Dear Anne - Entering the Circus World

 Dear Anne,

I come by my love of circus ponies and horses honestly. You know that my dad owned a circus pony, O' Boy. But did you know that there is a strong circus influence in this part of Indiana? It's centered forty-eight miles upriver on the Wabash in Peru, Indiana.

Peru was the winter quarters for the Ringling Brothers Circus and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. The International Circus Hall of Fame is located there, too. 

And, I have family connections to the circus - my husband is a relative of P.T. Barnum and his cousin (one of my high school classmates) worked for years as a clown in the Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Bailey Circus.

So is it any wonder I am so fond of circus ponies and horses? And that Little Lynn and I wanted to show Elecktra that part of our Indiana heritage?

My grandfather doing a trick with O'Boy.

Luckily for us, it is that time of year when the circus is in its winter quarters so Circus Girl was not on the road. She said that she  was happy to host us, but she wanted to be sure that we knew that, with the circus in their winter quarters, only practice sessions and new choreography was happening - no real performances were being given. 

Little Lynn and Elektra didn't mind that a bit, so we hopped in my car and drove up to Peru for a visit.

The girls were surprised to discover that Circus Girl was a model horse collector like them!

And she photo shows, too! This is Mighty Mouse, her favorite piece. (That made sense - Mighty Mouse is a circus horse!)

Circus Girl took us to the set of Flamingo Pond and to our delight, some of the flamingos came over to meet us along with Little Raj! Anne, grab your tissues - Elecktra told Circus Girl that she loved flamingos because they are a connection back to her mom and the flamingos she has in her yard.  (I think maybe Elecktra was feeling a bit homesick at that moment. I slipped her a Hershey bar from my purse.)

Next, we were introduced to some new members of Circus Girl's family of performers.

This stunning black percheron is called Black Beauty, or simply Beauty for short.

The girls were surprised at how big he was, so I pulled out this photo of me meeting a black Percheron in Santaquin, Utah while visiting Mountain Mama Jessica last year. Riggs is 18 hands and huge just like Circus Girl's Beauty.

Also new to Circus Girl's act is this lovely Welsh Pony, Merriment. He piaffes in place on cue!

Elecktra sure has a gift when it comes to horses. The last new member of Circus Girl's performance family was a very shy, skittish miniature horse named Gingerbredz.

Elecktra got down on her knees and offered him the apple she'd been saving from lunch. Little Gingerbredz overcame his shyness and stepped up for a nibble. (The flamingos were hoping to get a bite, too!)

Suddenly, there was a great deal of commotion and a couple of striped balls sailed in through the door. Following those balls was a bunch of rowdy, noisy seals. They bounced around the room, pushing those balls back and forth, balancing them on their noses, and threw them to one another. It was absolute chaos, and noisy, too!

Circus Girl turned to Elecktra and Little Lynn and said that she had an idea. She asked if they

Oh, shoot! Look at the time! Anne, I have to run as I am getting my hair cut in a few minutes and I am going to be late. Sorry to close so abruptly. More tomorrow so stay 'tooned.

Hugs from Indiana,

Lynn xo

Dear Anne - A Mini Circus Performance

 Dear Anne,

I'm back! Got my hair cut and colored and feel much better. It had gotten so long that I was constantly pulling it back into a pony tail to keep it out of my face.

Anyway, after those seals had bounded into the room and romped around, Circus Girl had an idea - a way to let Elecktra and Little Lynn see a bit of a circus performance. The side show acts, like the seals, were small and easily set up. Plus, some of those performers (specifically the Hagen Renaker Circus Ponies) liked any opportunity to show off. Why not do a mini side show?

The seals were so happy when Circus Girl pulled the ring out that they insisted on helping her set it up, too. (Notice that it's upside down. We didn't tell them because they were so proud of themselves for helping.)

They may be on winter break, but the seals were still in top form. I missed the photo op, but that seal on the pedestal threw the ball to Elecktra. Was she surprised! (And she caught it, too!) We all had a good laugh about that.

The dogs wanted to go next. Somehow one of the monkeys joined them - how did he get loose? I made a mental note to make sure he got back safely with the other monkeys when we finished.

The dogs were very energetic, and the smallest one was so exuberant that, when the act was over, she jumped up onto Elecktra's lap and give her a kiss!

Following the dogs were the pygmy elephants. Minnie, the baby in the middle, stole the show. She isn't actually in the act yet, but she followed her mama into the ring and then wandered around while the others performed.

The elephants had barely exited the ring when we heard the sound of approaching hooves. Coming into the ring at a gallop was a herd of miniature horses. Fondly called the "Phony Ponies," they packed themselves into that ring. 

Ten miniature horses, all at once! 

Last, but not least, the Hagen Renaker circus ponies performed. They are the real pros of the show, and their performance was flawless. 

Then we were in for a real surprise. Circus Girl brought Mr. Nedz out in full circus regalia and let the girls work him! What a showstopper he is!

After untacking and turning Mr. Nedz out into his paddock, we all sat around and chatted a bit. And then, Circus Girl had one last surprise in store for Elecktra.

She gifted her with her favorite model. Elecktra thanked Circus Girl and told her that she would treasure it always. (Your girl has such good manners, Anne!)

With some teary hugs and good-byes, Little Lynn, Elecktra, and I piled back into the car and headed to West Lafayette.  Elecktra had a box to catch so that she could go out in the day's mail to her next stop, Aurora, Colorado and a visit with Jennifer Buxton. (Lucky girl!)

Since we were all teary, I didn't take any photos of Elecktra's departure. I made sure that she had everything she needed for her trip and gave her one last hug.

Little Lynn and I will miss her, but we look forward to hearing about her adventures with Jennifer. Thanks again for letting her visit us, Anne! And we hope that some day you can visit, too!

Love always, 

Lynn xo

Circus Girls - A Dream Come True

Circus girls! My favorite imaginative game to play as a kid. Leslie and I would pack cardboard suitcases (swiped from our dolls) and get on the circus train (the couch) and  travel to the circus's next destination. (Always the back yard.) There we would put on performances before packing up again and traveling to the next town.

Leslie and I grew out of our game, but we are both very fond of the memories. "Of course I remember Circus Girls!" Leslie responded when I asked. "Those were tremendous memories!" Yep! They sure were.The Circus Girls actually got to go to Baraboo, Wisconsin and meet some real circus horses when we were a little older. That was a treat. (Leslie and me along with our little sister, Jenny.)

Finally, after years and years of thinking about it, I circled  back to my Circus Girl roots. I did some research and asked Donna Chaney to make me a RubberNedz Circus Horse and Anne Field to make me a Circus Girl Doll. 

The end result was just as I'd hoped and imagined it to be. I never had a real horse who looked like Mr. Nedz, but I did have someone who looked like my new doll. 

You see, my elegant new doll is me, Circus Girl Lynn. And she is just as I imagined her, all those years ago.

Thanks so much, Anne, for bringing my dream to life. 

(I'll explain Flamingo Pond tomorrow.)

Windsong: A Gift for Little Lynn

I am very slowly recreating the old bunkhouse I had for my carpet herd stable, Windsong. Little Lynn and Circus Girl factor heavily into the recreation. 

The arrival of Little Sis wasn't the only surprise of the holiday season for Little Lynn and Circus Girl. 

Little Lynn received a gift all the way from Pennsylvania from her friend Adah! What could it be?

Beauty, the lead performing circus horse, heard the commotion as the girls squealed over Little Lynn's gifts and came into the bunkhouse lounge to check it out.

That horse can smell a peppermint all the way across the three rings of the circus! (I think Abby could do the same.)

Little Lynn and Circus Girl popped open the bag and slipped a few of Adah's treats to him. They were so yummy!

Thanks so much, Adah! Happy Holidays!

Here's a close up of the cute bag she made for me.

Christmas Card of the Day

Adah also sent this to me!

Pawnee Stables: There are Haversacks to be Made!

I finally took a few moments early one morning (as in 5:30 AM) to pull out my stack o'mini carriers 

and take a look at which railroad scale of horse worked better with my 1:9 scale dolls, Little Lynn and Circus Girl. 

The these-make-the-arthritis-in-my-hands-hurt HO scale,

or the über teeny tiny can-hardly-be-seen-with-or-without-my-glasses N scale?

Luckily for my eyes (but not so much for my fingers), the HO scale proved to be the best.

Now that that is settled, Little Lynn is hoping live showing will return sometime this year and needs some haversacks for her show models.

Circus Girl is still here in Indiana at the circus's wintering grounds and would like to sew a few for her collection, too. 

They discussed fabric options

and made up a schedule for taking turns with the sewing machine.

Circus Girl also would like to make a couple of haversacks for her doll riders and the smaller models in her collection.

Stay 'tooned to see the results of the ladies' sewing get together.

Scales within Scales: The Miniest of Minis

This blog post was originally published in February, 2021 and pertains to the tiniest pieces in my collection, the HO (1:87) and N (1:160) scale horses.  Rather than rewrite it, I did a cut and paste.

My first Mini Whinnies were a gift from a student way back in 2001 when they were being produced by Creata and called Winners Choice Micro Horses. (Go here for an interesting web site with lots of information on Winners Choice.)

I've kept those tiny horses tucked away in a little container for years. (That lying horse on the front left came with them but is by another company.)

My favorite one is the Appaloosa who is surprisingly detailed considering his size and age.

I didn't get any more Mini Whinnies until this past Christmas when I bought Breyer's advent calendar. While that was fun, that was the end of buying teeny tinies - I thought.

But just as Goldilocks had to try things out in the Bears' home until she found something that was just right, so it is with Little Lynn and Circus Girl and their teeny tiny model horses.

Little Lynn and Circus Girl "need" some new additions to their collection as the Mini Whinnies are too big and out of scale.

I started looking at railroading miniatures and found this nice HO scale set on eBay. They were more in scale with the dolls, but they weren't just right. Then, I discovered yet another scale in railroading miniatures - N scale.

N scale is really tiny - here are some pieces laid out on my sewing cutting mat; for perspective, those marks on the mat are one inch squares. Will the N scale ponies be just right?

I actually found these N scale horses accidentally - I was looking for HO scale ones and they popped up during my search.

The HO scale and the N scale pieces are identical except for size. 

The HO scale horses and riders out of packaging and laid against the measuring grid. See how much bigger they are on the grid squares?

When you put the two sets together, you can really see the difference in size. Aren't they cool?

This next photo with the Creata/Mini Whinnies added in makes me think of Breyer's scales replicated in 1:9 scale - traditional, classic, and stablemate.

The Mini Whinnies look positively gargantuan compared to the HO and N scale horses!

Circus Girl and Little Lynn now have lots of new models to enjoy but which ones will they decide are just right?

It's a bit of a dilemma, but the gals are discussing it and I am sure they will figure it out.

Advent Calendar Reveal December 16

Another jump for the pretty grey jumper!