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February 27, 2004
Palomino Arab Joins Julip Stable
This old palomino HOTY Julip horse followed me home from eBay. I think I'll keep him!
I remember receiving Julip catalogues in the mail back in the eighties and longing for one of these Arabs. The bay was my favourite, but alas! I could not afford any of them at the time.
I was lucky to find this one on eBay recently. He was already over here in the United States, so he didn't have far to travel. Aside from a mane trim (it's now a more normal Arabian-type length instead of improbably long), he's in pretty good shape.
He's one of the ones that actually has fairly rubbery, bendy legs, unlike current HOTY Julips, which are solid, heavy plastic. I suspect, but cannot confirm, that he may have a wire armature underneath the rubbery plastic body.
Anyway, he is cute as a button and I am very pleased to add him to the stable at long last.
His arrival cheers me up since my favourite hat, which I wear each day all winter long, has disappeared. We have retraced our steps everywhere, to no avail. The hat has vanished. I am very sad about the hat because Brian got it for me as a Christmas present while we were dating.
He loves me so much that he went out and bought me another hat, just so I will keep warm during what is left of the winter weather. He even helped me look for my hat! Thanks, Brian!
I have always been sad to lose a special possession. When I was about three or four years old, I accidentally left my Bozo doll in Hudson's. I was unconsolable until Daddy made a special trip to retrieve Bozo! Bozo was my favourite toy, and I actually went through at least three of them over the years. (His head kept coming detatched from his body, and Mom would have to sew it back on!)
Posted by Jessica at 04:56 PM | Comments (2)
Flying Traveller
Here is another one of my horses. Believe it or not, he was a registered Appaloosa!
His name was Flying Traveller, and I bought him when I was involved in cross-country and jumping. I also was studying dressage, so I succumbed (briefly) to the common notion that one must have a tall horse. Traveller was 16hh.
Traveller had absolutely no white markings, except for a small white scar on one of his pasterns. He had the best and hardest hooves of any horse I've ever owned. His personality was okay, but he wasn't as smart as my Arabians and boy, did he have a stubborn streak. Just try to stick a paste wormer in his mouth! He used his 16hh height to his full advantage there. (Tip: If you have a horse that's difficult to worm, clean out an old used paste wormer tube-Zimectrin works great because it doesn't get narrow at the tip-and fill it up with applesauce. After giving that treat to horsie a few times a week, horsie decides he LIKES to be wormed and will stick his mouth open when he sees you with the wormer.)
Traveller was a capable but lazy jumper. He was difficult for me to get moving forward freely, he took a lot of energy and effort. I was used to my quick little Arabs! Traveller was kind of like a semi-truck, he made wide, slow turns compared to Smokie. Traveller was actually built more like a Thoroughbred (he had a lot of Thoroughbred blood) but he acted more like a stock horse.
I eventually decided to go back to my Arabians, and I gave Traveller to a dressage rider, who just loved him.
Posted by Jessica at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2004
Daddy
This is a photo of Daddy, who was Master of Southfield Lodge #573 in 1968.
This was an interesting year for Daddy to be Master. The whole area surrounding Detroit was under curfew because of the race riots that had been taking place. Therefore, the Lodge members were unable to hold some of their scheduled meetings. This was also the year that the Temple roof was partly blown off by a "big wind storm" on April 8.
Despite these difficulties, the Lodge thrived, with many degrees and activities taking place.
Note the top hat in the photo. This top hat had been passed down from one Masonic brother to another and had been worn by several Masters of Lodges in Ontario before they passed it on to Daddy.
I still have this hat today, but unfortunately Brian is unable to wear it as Master of his Lodge in Milford as the hat is simply too small to fit him! I tease him about it, but certainly it means that he has a very large and powerful brain!
I am sure that Daddy would be very pleased with Brian's achievements in the Masonic world.
Posted by Jessica at 10:06 AM | Comments (1)
February 23, 2004
Pixie the Pony
I found this archival photo of Pixie, who took western cowboy-style riding over to her friends in England!
Pixie is owned by Amanda from Havillands. We do collect model horses other than Julips sometimes! In fact, my stable, Blue Top Farm, has quite an assortment of horses from many different manufacturers. There are Breyers, Hartlands, some Marx models, Britains, and even a few china horses, not to mention the Julips and Magpies.
(Shhh...I even have a few Grand Champions brand model horses. Don't tell the "show people" about those, okay, or I'll never hear the end of it!)
Thanks to Amanda for this photo of Pixie!
Posted by Jessica at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2004
Spiffy eBay Painting
This painting was so cheerful that I had to bid on it. It reminded me of springtime, an event I am looking forward to with great anticipation!
Yes, it is still snowy and bleak here (although it is somewhat warmer today.) This painting should add a breath of fresh air to its surroundings. I usually am attracted to dark, brooding, heavily varnished antique oils in earth tones. I don't know what came over me!
It came from one of those art warehouses that specialize in really cheap, usually ugly or tacky oil paintings by contemporary unknown artists. They really get you with the postage costs, although the paintings themselves can be had for as little as a penny. (That's how much this one cost.)
Fortunately, it isn't framed, so it shouldn't be overly expensive to ship. Framing costs, however, I don't want to talk about. Maybe I'll just leave it unframed!
Posted by Jessica at 04:49 PM | Comments (0)
February 18, 2004
Fitzwood's New Clothes
Fitzwood was very kind to model the rug which was created for him by Lucky!
Lucky is very proud to have Fitzwood as his sire, so he made this rather bold sparkly rug as a present for him. Fitzwood looks great! Lucky's mom, Whisper, made the headcollar as a Valentine gift. (Whisper thinks Fitzi is the studliest stallion she's ever known.)
Fitzwood is from Havillands over in England. Hello to everyone at Havillands, especially Amanda!
Posted by Jessica at 11:30 AM | Comments (2)
February 16, 2004
Orc Race
These are some of Brian's fiercest warriors keeping their skills sharp in between actual battles against Chaos.
I had to rescue this photograph from my file at the Julip Group Headquarters, they were running out of space to put everybody's pictures.
These Orcs are keeping in shape racing around the Binbak riding stable track. They are about the right scale, too! Sometimes these warriors even find the time to raid my Snow Village, which usually makes an appearance around December. This year, they left the sleepy village alone. They had their sights on Archaon, Lord of the Endtimes. Unfortunately, they have not yet won against this formidable foe, but they are continuing to plot his demise. Stay tuned for more Orc adventures!
Posted by Jessica at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2004
Mysterious Moving Julip
At the beginning of winter, when we turned our furnace on, I moved the older latex Julips upstairs to a cooler room so that the temperature would not affect them...
The Julips that I moved were Rosemund, Bumblebee, Lionheart, Maeve, Kelpie, Lucky and the two riders, Clive and Janie. They are sitting on top of my dresser, and seem to stay put pretty well, except for Lucky. He has a tendency to move about an inch or so every few days. Sometimes he partially turns himself around and sometimes he just moves either forward or backward on the dresser top.
I have tried to duplicate this effect by opening the dresser drawers and jumping on the bedroom floor a bit, but he always stays put when I'm looking at him.
I do enjoy having my collection on my dresser top because I can see them every morning. They do like attention, you know. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's why Lucky is moving around so much-he craves attention!
Whisper, Noddy, Privateer, Firefly and Zephyr elected to stay downstairs in the stable, and the HOTY Julips and the Magpies took over the old Breyer horse barn (it's a good size for Julips and Magpies!)
Not to worry, though-I still give them plenty of attention, too!
Posted by Jessica at 11:23 AM | Comments (1)
February 12, 2004
Kathleen's Amazing ISHs
One "conga line" of Kathleen's Peter Stone ISH collection-quite impressive, if you ask me!
One of our favourite Peter Stone moulds is the Ideal Stock Horse (affectionately known as the ISH.) Kathleen has many more of them than I do, and she knows I like them a lot, so she occasionally sends me photos of her horsies. I believe that some of her newest additions (Jake and Earl, from State Line Tack) are included in the photo.
We also like the weanling, which, like the ISH, was sculpted by Carol Williams of Rio Rondo.
(I also am very partial to the Peter Stone English pony. I have two of them, one is a pale grey and the other is a really nice mocha appaloosa. Maybe I'll have photos of them some day!)
Kathleen and I have been hunting for a chestnut Stone pony for me on eBay, but so far, they have been out of my price range. Someday, I will find one!
I'll have to ask Brian to take some photos of my horsies and email them to me so that I can include them on the website.
Posted by Jessica at 01:45 PM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2004
Kathleen's rescue North Light
Kathleen rescued this damaged dapple North Light horse from a vendor at Breyerfest last year, and has since restored it.
I won't tell you where the breaks and missing pieces were, but as you can see, Kathleen did a fine job of repairing it! This dapple color is one of my favourites. I only have three North Lights, one is a dark dapple Hanoverian and the other two are a broodmare in dapple liver chestnut and "baby bay" nursing foal.
Kathleen is thrilled to have added this horse to her collection.
Posted by Jessica at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2004
Brian's Best Friend
Brian's best friend is a delicious latte from one of our favorite coffee houses! (Thanks to Danielle for the photo!)
Coffee shops are Brian's home away from home! We have our favorite shop in our hometown, Uptown Coffee House, and our favorite coffee house in Ann Arbor (Espresso Royale.)
Lately, it's been decaffeinated mochas for me. They are still delicious, they just don't make me (and the baby) all jumpy!
Posted by Jessica at 04:51 PM | Comments (1)
Full Weekend
Our weekend was definitely full of all sorts of interesting tasks and other fun stuff.
Friday was a very busy day. It was my first day back at work since I became so ill with my pregnancy. This medication, Zofran ODT, really allows me to lead a mostly normal life. (For everyone who didn't know me during the worst of my pre-Zofran pregnancy, I was incapacitated! Enough said.)
Friday night found much of the wasmi crew out to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant (very tasty.) Brian couldn't make it, but there was much jollity to be had. I treated myself to a Diet Coke (very rare now that I'm dining for two, I used to drink them all the time.)
While the wasmi-ites were dining, Brian was finishing up his own dinner with an old friend and then rousing his Warhammer Orc army to battle the hordes of Chaos.
Unfortunately, Archaon, Lord of the Endtimes, proved too great a threat to the valiant Orcs. They are, however, re-grouping and planning their revenge even as we speak.
On Saturday, we worked on the baby's room, after visiting Home Depot to pick up a few necessary items. I filled in all of the many holes in the 110-year-old walls and we are getting ready to paint. We took everything out of the room, including the mattress and box springs from the built-in twin bed. Those are now in our hallway! The baby's room walls are going to be pale green with white trim when we are finished.
Saturday night found us sharing dinner with Obi-Wan and Amidala, whose house is similarly undergoing a metamorphosis, so much so that we retreated to the house of Obi-Wan's parents to eat dinner. They very kindly allowed us to use their abode while they were on vacation!
Sunday found us up bright and early so that Brian could attend the Unity Church's board meeting. He is working on a solution for one of their problems. They seem not to know exactly what their goals are, so they are hoping to define them in the near future. (They've been doing pretty well with the "Love and Light" direction, but they thought they'd like to make it a bit clearer in the congregation's mind.)
After a splendid sermon by Rev. Mary, and the board meeting during which I renewed an old aquaintanceship from my former FMC church days, Brian and I were off to "Babies R Us," the gigantic mega-store devoted to all things infantile. Brian was not looking forward to what he thought would be a necessary but boring outing...however, he found that he actually had fun picking out items for the baby registry! We found the latest styles of strollers, car seats and infant care...but no crib! They did not have any crib that Princess Jessica liked. Most of them were over-priced (over $300, usually around $400) or were really low-quality imports.
I had seen a crib that I liked very much at a baby specialty store, but had refused to purchase. It was perfect, but priced at $699. Which was actually one of their cheaper cribs! No, thanks!
I have since found a crib that fits my criteria (made in the USA-or mostly, attractive, all-wood, knee-release, single drop-side and only $199.) It must be ordered via internet, however, as the stores don't carry the lower-priced Child Craft cribs (they want you to buy the expensive ones!)
After the Babies R Us tour (which lasted several hours!!) we went over to Brian's parents' house to show them the ultrasound photos. We also ate a delicious pizza. (I am getting lots of pizza, lately, as we ordered that for lunch at work today, as well.)
That's the news for this past weekend! Boy, were we busy.
Posted by Jessica at 02:28 PM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2004
Master of the Lodge!
Here is Brian as Master of the Milford Lodge. And he has a top hat that fits!
Brian was installed as Master in January, and his parents, myself, his brother and sister-in-law all were there to watch the installation. Two members of Grand Lodge who are friends of Brian's were there to support him, as well as brothers from his former lodge in Ann Arbor.
We had a cake and cookies along with the all-important coffee following the installation, which was very moving. Brian has great plans for Milford this year, and they have already read petitions and are planning degree work, as well as other projects.
Posted by Jessica at 09:51 AM | Comments (2)
February 05, 2004
Baby Ultrasound!
Brian and I had a very interesting time at the hospital yesterday, looking at pictures of our baby's ultrasound! If you want to know what we found out, continue reading!
First of all, we saw the most beautiful baby ever seen by mortal eyes! Of course, I am incredibly biased, but I feel that this little baby is truly special! The baby was very active, "dancing" and moving little arms and legs around. The nurse said she sometimes does 10-12 ultrasounds per day, not all of them babies, but those are the most fun. It was fun to watch the little movies of the baby from various angles.
The result of the ultrasound appears to be a perfectly healthy, adorable baby boy! (We received several souvenir photographs, one of which is sure to embarrass our son as he gets older!)
We had fun calling various relatives and friends and giving them the happy news.
Posted by Jessica at 01:28 PM | Comments (0)
February 03, 2004
Imbolc
This is the time on the Wheel of the Year at which the return of the light is celebrated and springtime's promise is renewed!
It is traditional to celebrate with white or light colored candles, either in a circle or in a procession. As we contemplate the light, we contemplate the the cycles of life, and the coming of the fresh breezes, warm sunlight and new plant and animal babies that are just around the corner.
Actually, sheep are giving birth around this time of year, and Imbolc celebrates the lactation of the ewes. Although a cold and snowy time of year for baby lambs to be born, with their arrival we know that spring can't be too far behind.
This year, Brian and I celebrated with our new friends Emerald and Leanne. We cleared away some cobwebs that lingered from the past year(s), and drew in positive energies towards that which we are working in the present.
As everything is renewed in the cauldron/womb of the Mother, we restored our balance by offering to Her our negativities for purification and transformation to positive. We can now concentrate on achieving our goals for this season and year.
Happy Imbolc to everyone, and a hope for a pleasant and prosperous spring for all!
Posted by Jessica at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)