So stoked I just had to share...

Doesn't he look positively FIERCE!
(click to see even bigger than life!)

Finalist polls and tractors.. ;)

Well yesterday kicked my patootie with work!

However I was able to get the polls up when I got home. Just literally focused on nothing else making albums, making polls, submit em, brushed teeth and crashed… soooo please vote for the finalists!

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****Thread poll for Contest #1*******

http://tinyurl.com/5dv8wk

http://www.modelhorseblab.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77674

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****Thread poll for Contest #2*******

http://tinyurl.com/5sn6ye

http://www.modelhorseblab.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77676

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Remember, you don't need to be a paid member to vote! :)

I decided it would be better to post the photos in big albums to make viewing at full size easier. I’ve got to run for a while again today (bulk of my work week is Fri-Mon), but I’ll have more time later today to announce these and more to my yahoogroup and whereever else I can think of to try and gather votes tonight probably..

Making those had the added adrenaline rush of flickering lights from a big gusty storm that was blowing in adding to the pressure to get it done fast!

... On a side note, this year’s charity tractor pull went off without any bad hitches (that’s a terribly cheezy pun – sorry!). They aren’t sure of how much was raised yet but it was closer than not to 5 figures. This year was to benefit a local girl with Leukemia. Every year they pick a local family to help out somehow. One whole hay field on the farm was filled up with tractors, cars and trucks (they pulled trucks too since the local boys haven’t done so due to changes in local fair’s rules). They had a professional auctioneer who was a blast to chat with (I kept score some of the time in between my regular full day of farm work I have on weekends doing my farm and the one I share the property with). It was really worth it -> he would take any tibit of info and make it a funny announcement. Plus there was a small # of items auctioned off and he/they managed to get over $75 for a chocolate cake for instance. Fancy that! And the owners just kept redonating it and no one actually took it home in the end. Kudos to them all really! My job was terribly easy since we had the one and only weight sled in the country that has a digital readout (custom) so it was a matter of glancing over in the end. However the day ran well into the evening and pouring rain (because there’s a large shed for equipment so 40 or so people lingered around in there..)! I begged out early and got these done. For once (the rain certainly wouldn’t let the bonfire portion run easily), things wound down before midnight. I am SO thankful for that – lol!

Now I’m off to see what the winds and rain brought last night.

‘Twas the best of times! ‘Twas the worst of times!

Ok, this really isn’t quite that dramatic but I just had to make a post here to log some noteworthy things in my life…! :)

Gas is $2.45… the first time I saw that price was 3 years ago (2005) and around here I haven’t really seen it since. Definitely a woohoo for a # of reasons: everything in the horse business relies on gas and diesel. Mind you diesel is not nearly as low right now as gas. Still… it’s a bright spot.

What is NOT bright is this WEATHER! UGH!!! I don’t ever remember finding frozen water in pasture troughs this time of year before. Not before Halloween. And the WIND chill… course it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity here that gets ya (it’s a cold damp raaaaw wind – ugh!).

So I came home after the basics to get some more clothes (wool socks, gloves, ear coverage, scarf etc etc)… before dealing with that. –yuck!

In happier fun news, I should mention here too that the contest polls are up and running. This is really going to be tough for me to decide upon… how many entrants go to the round 2 finals over on Blab… I’m thinking the top 80%. And I can’t believe the first contest already has 234 votes!

I made fun images to click on for the contests last night…

Contest #1 Poll Going & sneak peak again @bitty!!

Ok well first off - VOTE NOW!!! :D

Actually.. as of this moment there's almost 125 votes and I haven't even gotten to posting to MH$P or anywhere but Blab about the blogs contest being open for it yet...! (wow!)

Secondly... Since everyone's asking and asking.. and I just primered him and am going over him with something smaller than a fine toothed comb.. before I add weeeee tiny hair tendrils! Here's bitty bosco and some friends.

It's a pretty big pic. Lesse if whne you click it if blogger allows for the full size... hmmm. YUP it worked!

That's an old mold Love SM arab mare in between the two boys. No one liked my set up for balancing or I'd have everyone lined up better for their photo. You get the gist I hope? I love doing hair. I use apoxie sculpt in red and it's just such a fun texture to work with. It's more rubbery and it smooths sharp but not as clumpy as natural or gag - white! I save the red for things I want to do once - it's almost as if it has more oil to it? Great stuff. Love it! My tools work really well to get fine smooth lines. And after that primer can fill those lines with 'powder' overspray simply because it doesn't land in the grooves as nice... SO, I do it last last last almost so there's no build up in grooves.

He's almost ready for his close up now. Just gotta go over and reemphasize a couple more things.

I'M SO EXCITED!!! Eeeeee!!!

What fun I'm having, really. Between that and giggling myself silly over the scene contest entries' way creative ideas (scene contest is here) I'm just havin a blast. :D

Tx for all the encouragement guys too! (hugs!!)

Both Contest Blogs up now and... (grr!)

I don't even want to repeat my "grrr" again. It's on the 2nd contest blog and I'll move it to the bottom as "notes" or something. I dunno. lol!

ANYhow, just sharing the contests 1st and foremost before I hit the sack. Very productive day even tho I worked more at the farm than usual. In the hour I was home I got all sorts of biz AND found some seriously helpful information on a Subaru forum. I really can't recommend any of these newer AWD cars with the various "brain" sensors and modules that normal mechanics and even some dealerships can't figure out. hrmph! My father has an 80's Subaru that wouldn't die. It rotted and still drove fine. Phtttt to these newfangled things.

Ok! FUN STUFF! :D

Contest #1 for artists!!!
Morgen's "People's Choice Finished Resins"

Contest #2 for everyone!!!
Morgen's "People's Choice Creative Resin Scenes" !!! (that's where I rant b/c I need to pretty it up to make it clearer what it is.. but instead was sidetracked by automotive mumbo jumbo!)

Well 'artists' and 'everyone' who owns one of my sculptures so that's not that many in the grand scheme but plenty for me to process!!!! ;)
________________

Also, lol! Diana wrote to tell me where Hazel spent last weekend (the HUSSY! <-"Hazel".. NOT Diana! omg I just had to throw tha t in!) (8-0
"Arkansas, Mid-Ark Model Horse Expo ....
Hazel's next show is Mid Kansas Live in Andover, KS on 11/1/08. "

Tx Diana! Since I know you read here now I'll take a risk and wait until later this weekend to write you back since Fri - Mon are sunup to sundown ++ days for me anyhow.

________________

& Now on a more serious note, I hope everyone is holding up ok-ish. Gas is going down I see. (phew!) The news (I have no choice but to watch the varied weather reports that sometimes all fail) is really alarming these days. Moreso is hearing from more than one former colleague I know who's lost a job of late . I am sincerely thinking of you and your families!! :( Hugs all around.

Ok, well I'd better get myself to sleep somehow (pizza invigorates me I guess?)... my 7:30 am Sat wake up won't happen & I'll be in trouble.. (I'm not a morning person as EVERYONE knows.) Thinking positive thoughts that things will turn around soon (prays and crosses fingers/toes and hopes).

Babble on me. G'nite!

I'll update this when I have more info but.. :)

"Hazel" (Janice's Hazel in bay there featured on my website), won another NAN card and blue ribbon this past weekend. I don't honestly know the name of the show or the location. lol! This is all I got (proxier busy!);
"I showed Hazel as a Percheron x TB Sport Horse in Other Mixed Breed. It was a really nice class but she took the blue ribbon!"

Uhhhh yeah. I'm that bad that I don't have the foggiest clue what state this horse is in at the moemnt (duh!). Congrats Janice! She's fufilled the "Halter" requirement of the Versatility award now and we gotta find her a performance proxy person now.. Diana P has her and is her proxier for a bit (Diana is the mad proxy woman and she even got her ear repaired again before the win because I really did a bad job on that case apparently.. coughs and blushes!). I'll update the sales page with this latest win. Eventually I'm going to map this out on a US map. She's done some serious campaigning around the country herself this year I guess!!

UPDATED Oct 18th: The show was in Arkansas, it was Mid-Ark Model Horse Expo, and I believe the judge was Tracy Rogalla. Man this mare has been around more than ME...! (8-o She's had 6 stops so far (one where she had a broken ear and didn't show).. Next stop is Kansas (I *have* been there...) and hopefully she'll get to show performance again then too... she's itching too yanno! :D I just wasn't great about lining up hand offs between halter and performance folks around her travel line up. I'm not really a good coordinator to such a well-traveled gal anyhow.... thanks Diana for proxying these last one here! ;)

Video fun!

Well I *knew* I had the tools on this “newer” machine (meaning 2-3 year old computer now?!!)… to make video clips (editing and dubbing and such)… I just haven’t had a camera that did digital video.

Let me back up first a bit and tell you what MOTIVATED me to do this first tho.. mmmm…. SO I’ve gotten some sheep as a “boarder’ (3 sheep – 1 ram, 2 ewes, one stall which is divided to prevent unwanted breeding -> they are show sheep). The ram needs to be by himself. He is LOOOOONELY and Baaa-aaa-aaa-aaas all day long. :( & anyhow, so I called poor Liesl Dalpe back yesterday finally while at the farm and yet (gee???) after only a few minutes on the phone (I don’t leave the farm basically from Friday thru Monday so I had no choice if I was ever going to get back to her...), Liesl went from being happy to hear from me at long last to... huh... suddenly remembering that she had some packages to mail. Yeaaaaaaaah…. Lol! Suuuuure Liesl!

Soooo I wanted to share the joy before he settles down (poor Liesl! Sorry babe!!).

As a side note that he is really starting to adjust and I suspect the baaaa-aaaaa-aaaaing will diminish soon enough I'm sure too (I still like em as boarders in other words!). Far less stressful than a horse equally upset. A lot less dangerous too. Anyhow, the point being that’s what I listen to all day long. ALLLLLL day long. Strangely my boarders haven’t been around so much either. Maybe it’s the weather there tho, ya think?

And while I was at it and my horse was feeling his oats some with the cold … soooooo I thought I’d try to get him being silly too since I had my boyfriend's digital camera iwth the ability at hand. He’s really pretty calm for how hot to trot he can get... When he’s really “tuned up” he’s a lot more fun to watch but this was about all I could handle anyhow in my skill set. I got several out-takes of my shoes whilst he trotted away from the donkey fwiw too - snorts and giggles. Since I was laughing (and I can’t stand my voice either!!), I decided to dub it with the one single audio file this computer seems to contain. Rather anticlimactic really compared to his only mild "reaction". Eh, well... it soooorta works at least. :)

Bonus points to the person spotting the issue with his upward gait transition that’s indicative of his anatomical asymmetry unsoundness and which is ultimately why he’s “retired”.

My video skills are lacking. So sorry... I think my future as a hand-held videographer are limited indeed, eh? Hehehe! Anyhow, nough sillies, I gotta go jot a note to my yahoogroup about something coming up. ;)

[editing to add in that Liesl just wrote back that;

"GASP! I would never ditch you because of screaming sheep.... that
would just be BAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHD...."

hahaha Liesl! and ...yes folks, I just corrected her last name here too because that's another forte of mine... spelin dontcha noe!]

Oh and look! Windows Movie Maker lets you grab frame photos... soooo check out Gleep aka "Joe Cool" throughout it all. He's so funny. We call him "Jedi Donkey". ;)

Oktoberfest off with a big bang! *blinks*

Well, for me it was sorta a typical day with some extra scrambling computer time thrown in... ;) but already one of my contests has gotten some entrants..woohoo! :) OH! ..mmm yeah... uh perhaps I should put the link to that blog here huh? (duh!)
Contest #1 Blog
(I'll go stick a more permanent-ish link to the side shortly I guess? I have a 2nd contest in the making atm)...

THEN there was some back and forth with Steph Michaud about her auction when I got home this evening... and then I was finally getting to dinner when the phone rang and Steph is like "uhm.. [all ominous sounding] uh, did you see the auction?". And all worried I go over and see that it's 'Closed'. [me thinking 'Closed' = bad... duh me again!] So Steph had to finally point out to me that it ended with a massive "Buy it Now".
So here is that auction (all 11 minutes worth of festing I suppose - lol!)
Annnd I know she won't mind if I steal a couple pics from it to post here for posterity (and saving her server some viewing drain to boot. ;)







I'm still in shock here. Seriously.

[adding on]
Btw, to the 10 other people who voted in my arbitrary test polls.. I'm not really sure what to do with that 1st one's 3 way tie.. but perhaps it's connected to the numeral 3 being a clear winner in the second. I'm at a loss about that too. But thank you for voting all the same. Your vote COUNTS MAN! (giggles) ;)