Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. Past but worth noting. Grindr: Grindr Disables Location Features in Olympic Village for Milano Cortina 2026 to Protect Athlete Safety and Privacy, Restrictions on browsing and distance, plus privacy tools for all Olympic athletes, Balance, February 2, 2026. “And simply appearing on Grindr tells the world something about a person’s identity that, in more than 60 countries, remains a criminal offense.”

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An interesting consequence of injury is finding out the role that body part plays in your life, mainly when it doesn’t.

Since I was cleared to put weight on my arm, I have resumed horse care. Among the tasks was picking out feet.

No problem.

Swipe the blade of the hoofpick along the sole of the foot. Dirt falls out. Good to go.

Then, last week, the horses came in with muddy hooves. When it rains heavily, you get mud. Obvious. What isn’t obvious is that the first day of rain, hooves are relatively easy to clean. The mud is wet and gloopy and everything falls right out. After a few days, the ground starts to dry and the mud packs into the shoe.

Anyway.

Pedology (soil science) aside. I picked up a hoof and saw a dense wad of mud. Stuck hoofpick into the groove next to the frog … and … nope.

Turns out, in the normal course of things, cleaning a hoof involves a sweep of the arm from the elbow, as if one is clearing a table. To jam the hoofpick under the mud, I had to dig in and twist. Also, there is a flick of the wrist at end to fling the mud away. Ow.

I did one foot, then turned the task over to other barn minion.

Push? Yes. Twist? Sure. Push and twist? Not gonna happen.

I did not know that the human wrist plays an important role in equine hoof care. I know now.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Bonnie Hunter is a quilting blogger, among other quilt activities. I mentioned her blog back in December of 2019. Since I do not sew, my favorites were her travel posts. Looks like she has resumed leading quilt tours. Quiltville: Winter Wonderland! Morocco 2026, after the cat veterinary update. YouTube, Bonnie K. Hunter: Textile Museum in Switzerland! 🇨🇭 2025. Quiltville: Willkommen in Nürnberg! 2019. Her site is arranged more for the active quilter than for the armchair traveler, so activate your search-fu. Many of the travel updates appeared on her Instagram & Facebook. [Quilty Logo]

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Log Cabin Hot Dog
Nine Patch Hamburger
Flying Geese Chips & Salsa
Crazy Quilt Salad

Inspiration. Quilt contest. “The 2026 theme is Food! The quilt must be about food in some recognizable way and include an interpretation of a traditional block pattern of your choosing.” National Quilt Museum: New Quilts from an Old Favorite. Winners on exhibit in Paducah. Does not appear to have a virtual component.

As with previous quilt posts, this was an exercise in design. No intention to sew.

Onwards!
Katherine

Stories of the outside world. Atlas Obscura: Celebrate Pi Day With These Mathematical Tales, White, March 8, 2024.

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🎨🎨🎨

Shopkeeper: When people walk in the door, I want them to see a big damn explosion of color. I want oranges and purples and spots and stripes. I want vibrant and exciting and joyful and (pauses) distracting. I want them thinking about color not about prices.

Painter: How cynical of you.

Shopkeeper: Okay, if that is too on the nose, think of it as putting my customers in a good mood.

Painter: (gets to work)

Shopkeeper: Any chance you could make it, um, persuasive.

Painter: No.

Shopkeeper: What if …

Painter: Not gonna happen.

Shopkeeper: How about …

Painter I don’t do that.

Shopkeeper: But …

Painter: It’s both immoral and illegal.

(Minor stand-off. Painter looks stubborn. Shopkeeper looks unconvinced.)

Painter: if that’s not enough reason, it’s also impractical. More and more people these day are carrying magic detection charms. What happens to your store when people find out that you are using magic to influence customers? Your reputation would be destroyed. Social media would tear you apart. I could show you some educational examples. The risk is not worth the reward.

Painter: (starts laying out lines for the mural.)

Painter: Also, fyi, I use chalk-based paints. It is resistant to magical tampering. For example, if someone tried to lay an attraction charm over the top of it.

Shopkeeper: I would never!

Painter: Of course not. And now you know no one else can do it behind your back.

🎨🎨🎨

Afterword

Format. ~225 words. In the spirit of the 200-word pieces I did for the November Writing Challenge in 2025. [Fiction]

Inspiration. On Bluesky, author John Scalzi was asked about editing a short story anthology, “I’ve always wanted to do an anthology called BIG DAMN EXPLOSIONS where the only requirement for the stories is that they must have a big damn explosion in them. I think we could get an interesting range of stories with that.” Bluesky: @Scalzi.com 26 Feb 2026.

Onwards!
Katherine

Photos of the extremely outside world. NASA: Hubble Space Telescope, Images

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Lunar Eclipse, 3 March 2026. A chalk-one-up-for-experience photo shoot.

Attempt one, nearing totality. From pasture.

Note. Night mode did not help. Way too much light. Changed shape of light area. Photo not shown.

Attempt 2, totality. Moon was setting behind the trees in the pasture. Drove around for clear view. So faint we would not have seen it if we hadn’t known.

Reason moon was washing out. This was taken at same time & 180o from totality photo.

Technical Details

Phone camera.

Why did I try to photograph an eclipse with a phone camera? Because this previous moon photo came out so well, I figured the eclipse one would work out better than it did. I probably need a deeper understanding of photographic lighting and astronomy. [Moon Zoom]

Info & Links

Difference between new moon & lunar eclipse.
New moon: SUN – MOON – EARTH
Lunar eclipse:- SUN – EARTH – MOON

For a better view, timeanddate: LIVE Stream: Total Lunar Eclipse March 2–3, 2026

Note to self, B&H: Tips for Photographing a Lunar Eclipse, Vorenkamp 2025.

Last year, scroll down for the assist. I had forgotten. 😂 [Lunar Eclipse 2025]

Onwards!
Katherine

Horses of the outside world. Trailer noise. Something I hadn’t ever thought about. Time & Miles: We Don’t Deserve Horses.

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Continuing to post about my latest outing. [The Ride, AHJA Kick Off Show 2026]

The nerves were terrible. The time before the show was stressful. I was a hot mess. Some of the lessons generated worse nerves than a show.

I wanted it so very, very badly. Still do.

I’ve been yapping about jumping for years. I bought two horses with the intention of jumping both of them. What if I couldn’t do it anymore?

I had arranged an almost perfect re-introductory situation. A local show, low classes, and a wonderful horse. What is if wasn’t enough? If I couldn’t do it with Goldy, what chance did I have with any other horse?

Coach Deana was very helpful. She told me the same thing she told her littles. If you go in the ring and get overfaced, then don’t do it.

I could do that. The only action I had to perform was to enter the ring. Everything after was optional. I could take it one fence at a time. Trot at a low fence on a nice horse. Then look for the next one. If it was too much, stop. I could do that. Expensive ROI, but I could do it.

Two other things helped beforehand.

One. The week before the show, my illustrious groom pointed out that we already had the data we were looking for. We wanted to find out if jumping was still on the agenda. It is. The show was extra at that point.

As a side note, he also pointed out that my riding had become so much more relaxed than it had been just a few weeks earlier. The change was hard to feel from the inside.

Two. The day before the show, we went over to school. That’s when I found out that they had set the jumps low, probably because it was the first show of the year. It was a height Goldy & I had been doing regularly. I got this.

On the morning of the show, I wasn’t sure what would happen in the ring. Would we go too slow and lurch over the jumps? Would we be nice and steady? Would Goldy get in touch with his inner Grand Prix horse and zoom off? If he did zoom off, would I rise to the occasion or fold like a cheap tent? As it was, we came up with a fourth option of my being enthusiastic but ineffective, at least to start. One never knows, do one?

So now what?

I do not plan to campaign with Goldy at .65m this year. Once was proof of concept. Lessons, yes. Shows are more time and money that I care to put into beginner jumping classes. Unless I am on my own horse. Which leads to …

ISO New Horse. Wish us luck.

Also, full disclosure, there was a sense of letdown afterwards. All that work for that? All that stress and tension in order to jump around a course of fences that I could jump over with my own two feet? It reminds me of rehabbing my broken wrist. Lots and lots of work to get back to where I used to be.

OTOH, it took me days to recover. I was far more tired than I had anticipated. It was a big deal on some level, whether I want it to be or not.

Yes, my head is an echo chamber of anxiety and overthinking. This is not news.

One more post, once the pro photos are ready.

Onwards!
Katherine

Horses of the outside world. Part of the reason for choosing this show was that it was a home show for the horse. Meanwhile, on the other end of the horse show spectrum, Tex Sutton: Air Horse One. Several videos available online. Appears that horses walk up the ramp to this plane rather than get pre-loaded into stalls. Hat tip to G.

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Continuing to post about my latest outing. [The Ride, AHJA Kick Off Show 2026]

The point of this exercise was to answer a question. Do we want New Horse to be a jumping horse?

Answer. Yes. Yes, we do. While I am unlikely to be John Whitaker riding Grands Prix at 70, I’d like a horse with the ability and interest to hop over small jumps. Perhaps an off-the-track Standardbred who is also doing CDEs, or an amenable & sporty Saddlebred who is open to variety. One of those, please. [Finding A Horse To Match The Hat]

Back in February, we – I’m not sure who originated the idea – came up with the plan to show Goldy at the Kick Off show in March. At first, I tried to get excited about long stirrup or starter hunter. I just couldn’t. I’d have to dress up. I resented the expense of having to buy a coat, which was a hint. Then my illustrious groom suggested jumpers. How about doing the .65 meter classes? Hmmm. Later, I considered buying a fancy, gold-colored technical shirt for the show. I did not but I didn’t mind the idea of that expense, which was another hint.

We had about six weeks to get ready, interrupted by cold snaps. More time would have been helpful, but part of the attraction of the Kick Off show is that is was being held at the barn where Goldy lived. No shipping. No stalls. A home show was too convenient to miss.

We ramped up with multiple lessons each week. Even if I didn’t go to the show, lessons wouldn’t be a loss. The show itself wasn’t so much the point as it provided a focus. It gave us an endpoint to keep us motivated.

Hence the AHJA membership. [Curse or Cure?]

This was when I stopped taking ears photos. “The idea is to focus on the task at hand.” [The Lessons Continue, Jumping]

Come the day, I was happy to be jumping, at least at the 18″ height. Happy enough to want to add it to New Horse’s interview questions. Being comfortable at 1′ 6″ meant I could ride solidly and had the brain space to fix it if we – I – came in wrong. If it had been a true .65 meters (2’1″). I would have gotten around. Probably. The course would have been a series of single fences, with lots of lurching. I think we would have gotten to the – relatively – bigger height if we’d had more time.

The .90 meter (3″) jumper class at St. Louis is within the realm of possibility. [Saddlebred Versatility]

I like to think I am motivated by the purity of the sport. By the joy of riding. By the bond with the horse. History would beg to differ.

“Immediately, every dormant competitive instinct sat up & said ‘We’re not dead yet.’ ” [Showtime 2012]

“Also me: You know, if I do two of the three local, summer shows, I could probably climb onto the tag end of the year-end awards.” [The Crux 2022]

Competition or the joy of the thing?

Pourquoi pas los dos?

Tomorrow, the mental aspect.

Photo. Getting ready for schooling the day before.

Onwards!
Katherine

Horses of the outside world. Phys.org: Why letting museum visitors smell horse manure might be good for conservation, by Nagoya University, edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Robert Egan, February 25, 2026. Hat tip to G.

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Continuing to post about my latest outing. [The Ride, AHJA Kick Off Show 2026]

First jumper class in 16 years.

First horse show without a ribbon in a while.

First time in a class of 23 in quite a while.

Been a while since I’ve been in a warm-up ring with folks going every which way.

As best I can tell, I was older than everyone in the class. Not surprising, the horse industry around here is so kid-oriented, that would be true of almost any adult. [Other People’s Horses]

I offered to go first in my class. I’ve gotten used to being first in the ring at the Saddlebred shows. No one else wants to, so they are happy to let me. Given my riding plan for this show, I did not need the strategic positioning of going later in the class.

Coach Deana did an excellent job of taking care of the administrative details. To start off, she entered for me, which was weird. I think that’s the first time someone has done my entries. At the show, she handled all the moving parts. All I had to do was stay out of the way.

Yes, Coach Courtney does that at ASB shows. I’ve never know anything else in the Saddlebred world. Hunter/Jumper is a sphere where I am used to doing for myself.

I did minimal warm up both the day before and the day of. Only as much as the horse needed. The day before I *wanted* to jump the entire course five more times. I also knew that nothing was gonna change at this point.

As I started my first class, Coach Deana noticed a problem with course. Ride in. Beep. Coach’s voice saying hold. Rider dilemma, listen to the buzzer or to the coach? I chose coach. The problem was that my class did not have oxers but several oxers still remained from the schooling session. Since I was the first to go, this had not been corrected. Before the class, while Goldy was grazing, I had seen that fence #3 needed to be adjusted. From where I had been standing, I thought the others were okay. Note to self, be more thorough, or have a good coach.

My classes were first and second on the schedule. Made for a gnarly morning, but I was done and put away before most folks got started.

When I went to get Goldy, he wasn’t in the pasture where I expected him. I called the Emotional Support Husband who was back at the barn. Later, he pointed out that the last time we did this, we didn’t have cell phones to communicate.

Another difference is that whiteboards at the in-gate have disappeared. Used to be, you gave your number, they wrote it down, and you went in that order. This show had something called rotations. A group of four to six riders would all do their first trip, then all do their second trip, then move on to the next rotation. Dunno if that is industry wide.

Actually, once I did the math, it’s been 18 years since my last jumper class. I had been saying 16 before the show and possibly loudly as I finished my first round. Then I thought it through. First jumper class in 18 years. Only two years more, but 18 years seems a much more alarming gap that 16 years. That’s a whole legal adulthood.

Last time I did this, most of the rest of the class hadn’t been born.

Tomorrow, the purpose of the exercise.

Onwards!
Katherine