Virtual Brush Box

Amusement from the outside world. Rodney is now getting straight alfalfa. (Because why not?) Milton gets a mix. We used to feed bales of 20% alfalfa/80% timothy & bales of 80% alfalfa/20% timothy, referred to as 20/80 & 80/20. I have been known to stumble over which is which. The folks at the feed store are aware of this. The fellow carefully repeated my order back to me, three bales of 20/80 and six bales of alfalfa. What he said was “3 20 …” The rest was a blur. I was waiting for the total. What I heard was 320, as in $320. Wait?! What!? How did this happen!? When did this happen?! I eventually calmed down and got my order confirmed. Not cheap, but at least not that.

~~~

Razzy
The Hunter Place
Hunt seat lesson #6!
July 2025

What is the endgame of all these lessons? Dunno. Trying to enjoy the moment.

That’s not true. I know the endgame. Same as it has always been. Find a horse. Now that all the humans have working feet, maybe we can reapproach horse shopping.

Previous Posts
(for my reference)

[In Which I Ride A Horse, For A Change] 19 June
[Salute to a Schoolmaster] 2 July
[Rock On, Razzy] 9 July
[Evening Lesson] 16 July
[So This Happened] 24 July

Onwards!
Katherine

Amewsment from the outside world. YouTube: Miau Miau Miau (Duetto buffo di due gatti – G. A. Rossini). With different singers, YouTube: Duetto buffo di due gatti – Victoria de Los Angeles, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Hat tip T & C.

~~~

Ramsay
Stepping Stone Farm
Saddle seat lesson
July 2025

It’s been a while since I’ve been on a new ASB. Been even longer since I’ve been on a new ASB successfully. All points go to Ramsay for being a sweetheart.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. What can I tell you about the news that you don’t already know? Here is something completely different. Medium: I visited all 472 subway stations in New York, Solomon 2023.

~~~

Walk with the horses each morning. One mile, first thing in the morning, back and forth in the pasture, combination of in hand & at liberty.

Or, at least that’s the plan.

Horses got time off during Milton’s abscess. The patient was not marching and doesn’t like to be left alone. So, Rodney got time off to play nurse horse. [Milton’s Yearly Drama]

Since getting back to what passed for work, we’ve had a case of the slows. Everyone is sound and happy, just chill. Taking their own sweet time. Pausing for the occasional roadside snack.

I have had to deploy leadropes for more of the walk than usual. Sometimes walking both with ropes. Sometimes walking at least one of them back to cookie corner. This is not the usual pattern. [On Lead and Off Lead]

I don’t use the lead ropes. They hang loosely between my hand and the horse. It’s as if the suggestion of the leadrope keeps them on task. When they are off lead, they are free to make different choices.

Writing this turned up a post last month where they did the same thing. That lasted a few days. So far it’s been a week. We shall see. [Keep ’em Guessing]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. In case you were wondering if the issue is still current. A local blacksmith flies a Dixie flag in his vehicle. This means he a) feels strongly enough that he chooses to display it and b) feels confident enough in his clientele that he can.

~~~

In addition to the abscess, Milton’s summer adventures included an intractable case of foot grot. Is it dried mud? Is it ankle scabbies? It is ankle scabbies from the mud.

We threw everything at it. Betadine, steroid cream, pine tar, chlorhexidine spray, Swat, and so on. Some were good. Some were less good. The arsenal kept it from getting worse but couldn’t defeat it. What finally got ahead of the grot was a thorough soaping and letting sit with chlorhexidene shampoo followed by drying followed by generous slatherings of steroid cream.

The Backyard Horse Blog: Spoke Too Soon mentions zinc oxide. We did not use this but I could see how it would work nicely.

YMMV

In fact, the ongoing grot covered up the beginning of the abscess. Apparently an initial mild abscess causes steps that look a lot like a chapped fetlock. Anyone who gets chapped hands in the winter knows how much cracked skin can hurt. I was surprised when I deep scrubbed his fetlocks that I did not find the cracks I was expecting. Hmm, must be something else. Cue abscess treatment.

Rodney had a small amount of grot that cleared up with minimal attention.

Onwards!
Katherine

.Awareness of half the sky. ARTnews: 12 Women Old Masters to Know, Chernick, July 21, 2025.

~~~

Original, repost [E is for Electrum with an Ebony Edge]

Comment, “I would have made the middle bar of the E a bit more defined.” debandtoby.

I made the change. Completely correct. It did look stubby.

Initial variations. First, longer middle bar, two starbursts instead of one. Third, longer white space, body has three starbursts instead of four. Middle, combo. (Description updated from initial post.)

Secondary variations. A little of this, a little of that.

The square shape of the letter is not evenly divisible by the inner pattern. Do you make the letter even, lower middle, or align with the pattern, lower right?

Process Notes

This was was gonna be an update to the original post, but a) interesting & b) anything for a blog post. Once I came up with that idea, tried a bunch more, exploring how each change effects the overall feel of the letter.

Project Description [Colorwork Alphabet Introduction]

Previous Posts [Colorwork Alphabet]

Onwards!
Katherine

Premise: Main character has a vehicle that changes according to task.

Previous: [Quantum Truck, A Writing Sketch] & [Quantum Truck II, Fiction]

There are discrepancies. Work in progress.

🛻🛻🛻

She looked out of the apartment window to check out the parking lot. A neon pink, two-seater Porsche Boxster sat square in the middle of her parking space, its lime green roof folded back behind the seats.

A sports car! Cool.

However, she wasn’t sure what that meant. A truck was for moving things. A sedan was for moving people. A sports car was for what?

She checked the car again. Driver. One passenger. Barely space for a shoebox behind the seat.

So. No cargo.

Sports cars were fun on the open highway. Perhaps a courier mission.

Sports cars were small. Perhaps going to a place where parking was tight.

Sports cars are pretty. Perhaps a parade? No, you’d want a big, luxe, four-seater for that.

If it was meant as a personal gift, she’d rather have a Jeep. Low-slung cars could be nerve racking when you are half the height of anything on the road.

Still, this was going to be fun. Whatever it was.

The open top didn’t bother her. She never worried about the vehicle getting stolen, no matter what shape it was currently in. She took standard precautions and assumed the car could look after itself.

🛻🛻🛻

Afterword

I like the idea of a changing car as a story device.

However, I have two issues.

One, I am in need of plot. Standard issue problem for me.

Two, specific to this story, I am in need of an explanation. Why does the car change? Divine will? Aliens? Time travelers? I have no idea. Part one ponders the lack of cause in story. However, the characters may not know the underlying causes, but the author should. I think I may have to fall back on magical realism. As far as I can tell, this means having weirdness in your story but not having to explain it. This feels like a cheap shot. Handwaving does not count as worldbuilding.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. USDOT: Where was the First Walk/Don’t Walk Sign Installed?

~~~

Ending my walk at Kymulga Grist Mill. I’m the green dot in the middle. Photo by Greg Walcott. [Water Study]

Milton was off, so we weren’t doing morning pasture walks. I used this as a reason to find new places to walk. [Milton’s Yearly Drama]

All walks 1 mile, July 2025.

Day One

Old Mill Square
Shelby County Arts Council
Columbiana AL

Day Two

Kymulga Grist Mill
Talladega County, AL

From my 5K there, I recalled that the creek path was the driest. I also figured it would be harder to get lost. Follow creek out, turn around, follow creek back. [Skirting the Swamp]

Day Three

Sidewalk
Cahaba Heights
Birmingham AL

A rare sighting of a suburban sidewalk. Note the lack of sidewalk on the other side of the street and the numerous driveways crossing the sidewalk. Still, it exists. Baby steps. Yes, I went there specifically to recognize that stretch by walking it. In the commercial zone, I saw one other pedestrian, which was one more than I was expecting.

After walk, got back in truck, drove half a mile to next stop. Would have been a perfect distance but the route between had no sidewalks, crossed two major roads with no lights or crosswalks, and took place in a space where drivers are not expecting pedestrians. Even on the sidewalk, I had to be ultra defensive & assume the cars would not see me.

Day Four

Melrose Park at Chelsea
Chelsea AL

The walking trail was still theoretical, so I walked on the verge. The road was the park access road. Not busy.

Day Five & Future

Nope. Had to stop going places for walks. Generally, I can’t get anywhere interesting until 11 am at the earliest. Not good during a heat alert. Back to the pasture. Measured the walk to confirm that five laps is in fact one mile. Check.

Onwards!
Katherine