and twitching and whimpering. She laid down and cuddled up to him.

Whoops! Oh, well. She will learn. (We think the chipmunk or the skink that live in Lisa's backyard may have been hiding in the hostas.)

A Wildfire Update

The mountain is still burning near Jessie's home. She sent us this photo (taken again from her front porch) last night and shared,

"So they are doing a back burn on this mountain to create a natural barrier against the fire. What is visible is a controlled burn. We have a little ash but not much."

Yeesh, Jessica! Stay safe!

A Bit of the Barn at Home

Barn swallows suddenly began hanging around a few weeks ago and built a nest atop the arch of our home.

 It's not the first time we've had a barn swallow nest in that spot.

We are bordered by farm fields, woods, and the Wabash River, so there are a lot of birds to hear and see.

Just yesterday my Merlin app recorded these bird calls in the short time it took Pepper to do her business.

Unfortunately the barn swallows' nest is under attack by an aggressive male sparrow who has been chasing off the parents and then destroying the eggs. I step out onto the porch every time I hear the barn swallows screaming, but I fear we won't have any babies due to him. The circle of life can be difficult to watch.

Tammo and the Cormorant

Speaking of birds in the area, Tammo got the surprise of his life down by the lake the other day.

We were playing a very spirited game of frisbee and Tammo took a break and went down to the mouth of the creek to check out the smells.

He started over the bank and down to the water when he suddenly made a leap backward and recoiled.

I heard splashing and went to investigate. I saw nothing, and then suddenly,

a head popped up out of the water, and then re-submerged. It resurfaced a little further away, went back under water, resurfaced again, and continued that behavior until it was far away and near the opposite bank. 

There it resurfaced for good and opened its wings to dry them and I realized that the bird that Tammo had flushed

was a cormorant. (Photo from Google Images.)

I've seen them before in the lake, but it was a first sighting (and close encounter) for Tammo. They are large birds; no wonder he was so surprised!

The New Shades are Up!

Yesterday our new shades were installed and we are very happy with them.

The dining room.

The east end of the living room.

The south windows.

I checked them out last night after dark - we were told that they would let in light during the day as well as maintain our privacy at night, and they did. 

We also replaced the blinds in the kitchen windows but no pictures of those yet.

The next part of this mish mosh post was about the quiet book, but it was so long, I am making it into its own post.

Stay 'tooned!