A Busy Breyer Week

It's been a busy Breyer week and it's only Thursday. 

First, Santino dropped and was available to order. This year's Freedom Series Gamblers Choice and on the vintage Polo Pony mold, Santino comes in three colors, Bay Manchado Pinto, Glossy Dappled Palomino, and Chestnut Blanket Appaloosa. (Lesli Kathman designed the colors.)

Photo by Breyer and taken from Breyer's web site.

I set an alarm on my phone and was able to purchase one, although I see they are still available to buy this morning. 

The Polo Pony model has had issues with the stand in the past; the model begins to lean to one side or forward with time. (Look at the models shown on Identify Your Breyer and you can see a variety of leaning positions.)

I read somewhere that the stand had been improved but I can't find the source to document that. I hope Breyer has improved it; otherwise, Santino will be kept off his stand and lying in a box like my Silver Comet is.

The next exciting moment was that the Halloween Store opened yesterday. Again I set my alarm and hopped onto my computer in hopes of getting what I wanted.

But the store had a lot of issues. At first everything was available. I put Slither in my cart (not a fan of the mold, but I love that green color!) and then went back to get the Halloween Stablemates. I especially wanted Cornelius and Nevermore. But when I went back to get them, their status had changed to "Coming Soon." What??

Photos of Slither and Halloween Stablemates by Breyer.

More clicking around, and I discovered almost all the offerings in the Halloween store had had their status changed as well. (My Slither stayed in the cart, though.)

I decided to come back in a few hours and try again. Not the best idea - almost everything was listed as out of stock and Slither was gone from my cart!

This morning Slither was back up for sale and he is in my cart again. But aside from the two Stablemates, there is nothing else I really want. And if I purchase Slither, the shipping and tax will nearly double his price, and I don't want him that badly. So, my plan is to keep an eye on the site and see if the Stablemates are restocked. 

Finally, the August Collectors Club newsletter dropped Wednesday with a giveaway for Adamek.

One lucky club member will win this piece. (You must enter to win.)

The monthly workshop is making splatter dappled disco decorators with Teagan Davis, and there is a sneak peek of a new web special coming in September. (Adamek and sneak peek photos by Breyer.)

Is Breyer done for the week? I guess we will find out, so stay 'tooned!

 

Good News but Why?

Never mind that last post about Josh Seiter's passing - apparently, it's a hoax. Numerous news outlets are posting the following video where Josh appears and explains that he is alive but that his Instagram account was hacked and the fake message of his death posted.

Yesterday I thought often of his mom and brothers, Israel and Steve. (His father passed away some time ago.) I wondered how she was handling the news that Josh had passed, and then later in the day when I learned that he actually had not, I was angry - she did not deserve to go through something like that. Neither did his brothers.

We may never know who did the hacking and posted the fake message. There has been some speculation on social media that this could have been a publicity stunt by Josh and his team. I don't know but I suppose it is possible.

Regardless how it came about, I am glad that he is alive.

 

What are the Chances?

Our family plays a lot of board and card games when we are together, and when it's just Craig and me at home, we will still pull out a game and play in the evening. Sunday night we were playing Skyjo. To determine who does first, each player turns over two cards and the player with the highest total goes first.

Look what happened:

We both turned over the same two numbers, 0 and 5! What are the chances?

I posted this photo along with that question on our family GroupMe chat. It was actually a rhetorical question so I didn't really expect an answer, but Cole, who excels at Math, quickly figured it out: 1 in 25,041. Wow! Bet we never have that happen again!

Game playing app recommendation: Jessica and her family play games all the time and they even attend game conventions all over the west. 

 

A few of their games - there are several more shelf units, all full like these.

They recommend using the app Chwazi to determine who goes first when playing games.

It's free, it's easy, and it's fun. (Of course, you won't get those cool statistics like 1 in 25,041 by using it...)

RIP, Josh Seiter

This was a sad surprise to read this morning. Josh and his family lived cattycorner to us when our kids were growing up and they played together as kids.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/former-bachelorette-contestant-josh-seiter-002534533.html

The Seiters' home is out of the picture but it was just to the right of our house (shown) in Urbana, Illinois.

As time went on, Josh and his brothers' interests diverged from what our kids were involved in, and we did not see as much of them as we had. And then everyone grew up and headed off to school and other adventures.

Rest in peace, Josh. I'm sorry to learn that you are gone.

Lots of Projects

My haversack inventory is woefully low and now is not the time to replenish it. Why? The Feast of the Hunters' Moon is fast approaching and I am busy stitching up 18th century clothing to sell there.

An 18th century men's Voyageur shirt with horn buttons and made out of hand block-printed cotton fabric.

Having said that, I have gotten some haversacks made. Take a look.

I was delighted to find this unusual fabric printed with tickets to various horse races!

Like all of the haversacks I've made recently, it is Hamilton-sized. (I get a lot of requests for that size.)

Carousel horses prance on this bright blue haversack.

It's amazing how much personality these cartoon horses have despite being simple line drawings.

Bay horses touching noses with Salukis.

I found this fabric depicting horses in a meadow in blue

light orange, and mint green. Of course, I bought all three.

The Feast is the first weekend in October, and then I have two weeks to prepare for the next Great Lakes Congress show. I've signed up to be a vendor and already I am worried that I will not have enough to sell. (I like to have a lot of choices for my customers.)

I also need to make more men's shirts and blackened beeswax ornaments. So, my plan in the lead up to the Feast is this: spending two days a week on 18th century shirts, one day for haversacks, and then one day for blackened beeswax ornaments. That gives me two days open to work on whatever, and Sunday off.

Pony Pals Addie and Cory blackening beeswax ornaments that they made to give as gifts when they were here earlier in August.

Oh, and I need to make a bedgown and petticoat for Mountain Mama Jessica who is flying out to attend the Feast.

No stress here! Haha!

 

Matilda: Cambria Dancing & Singing

Time to wrap up the Matilda posts! This will be the last of them and features Mutton Busting Champ, Cambria!

Like Titan, Cambria played a classmate of Matilda's so she was in almost every scene.

She may not have had a speaking role, but she sang and danced holes into her stage shoes! (Matilda in red headband on left, Cambria with hands on hips on the right.)

She had several costume changes, too. That's her in the pink dress. 

In her school uniform, second from left.

Second from left, with Matilda and her classmates being chewed out by Mrs. Trunchbull.

Probably my favorite picture of all and from the Phys Ed class scene. Jessica told me that the older kids were very inclusive of the younger ones and genuinely liked them. The younger kids adored the older ones right back. You can see that friendship on Cambria and her Phys Ed partner's faces.

And again, that friendship shines on. (Titan and his Phys Ed partner are on the right.)

Cambria with the class's teacher, Miss Honey, during Phys Ed.

Cambria's big scene was when she was singled out by "The Trunchbull" and spanked in order to ensure discipline during Phys Ed.

Horrified, Miss Honey steps in to comfort Cambria.

and has a few words for The Trunchbull

who really doesn't care what Miss Honey thinks about her methods of discipline.

It's not long after that that the children finally revolt against Mrs. Trunchbull in the song, Revolting Children. (That's Cambria between the two boys in the middle as the revolt begins.)

Such a fun show, and I am so glad that Craig and I were able to head out to Utah and catch three performances. It was worth that 30 hour train ride there and back!

A Bambi Moment

High school football season has begun, and Craig, Lisa, and I are Friday Night Lights people. Craig was a talented football player (Indiana All State team, Best of 100 Years Team, and recruited by several universities.)

That means that late August through mid November, we can be found sitting in bleachers somewhere in Indiana on a Friday evening. (I am not the football fan that they are, but I enjoy sitting in the stands with them and watching the game.)

That means I missed this cool moment out at the barn. Luckily, Barn Buddy Kelsey was there and captured the moment.

It's almost like the deer are hiding behind that tree!

It doesn't appear that the horses even saw them - they were too focused on coming up to get their treats for the evening. (See that lush pasture? Despite it being August and having had a drought for much of this summer? More evidence of the great care and pasture management that Tim provides.)

I watched the videos several times while sitting in the bleachers, missing our team score 9 points. Oops!

We won the game, but I sure wish I'd had the chance to see those deer scurry across the pasture. Thanks, Kelsey, for sending the videos!

 

It's August, 96 Degrees, & Here Comes Christmas!

Yesterday I spent an hour wandering around Hobby Lobby. I went in for a can of Krylon satin finish and came home with not only that but all the paper products I will need to host 28 for Thanksgiving dinner (and possibly 35 if my entire family comes), 3 football serving trays (several family members are HUGE football fans; these are gifts for them), a styrofoam head to display toques at The Feast of the Hunters' Moon, and finally, some supplies for a seminar I've been asked to teach.

You must wander around the store when you go to Hobby Lobby and look at the craft supplies and home decor. And even though it is still August, there was aisle after aisle after AISLE of Christmas decorations!

Look at these cute cowboy boot ornaments! I may go back and get one or two of them. (Okay, let's be honest. I might get one of each.)

These horse heads were another surprise. Their realism and attention to detail are not what you usually find displayed in stores at Christmas. (I don't like the jagged necks, though; looks like something violent happened to them.)

These colorful unicorns also caught my eye. They are so stinking' CUTE. And I don't like unicorns! Look at the color twist horn! Their happy eyes! The chubby bodies! One actually landed in my cart but eventually I put it back on the hanger. If it's there the next time I go to Hobby Lobby, then MAYBE I will get myself one for a Pony Pal.

On the other hand, neither of these unicorns appealed it me.

Nor did these horses. These are what I usually find at Hobby Lobby and other big box stores (and leave behind.) 

Christmas is most definitely coming!

 

"The Rains Came Down & the Floods Came Up"

How's this for an idyllic picture? Living high up on a mountain, lovely scenery, and a double rainbow, right out your window!

 That's Mountain Mama Jessica's back yard in Santaquin, Utah. They live as high up as you can go on Dry Mountain. An ironic name. Read on.)

There is no access to water beyond their yard. None. No homes were supposed to be built higher up the mountain as a result.

Well, a builder got around that requirement despite protests, took heavy machinery up behind Jessica's home, removed the vegetation that prevented erosion, and leveled the ground in preparation for building some homes up there. No mitigation was put in place to keep any snowmelt, rainwater, and dirt from coming down.

Utah has had heavy snowmelt this year and then an incredibly rainy summer. So, with nothing left to hold that water from coming down the mountain, guess what happened?

Jessie's retaining wall's structural soundness is now compromised, her yard is flooding, and there is mud, sand, and debris where there was once a lawn.

Andrew hiked up behind their home to document the damage and the builder's lack of mitigation. That's their yard below; as you can see, nothing has been put in place to hold back water and dirt - which is breaking building regulations big time.

The water is also pouring down the street and through her neighborhood. She's lucky; her basement hasn't flooded yet, but her neighbor's basement is full of muddy rainwater.

The builder has hung up on phone calls, but the Santaquin City Engineer has come out, assessed the problem, and then sandbagged the homes. The builder claims it is an act of God, but since he did not take steps (that he was legally required to) to prevent something like this from happening, he is responsible for the damage.

It's a mess, figuratively as well as literally. Jessica and her neighbors have some headaches ahead of them as they battle this builder for the damage he has caused their homes and streets. The City Engineer has viewed and documented the damage so that will be a big help to them as they fight for the damage to be repaired.

What a mess. I feel for them all.

 

Bring Out the BreyerFest Loot!

I finally got all my BreyerFest models unwrapped and catalogued. Here they are:

Nemea is my favorite of them all.

I do not care for the mold, but the BreyerFest model is unique and eye-catching. I taught Greek and Latin for twelve years and connected with Nemea as soon as Breyer released its photos.

It also pairs nicely with Pharaoh, a BreyerFest special run from 2008.

I was delighted to discover that the Stagecoach Surprise was Hamilton.

I received the matte dapple grey version. In my opinion, this is one of the best molds to come out of the Premiere Club.

I also splurged and got a single day ticket so I could get a Stablemate.

Navigator is very pretty

and I may show it. (I've been contemplating putting together a show string of minis and seeing how they do.)

I was very excited about the coasters - as much Vanilla Coke Zero as I drink, I am always in need of coasters!

But these were a disappointment. They were just very thin, single pieces of cardboard.

The Gone Riding picture I post occasionally is a BreyerFest coaster from some years back, and it is about 3/8" thick layered cardboard with a bottom layer of cork. I was expecting that, not a single flimsy piece of cardboard.

Of course, Bravour 54, the Celebration Horse, was in my BreyerFest loot. (I may give this piece to one of the Pony Pals for Christmas.)

I ordered the Via Lattea tee shirt and I really like it,

except that the hems began unravelling after the very first wearing. That's not the first time this has happened to me with a Breyer tee, but this is the first one I ever contacted Breyer about and reported. The issue is in the bobbin thread - the manufacturer is not securing the bobbin thread after stitching the hem so of course it unravels. 

Finally, I ordered a Neapolitan. I really like Breyer's "cake" line of Classics and have all the previous ones (Red Velvet, Cupcake, and Black Forest), so I was happy to add Neapolitan to the herd. 

That wraps up BreyerFest 2023 for me! I feel that overall it was a good one, and I really enjoyed the virtual component and am glad that Breyer continues to offer it.

Now I'm staying 'tooned for news about next year!