February Gymkhana

We had a show last Saturday and it went well. Lorna succeeded in beating her brother in all but 1 event. This has given him the impetus to practice more in hopes of beating her in April.




Lorna is really bummed that she will be missing the March show while her brother will get to ride. Her and I will be in Bakersfield at the regional contest for Sweet Adeline's. Personally I'm hoping the gymkhana show gets rained out so that she won't miss anything :) She is very happy that she has 5 halters pre-ordered for next month though. Paul will deliver them at the show and collect the money and any more orders before our club's big 2 day show. Lorna will be busy braiding halters, reins, hobbles, saddle crosses, and neck collars in preparation for selling at that show.

Other than that we've been exceedingly busy. I've been sewing, the kids have been catching up on school, and Paul has been busy with work. We have plans to go away for a weekend at the end of April when my mom is visiting. Our plans have morphed from a romantic getaway to a little coastal town to a visit to Las Vegas. The rooms at the little town would have cost us more than the entire weekend in Vegas. Since we are night people it also makes more sense to go somewhere that has stuff to do at night. I'm really looking forward to getting away no matter where it is!

Update

It's been a busy week.

The costume project seems never ending, every time I think I'm finished something else comes up. I had to make an extra top for someone who gained a good amount of weight since I measured and now I have to make another one for a member who hasn't been attending rehearsal. She won't be going to contest with the chorus but she will need a costume for other performances. If I do this again I will be more careful about stipulating things before I start.

Here is a couple of the tops (corsets).





Hopefully I can remember to take the camera to rehearsal on Thursday so I can post pictures of all the pieces together.

This last weekend was the annual Whiskey Flat Days festival that attracts 50,000+ people to our valley. We had absolutely beautiful weather so we ended up attending 3 full days. Saturday the kids rode in the parade and Sunday Malachi dressed Jasper up and won first place for the theme in the pet parade.



A little over a week ago Lorna's gymkhana horse tried to kill herself. She sliced open her neck. We have no idea what she hurt herself on but if the wound had been any further in either direction she wouldn't be with us anymore. We can take the stithes out on Friday just in time for the next gymkhana.



About a month ago Lorna took some of her Christmas money and purchased a tack braiding kit off of Craigslist. She's spent the last few weeks perfecting her braiding skills and finally finished a couple of pieces. I showed one of her halters to a couple of people in our gymkhana club and she already has a few orders. She will be spending the next few months braiding in preparation for the large 2 day show our club is holding in April. We are hoping she sells most of what she makes so we can buy more supplies and she can actually start recouping some of the start-up costs. This mixed with the jewelry designing she and I do together and the sewing I do will be the focus of the booth we plan on hosting at the various craft shows around our valley. Walking around and looking at all the items available this past weekend further strengthened our resolve to start selling more in person. It will be a great way for Lorna to earn a bit more money and to get us more exposure in the local community. Some things just sell better in person where the customer can handle the items and see the quality for themselves.

I just got a call that my serger is finally fixed. Is it a bad sign that they couldn't give me a total yet? I'm just hoping the cost comes in under the quote since it sounds like they didn't have to replace the board. I'll be glad to get my own machine back, the loaner seemed like it was really cheaply made and I miss all the bells and whistles my machine has!

Brocoflower revisited

We finally got around to eating the weird looking veggie last Saturday. I really liked it. It had the consistency of cauliflower but a mild broccoli taste. The rest of the family didn't care for it, too much like cauliflower for their taste. I ended up broiling it with a mix of other veggies so we didn't do anything fancy with it. Broiling is my favorite way to cook most veggies. I can mix a bunch of different types with a little olive oil and garlic and then throw them in the oven until they are done. You get to actually taste the veggies and it's easy.

We received brussel sprouts about 2 weeks ago and at first everyone complained. Neither one of the kids had ever tasted one but they had heard all kinds of horrible things about them. I stir-fried them with some onion and garlic and added a little soy sauce when they were finished. Paul and Lorna fought over the leftovers they liked them so much. We have just enough for one more dinner and they keep asking when we can have them again!

Bad News

My serger is dead :(

After talking with the repair place yesterday I expected Paul to be bringing home my machine today. Instead I was told that the machine has either a burned out motor or board or both. Estimates to repair it are high, not as high as buying a new one but still way more than I wanted to spend. The repairman thinks it's a manufacturer's defect. I don't have the receipt anymore since it's out of warranty but we contacted the place I purchased it from to see if they have any paperwork. Even if they do, there is no guarantee that the repairs will be covered.

I was just praising my machine to someone a few weeks ago. Knowing this isn't something I did makes me rethink whether this is such a great machine. The repair shop has sent home a loaner while they work on fixing my machine. Supposedly I'm going to love the loaner, but when I looked it up online I was not impressed with the machine's functions. At least I'll have something to work with while I wait. I have a whole bunch of stuff I need to get finished this weekend so I'm really happy they offered the loaner.

Hurray!

I finished our taxes last night and e-filed them! If we didn't have a huge refund coming there is no way I would have started them the day we got our last tax document (Monday). Now we just have to wait a little over a week for the Federal refund. I already have most of it spent, refilling emergency funds and paying some bills. Unlike last year there is no way I can pay all of the bills off but I can get a huge chunk taken care of. Those darn medical bills from my fall last July just keep getting in the way.

I'm still waiting to hear about my serger but most of my work for the chorus is finished. We've started cleaning the house but got sidetracked by an emergency fix to the horse pen. Two of the horses got bored one night and ate one of the the wood posts that was holding up their shelter. By the time they were done it was the thickness of a pencil in one spot so we had to disassemble it. We bought metal posts this time but with Paul working so late, the kids and I are having to put it up ourselves. Hopefully we will get the rest of it up today. I need another 6 hours in the day to get everything finished that I need to get accomplished!