Another One

Today, I set up another blog. This is to spare those of you who like to read about me but perhaps don't love horses quite like I do. In the sidebar to the right you will now see a new link under "Recommended Bloggery" called "Steen." This will take you to a blog that I will use to detail my progress with my new horse.

More Photos

Today Brian went to the stable with me. He and I and Steen all took a little time trying to get to know one another. Steen, while sweet, hasn't been ridden much for the last four years and tied even less, so we are working on things like how to stand quietly while being groomed, and trying to get some muscle tone back on him by longing him. So far, so good. Even better, he and Brian seem to like each other.

Here are a couple photos Brian snapped:

It's a Boy!

Meet Steen, my brand new eight-year-old paint gelding.


He's 15.2 hands, and seems to be a big sweet-heart. I imagine I'll get to know him better in the days to come.

Return of the Rotating Banner

Well, last night was one of those evenings that somehow happens after the discovery of a mere simple coincidence. ("Really? We're going to Takanami too.") Somehow, Brian and I ended up at a table with my boss and our number one client, our number one client's wife, and another artist we represent at the gallery. It was great fun, but one martini is generally too much for me. Two undoubtedly is. I am feeling a bit rough this morning, and for some reason on mornings like this one, sometimes the only thing I can do is fiddle with html code.

I'm not trying to say this makes sense.

Anyway, the point is, I've tinkered a rotating banner back onto my blog, so now every time you come, you'll get a random taste of imagery to accompany your reading.

Choices, Choices

Today it was a 7 year old paint. Beautiful. Sweet. Rusty, but trained.

This is an exhausting process.

Horse Hunting

I have known since I moved here that keeping horses in the midwest is not the same thing as keeping horses in the southwest. A horse is a somewhat simple thing when you have acres of open land out the back door. Not so when you have only a small back yard within city limits.

But lately my job at the stable has helped me begin to piece together what opportunities and difficulties there are here as far as owning and riding horses. I have been under the impression since I moved here that I could not afford to buy and keep my own horse, but with the extra cashflow provided by my job at the stable, the prospect of my hopefully soon to arrive federal tax return, and my timely discovery of something called pasture boarding, a remarkable change has come over my perception of the world. In just one week I went from someone without horse ownership in her foreseeable future to someone who is in the market.

Unfortunately, buying horses is hard. It is difficult to keep from rushing into things. I went this morning and met a very sweet four year old white quarterhorse gelding, and I go tomorrow to look at a 3 year old saddlebred-arabian cross filly. Earlier today I visited the stable where I intend to board (not the same one where I work), and in the last four days I have looked at roughly a thousand photos of available horses online. My head is spinning, and I'm constantly waffling between feeling incredibly excited and intensely worried I'm overlooking something important.

However, the more I look and calculate and shop, the more I think it will work out for me. I'll have to shift my priorities, for sure, and inevitably have to go back to doing things like driving my car and buying gas. But, provided I find the right horse and don't suddenly change my mind about the whole thing, it seems a whole new chapter of my equine history is about to begin.

Back Blogging

This weekend while rooting around in my virtual closet, I found an old word document I saved when I abandoned my old blog to start here. It goes back to just after I arrived home from England (although early posts are quite sparse). I've decided to start back-posting, adding my old entries to the beginning of this blog. This is mostly invisible to my modern readers unless they choose to click the links to past years in my sidebar(except when I initially forget to adjust the date on my new/old posts...).

Today, the sun is out, the squirrels are happy in the high-up branches of our massive walnut tree (which happens - due to the slope of the back yard - to be more or less on level with us when we hang out in the office upstairs), and crocuses are blooming more fervently than I've ever seen before.


This fine specimen of the Richard William clan was clearly giving me cheek, but did deign to pose for a photo.

Goodbyes and Hellos

When I got my new computer, I obviously didn't have need for my old one anymore. So, I reformatted it and breathlessly listed it for sale on Craigslist. I'd never sold anything on the internet before. After a number of indecisive interactions with potential buyers, I grew less excited about the whole prospect. Days passed. I moved the old computer from the middle of the study floor to the closet. The listing expired. I re-listed, asking for slightly less money. I got the same trickle of queries, including one guy who said, "I want to come buy it tonight," and then never called to get directions.

The second listing expired and so did my interest in the matter. Two months passed. A couple days ago I came across my old computer whilst digging for something in the closet. I posted a new listing. Two people emailed asking questions and didn't reply to my reply. Today, a third wrote. She said, "call me if it is still available."

Half an hour later, my faithful old computer was gone and I was left holding a check and feeling a little bit like I hadn't prepared emotionally for the parting. I develop a rather personalized relationship with my inanimate objects and although I have bonded to my new machine, I won't forget the old.


Then, to take my mind off things, Brian and I decided to install the weather station I got him for our anniversary. The results of our efforts are pretty exciting. Off the side of our house, passersby will now see this:

This little doodah measures the wind speed...


...and sends the info to this other little doodah...


...which adds its measurement of the temperature and then wirelessly broadcasts the combined data to our station inside...


...which then includes info about our inside temperature and forecast to the mix. So, just as long as the Richard William clan doesn't make war upon our new plastic devices and ravage them using their sharp little squirrel teeth (Eponine sure did love chewing wires, but perhaps it was a rat thing), we now don't even need to look out the window to figure out what's going on right outside our door. Of course, we do enjoy looking out the windows, and have many large windows that are great for looking out of. In fact, it would take significant effort on our part to avoid looking out of windows. Still, the point is, we don't have to.

Doings

Well, things have been going pretty well in Iowa as spring begins to dawn in the midwest. Yesterday we had hours upon hours of rain, which I wouldn't have minded except it was my afternoon to do the stable chores, and also I begin to fear for those who live by the river.

However, we are not by the river so we mostly ride by on our bikes and say, wow, the river is really high right now and then don't think about it much.

Among other things, I finished editing my novel to the point that I think it is ready to send to agents. Since I also have a few friends who want to read it, I thought I'd print a few copies and start mailing them around. I was just going to print them like normal on 8.5 x 11 paper and maybe bind them with a coil or something, but I discovered that there is actually only a negligible price difference between doing it that way and this one:


So, that's it. My novel exists in the flesh. Three copies arrived in the mail yesterday, and I flipped through one I couldn't quite fight down a giddy feeling (in spite of the fact that I somehow assumed they would add page numbers, so didn't do it myself. Oops. I suppose this is why books have editions...)

My other exciting diversion lately has been setting up a functional metal-smithing studio along-side/overlapping my existing art studio. This has involved acquiring many new and interesting items, including this lovely flex-shaft grinder.


My soldering torch should arrive today, I got my box of goodies (silver, copper, brass, saw-blades, bur life, polishing compound, etc.) from Rio Grande yesterday, and since my father passed on to me when I was in Tucson a beautiful box of tools he saved when an old friend of his who happened to be a jeweler passed away many years ago, I'm more or less ready to go. I'll keep you posted as to the results of all this activity, though my brother has wisely suggest I start selling bracelets on a website called MetalStrong. He even came up with a slogan...