Black Friday

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Thanksgiving 2018

My family and I have celebrated five of the last six Thanksgivings with Carol.

This year she's in Germany, and I haven't been looking forward to Thanksgiving at all. Instead of a fun day with my best friend, I anticipated a long day spent alone in the kitchen, while the rest of my family acted bored and played with their devices.  

And, in fact, that did happen.

But somehow, it all ended up being okay. 

The food was plentiful and good, and the conversation was as sparkly as the Martinelli's.

Everybody cleaned their plates...

 and saved a little room for dessert.

After dinner, Carol's daughter, Cara, and her dog, Riley, came over for a visit. We played with the dogs, talked and told Carol stories. It was really nice.

 This was the quietest Thanksgiving in recent memory, but it was still a good one. For that, I am very thankful.

Progressive Thanksgiving

Last year, I made a 1:9 scale cornucopia for Thanksgiving.

Or perhaps I should say, I started a 1:9 scale cornucopia. There have been significant additions since then.

Collections - like performance entries - are progressive.

Every year, I add a little more.

Over time, it becomes awesome.

And you have to admit, this is pretty awesome!

I can't wait to see what it will look like next year.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Pictures from today's ride

Today I went riding with Mary Jo and Karen.

As usual, our ride started at the mounting block inside the arena. I climbed aboard, settled into the saddle and looked through Santana's ears. This is what I saw.

My favorite boy kitty walked back and forth in front of Santana.

Clearly, he wanted to go riding, too. 

I zipped up my jacket, put on some gloves and asked Lee to give him to me. 

He did.

Then he took photos of us with my camera. 

Aren't we cute?

I have been itchy all day, but I have no regrets. 

Every ride should include a kitty (and Benedryl)!

Almost wordless Wednesday

I am mildly allergic to cats and significantly allergic to hay. Because of this, I have a life polity of giving hay-covered barn kitties a wide birth. Usually, it's not too hard, but every now and then, I just can't resist the cute. These two stripey kittens are walking allergens, and still, I love them so much. In the past couple months I have taken nearly as many pictures of them as I have of the horses. Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy!

Progressive performance

I was reading a miniature blog recently in which the author discussed the concept of progressive dioramas. Each build starts with the basics, and then moves on through multiple series of optional but awesome additions. The final product can be as simple as ornate as the builder decides.

This is similar to the way I build a performance entry.

I start with the basics: the horse, the saddle, the bridle, the doll and a prop.

I could stop there, and sometimes I do. 

But if I like the entry - and it's not English/Western Pleasure - I'm going to grow it. For example, here's a picture of my first attempt at the Donut Race. It's fine...

But this is better!

My Versatility Challenge set-up underwent a similar transformation. Here's attempt number one...

and attempt number two.

I bought the muck cart just for this class, and although you can't really see it in these photos, I also included a full set of Western clothes for the doll to change into. 

This is the one of the secrets to successful performance showing. Never let your entries become static. Revisit them with fresh eyes. Upgrade your documentation. Add and subtract props as needed. Embrace progressive performance!

NaMoPaiMo in JAH

Although most of these horses will never live on my shelves, I truly feel as if I own a teeny, tiny piece of every model painted during NaMoPaiMo. 

Because of this, I was really happy to see no less than three of "my" NaMoPaiMo ponies featured in this year's edition of Just About Horses.

Stephanie Blaylock's magnificent Appaloosa Duende was pictured in a piece about the BreyerFest Best Customs Contest.

and both Vincent Lange's 2017 and 2018 NaMoPaiMo projects were part of his profile in the Rising Stars feature.

Congratulations, Stephanie and Vincent! I can't wait to see what you paint in 2019!