Parting shots

The year end photo post is always a mixed bag, but never more so than this year. Here are some of the big and little moments of this very long, very weird year. Enjoy!

Last day

Today is the last day of 2020. No one is sad to see it go.

Since even a bad year should end on a good note, my friends and I decided to spend the day in the saddle. That's Therese on Delilah, Mary Jo on Scarlett and Karen on Thunder.

 I rode Lucy.

Although it was bright and sunny, it was also cold and there was a lot of ice on the ground. Because of that we stayed on the paved side of the creek.

All the horses were good. It was a nice ride.

There were treats for everyone when we got back to the barn.

This was nothing like last year's New Year's Eve celebration, but by 2020 standards, this was just fine.

Cheers!

Here's hoping for a better 2021 for all of us. Happy New Year!

Winter gifts

The United State Postal Service has had as bad a year as the rest of us. So many Christmas gifts have arrived after the fact, my family has started calling them "winter gifts."

Winter gifts from Jodi Purdy

This year, like most years, I participated in a model horse hobby Christmas winter gift exchange. My gifter was Joanne Cermele, and this is what she sent me.

I got a beautiful box and magnet, 

treats for all species...

and a fun selection of miniatures.

The best gift, however, was this gorgeous small scale painting by her husband. I love it so much!

Thank you so much, Joanne. Those were some great winter gifts.

Jeannie's barn

As much as I am ready for this year to be over, I wish the Bridle Tree Barn Raising Challenge could go on forever. This has been such a fun community event, and I have really enjoyed seeing everyone's barns. Here's one of my absolute favorites. Thank you, Jeannie for allowing me to share the story of its creation!

Building a Barn Façade

by Jeannie of Phoenix Ranch

I didn't finish or even start a barn or stable this December, but I made a barn façade for my Schleichs in 2012. In Germany, we have many old barns and some new barns built in a similar way with timber frame style. Lots of them have a cobblestone pavement,  so I made this too with air drying clay. 

I started with a paper covered foam board and added wooden strips.

With a steak knife I put a lot of scratches onto the wooden strips so they looked old. I drilled many tiny holes for indication of wooden pegs. Then I put a tooth pick in every hole and snapped it off with a cutter. I painted everything with acrylic paint.

I filled the gaps with air drying clay and used a small strip of wood in the desired size of the bricks to print in the bricks.

I'm not sure anymore how I did the rough look of the bricks. The air drying clay had a disadvantage of shrinking but it was not too bad.

It was a lot of bricks!

I put a wash of thinned down acrylic paint on the bricks.

Then I painted each brick with pastels in varying colors. I sealed them with a sealer spray and painted the joints  with watered down acrylic paint.

All done with the bricks!

Next, I added windows made of wooden strips. I put a photo of a indoor stable behind the window.

I madedoors.

This is a very typical barn door in Germany.

Here is the façade before I added the roof.

The roof is made of Balsa wood. This is a very soft wood, and I worked with different tools and knifes and a wire brush to achieve the look of a thatched roof. I painted it with thin layers of acrylic paint.

You can open the barn doors and for an illusion I put photos of the interior of a barn inside.

I illuminated the inside of the barn door and the windows. I also made a cobblestone pavement with air drying clay.

I added a little fence...

And a bird house.

 Here is my barn all dressed up for the holidays.

Happy new year from Phoenix Ranch!

Thank you again, Jeannie. I wonder how hard it would be to build one of those in traditional scale?