The Best Pony Evar

Photos by Jason Putsche.
More here.

EP and Jason accompanied me to the horse barn last weekend to take some photos of the barn cats for work. They also took some pictures of the ponies, and got to meet Gobie.
When we headed out into the pasture to greet Gobie he recognized me instantly and started walking toward us. It was a veritable love-fest with lots of petting and nosing and such. I had brought my curry comb along with me, so besides the usual petting I took the time to brush him down a little. Some of the other horses came over to say hi, and they were all pretty polite for the most part...
Except one black mare. She came over with her ears pinned and looking cranky. I tried shooing her off, but I wasn't very convincing. Gobie too care of us, though. He protected us quite readily by turning his butt to Magic and pinning his ears back. She moseyed off and we were saved. Gobie is a hero, pretty much.
EP and Jason agreed he was a pretty great pony. We showed the photos to the other volunteers and they loved them, of course. <3

Yule Log

Nothin' better than sitting inside some cold winter's day with the Christmas Tree twinkling, the Yule Log channel a' glowing, and presents wrapped. Cracking and eating mixed nuts for old times sake!

Gingerbreading

Are you ready for some pretty epic Gingerbreading? Thanks to Molly, tonight was filled with the triumphs and hilarious failures of making Gingerbread houses.

The mood was set with a laptop cranking Christmas Music, ready with Gingerbread icing recipes, and Christmas themed movies playing in the background.


There was also the exciting privilege of seeing, in its natural habitat, Molly's Ridiculous Cabinet Handles.

(and creepy knife set)

Step one was making the icing, using our handy recipe. Four egg whites, Four cups of Confectioner's Sugar, one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat until firm!

...or beat until it resembles a Jackson Pollock.

Step two was copious amounts of candy. Which we had IN SPADES.


And the Gingerbreading commenced! It was hard work.


Emily's Creation:

Starting out with a solid foundation.

A roof! And a peppermint ribbon chimney.

The roof is amazing! Post modern!

Also, did you know a hippo lives here?

Also living here: a pirate gingerbread man and his friend.

My Creation:

It was super promising... but then..

NooOOoOOo!!!

Maybe it just wanted to be a big cat zoo exhibit?

I salvaged it into a house -- with a Locksley Dog, poopin on the roof.

Molly's Creation:

Solid foundations -- with a cyclops gingerbread man supervising.

The roof -- steady as she goes!

The cyclops, tearing the roof from the house, to access the people inside.
RUN FOR YOUR LiIiIIife!

A near tragedy -- the walls start to slip!

But an epic recovery! The cyclops carnage is complete with the house on "flames"!

As you can probably tell, Gingerbreading was a success.

Making Christmas

When it comes to holidays, my heart belongs to Halloween. I was married on Halloween, for pete sake. But for the first year ever, I'm actually getting kind of excited about Christmas. Starting out, I was a little worried about this blossoming Christmas Holiday relationship. I didn't have any decorations, after all. And the few that I bought looked a little silly amongst all the deer skulls, black furniture, and orange accents.

But it's okay! I think it's starting to look like a legitimate Christmas.

Smells like a pine tree! Okay, no it doesn't. Faaaake!

I know it's leaning. SO WHAT.

Our star, and a "My First Christmas" ornament with our smoochy faces. (Thanks mom)

Dorsia isn't sure what to make of the tree.

This is Dorsia's ornament.

This is Locksley's ornament.

Snowflake!

Sam's armadillo.

Purple glass owl, and vintage glass mushroom. (thanks Lore)

The red nutcracker. (Thanks Allison)

The blue nutcracker. (What? I like nutcrackers, okay?)

The fox.

I was super organized this year and have nearly everyone's present wrapped and ready. If I get them mailed on time it will be a Christmas miracle.

My own pony! (sort of)

I'm sponsoring Gobie, one of the horses at HorseNet Horse Rescue, and today I got his sponsorship packet in the mail!



It was really well put together with a letter from the Executive Director, my donations to date, some information on the organization, a business card, and a photo of Gobie including his story:

"Gobie is a super cute 9yr brown/grey pony gelding.

He came to HorseNet from a horrible abuse case in WV. Gobie arrived with the rest of his herd of horses, they were malnourished, infected with parasites, and all had painfully over grown hooves. They had not been receiving proper care from their former owner for many months and their temperament and body condition showed it. They were basically wild horses. Gobie was one of the ones who turned around quickly. After much needed care and attention his health and behavior was complete different. He became a wonderful, loving boy.

Gobie is also a very comical boy, who is very willing to please and tease. He loves treats and a good scratch. He is enjoying his life in his herd of horses. This little man will make a great project for someone who can put the time and patience into training him.

Gobie has been with HorseNet since 2004 and is patiently awaiting his very own life long loving home."

I was sad to hear that he was part of an abuse case, but I was glad he made it to HorseNet. The description is totally fitting. And I was surprised to read that he's been at the rescue since 2004. That seems like forever!

At any rate, it was great hearing more about the pony I've been pining over for the last several months.

Krampusnacht

Just when you thought Halloween was over -- Krampusnacht is here!

The Krampus is an entity celebrated in central Europe (though primarily in Austria) who comes around on December 5th as a minion of Santa to torment children who have been naughty for the last year.

Read more about Krampusnacht.





On Krampusnacht young men dress up as the Krampus, creating their own wooden masks and costumes. They then rampage the streets with switches and chains, terrifying observers.




Pretty impressive, right? Who knew Christmas could be so sinister...

Pony Blankets

Thanks to the sudden onset of winter with extremely chilly temperatures, the horses at HorseNet Horse Rescue had to be blanketed. Some of them -- like my favorite, Gobie -- didn't need a blanket because they are healthy enough, and already super furry. But many of the rescue horses needed blankets because they didn't have their own furry warmth, or were sick, or skinny, or old.

But that meant we got to groom the horses, and fit them with blankets.

Robey wanted some attention, too. But he didn't need a blanket.

He was extremely nosy about the grooming box.

The girls, grooming one of the horses.

Everyone on the hill, some with blankets, some without. All happy!

It was a pretty mellow day at the horse barn. Maybe it was because it was so cold. Or maybe it's because they know Christmas is coming.

Sleeping and soaking up the sun.

I wonder if Santa will leave treats for the horses in these stockings?

Happy Holidays!