February in Michigan

First, here’s a lovely photo of that actual Hartland Arabian I was talking about last time, sent in by loyal blog reader Penny:

One of a handful of my Hartland Grails, right there. Along with the Pearl Arabian, the Blue Roan Polo Pony, and all the missing bits and pieces in my Tinymite and Barkie collections. And a complete, mint-in-box Nativity Set, too!

(I will find them, eventually. No worries.)

Anyway, I’m still in a bit of a writing funk: the crazy weather and my Seasonal Affective Disorder are doing its usual serious number on my creativity. Which is why I laugh whenever I read about people participating in NaMoPaiMo. Just about the only truly creative thing I am capable of working on in February is my taxes!

Well actually, I did buy some fabric at the local Salvation Army Store yesterday for a quilt project, but that’s at least a half-dozen sewing projects down the road. It was a good price and almost the exact amount I will need, so I bought it anyway; I also happened to find one other thing there worth buying:

The Bay variation of the old Breyer Donkey! There are several holes drilled into her from a previously attached harness, as well as a few light rubs and slight seam splits, but as my “first find” of the year, I almost felt obligated to bring her home.

I already have a this particular variation of the Bay Donkey – some (like this example) are Five-Gaiter Sorrel, others are more red – so it’ll be heading to my sales list momentarily. I only hesitate because I’m not sure how to classify her: with all of her issues she’s most likely a body box prospect, but as you can see she’s just a tad bit better than that.

She might be a good prospect for the “White Elephant”-style sale I was thinking about having at BreyerFest this year.

It started out as a good-natured joke among friends, but I think I might actually do it: having a flash, semi-organized 9 p.m. Saturday night sale at the CHIN of otherwise hard-to-sell models at seriously marked down prices?

With fun giveaways – maybe a free mystery grab bag with every purchase? – and other silliness, like buttons and magnets and horse-shaped cookies?

And instead of calling it a White Elephant Sale, we’d call it a “White Khemosabi Sale”, because seriously, that mold is almost the hobby equivalent of, yes?

It’s something we already sort of do – everyone’s looking to make a last-minute deal on Saturday night anyway – so why not have some fun with it? It might also be a good way of helping newer hobbyists acquire some inexpensive models that might not necessarily be “A-List” molds or who may need a bit of work, but still have a bit of life and love in them.

I kind of want to design a logo for it and start planning things for it/about it, but it being February, mustering any energy beyond watching cat videos on YouTube is a stretch. I made myself some French Toast today and felt like I conquered the universe! February in Michigan, in a nutshell...