Virtual Brush Box

Images

 
Awareness of the outside world. File this under things I had not thought through. “In North America alone, more than 60 billion pounds of (would be) waste is kept out of landfills and water ways, and instead is converted into ingredients for various soaps, lubricants, textiles, pet foods and animal feeds … Without rendering, an untenable strain would be placed on our environment as waste products from meat producers and consumers would overwhelm our existing means of waste disposal. In addition, without turning an otherwise waste product back into a valuable feed ingredient, demand would increase on alternative feed ingredients, such as soybeans and corn, leading to price increases across a wide range of foods and other consumer products.BHT: Rendering 101. In addition to the obvious, rendering material includes, “Trimmings from supermarket butcher shops, expired meat products from grocery stores, and used cooking oils from restaurants and commercial kitchens.” ibid.
~~~

I saw this sign near Railroad Park while I was walking in a virtual 5K. I took the picture because blog post. Initially, I was hesitant to post the photo. It harks back to a reality when horses where as common as cars. Hence the title of the post. Turns out the sign is historic, but not the way I thought. [Strolling In Another Park]

Birmingham Hide & Tallow is still going strong, now as BHT Resources. “Our service offerings have grown to include rendering, waste cooking oil management and grease trap management.” BHT: The BHT Story.

The dog part of the sign was put up in the 1960s by a dog food company. In the 1980s, BHT bought the building, refurbished the famous sign, and added their name. In 2010, BHT moved, rehabbed the sign, and donated it to Regions Field.

AL.com: Penny dog food sign will wag again at Regions Field, by By Kyle Whitmire, 2013 updated 2019

Bham Wiki: Penny

Roadside America: Penny the Dog

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Photography

 
Awareness of the outside world. Vulcan Park and Museum: Virtual and Outreach Programs. Lots of kid/school stuff. For adults, the Learning From Home section has a Virtual Museum Tour in six episodes. Caveat, I have not watched these. On my list.
~~~

 
What
Magic City Lights
Artist: Carrie McGrann
Vulcan Park & Museum: Vulcans on Parade

Where & When
Taken in Railroad Park during a virtual 5K. [Strolling In Another Park]

Why
A while back I came up with a project taking pictures of Vulcan.

Vulcan is Birmingham’s answer to the Statue of Liberty. You can see him from all over the city. His image is everywhere. In Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, Japanese woodblock artist Katsushika Hokusai portrays the mountain from a variety of angles in a variety of seasons. That’s my plan. With photography. Photos to be added and upgraded as photos are taken and my photography improves. Off Topic: Views Of Vulcan Project, OT: Views of Vulcan

This lasted for 10 photos and then wandered off to wherever old projects go. I don’t get into town enough. When I do, I don’t have the kind of long-range lens that can handle scenic distance. So, I’m restarting it with an emphasis on Vulcan iconography instead of the big iron man himself.
 

 
Who
“Magic City Lights” was the pilot statue … painted by Birmingham art teacher Carrie McGrann.
Vulcans on Parade: The Story Behind the Statues

“I really wanted to go with the theme of Birmingham being the Magic City,” McGrann said.” The Local: Vulcans on Parade, by Grace Miserocchi, 2015

Bham Wiki: Vulcans on Parade

Other art by McGrann, 4. Children Holding Up the City. Bham Now: A Guide to your Fave Bham Murals, by Vicky Lewis 2016

Photos Since Project Hiatus

[Vulcan Stroll, Magic City Virtual 5K, November 2020]

[Spotted on the Vulcan Trail]

All Project Photos, So Far
[Gallery, Views of Vulcan]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Fit To Ride

 
Awareness of the outside world. “As the Bridge Run’s official charity, the Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion at St. Joseph’s/Candler receives a portion of the race proceeds to devote to cancer care, resources and research.”Savannah Brisdge Run: Charity.
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“Ready, set, GO! Take a single trip over Savannah’s Talmadge Bridge.” SBR: Races. This is exactly the sort of walk I would love to do IRL. A different perspective on a civic space usually dominated by cars. Alas, not this year. Photos from 2016 trip. [ASHAG]

Virtual Savannah Bridge Run 5k
Official – October 25 to December 5, 2020.
Me – Saturday, December 5, 2020
Location – Railroad Park
Time – 1 hour 19:58 min
Results – ? Submitted time as proof of finish. Dunno if rankings will be compiled. Mox nix.
Tracker – Map My Walk

The Trail
Adorable park. Lotta people, lotta masks, lotta dogs.

A cute park but not a big park, I walked around Regions Field for extra distance.

I even found a bridge to cross.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse.

 
Awareness of the outside world. Recover with integrity. “Corruption thrives in times of crisis … The urgent responses required, however, led some States to trade compliance, oversight and accountability for achievement of rapid impact, thus creating significant opportunities for corruption.” UN: International Anti-Corruption Day. I assume the UN is referring to nation-states rather than US states.
~~~

Rodney is back on alfalfa.

A few weeks ago, the horses stopped getting their morning digestif.

It wasn’t a policy statement. The small pile of alfalfa bales ended up hidden behind a large pile of coastal bales. The alfalfa slid off my radar. Possibly a lingering effect of my distrust of Thoroughbreds on high-test (twitch, shudder).

Rodney’s weight drifted downward. His moodiness level drifted upward.

Okay, okay, I hear you. Finally.

Rodney promises to keep his cookies in the cookie jar and I promise to feed him a small amount of alfalfa for the calories and potential tummy-soothing properties.

Milton gets a taste because giving nothing wouldn’t be fair.

The Alfalfa Adventures, A Look Back
Rodney was more than willing to clean up whatever Mathilda was unwilling to eat. He can be quite the contortionist when alfalfa is on the line. [Grocery List] 2013

Alfalfa hay? Shredded money? Is there a difference? [Foto Friday: Mystery Material] When your geriatric horse gets anything she wants. 2014

There was an interlude of alfalfa cubes somewhere in here. I was never behind the experiment, so I don’t think I reported it. [Feed Adventures, Part 1 of 2] 2016

(Previous Horse) was nuts the next day. Jumped great but was impossible to handle … This was from alfalfa fumes. Ever since then, I have been jittery about feeding alfalfa hay. [Rodney’s Recap, Heat, Liberty, and Hay, March 2020]

(Milton) Gets a small serving of alfalfa when Rodney gets his [Recap]. He also is managing to keep the lid on. [Milton’s Moments, Driving Practice, Liberty Work, and Bite of Hay, March 2020]

Because it’s easy to overlook the obvious, one reason we added alfalfa was because of a hay shortage. [Annoying Shortages Not Related To The Virus, But Of Course The Current Situation Makes Everything Worse] April 2020

Now that he is getting all of his coastal, I’m hoping I can reduce the amount of alfalfa. [Here’s An Idea, Let’s Change Several Variables At Once, Saddle, Schedule, and Diet, Part 2, Rodney] October 2020

We have also tried alfalfa pellets and bagged alfalfa bales.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Riding Journal

If you’re riding a horse, you’ve already won.

 
Awareness of the outside world. I am trying to be alive to other issues, but am having trouble looking away from the large, slow-moving train wreck that is Covid in this country.
~~~

Virtual Tevis, 100 Miles in 100 Days

 

Well, that was a struggle.

Before I start wingeing, I want to say that I am proud of both horses. Proud of them and of us.

Results Doctor Whooves, Major Milton, All

Let Me Throw A Few Stats At You
Most of the miles were done in 1/3 or 1/2-mile laps around our pasture. We had a handful of miles at two other farms. No actual trails were ventured onto in the course of our ride.

Most laps were out of the ring. A few miles were estimates of ring work. Rodney had half-a-mile of hand-walking credited to his ride total. The rest of his warm-up laps were mentally marked down for time spent wandering around holds & stops.

Originally, Milton’s rider was planning to join us only the weekends. We ended up doing enough mid-week rides for them to finish under the extension. We did 38 rides together. Then Rodney finished with 7 solo rides, and we did 5 more rides for Milton to finish.

Start – August 1

Finish – Rodney Nov 8, Milton Nov 26

Total rides – Rodney 45 rides, Milton 43

Longest ride – 5:14 miles, 1 hour 51 minutes

I’ll save you the math, Rodney averaged 2.22 miles per ride, Milton 2.32 mpr.

Pace – On one of our trot days, we got down to 19 minutes per mile. The rest were solidly in the 20+ range. On at least two occasions, the program was convinced I had entered the wrong numbers. No, we really were moseying along at that rate.

We set out to ride 100 miles and we did it.

Now The Eye Rolling
They did not make it easy.

We took breaks for shoeing.

We took breaks for vet care.

We took breaks for lameness.

We trotted and cantered. And then had massive come-aparts and dropped back to walking our miles.

We had saddle adjustments mid-course. I did 5 miles bareback while waiting for the piece for Rodney’s saddle

Any more than 20 minutes of walking resulted foot dragging and repeated calls of “Are we there yet?” They did not embrace their inner endurance Arabs.

Big moments included going the entire the way round a small-to-moderate field all by one’s brave self.

Fortitude is not their middle name.

On The Upside
Long, slow mileage is good for both horse & rider.

It was nice to have a plan. What should we do today? More! Miles!

If my calculations are correct, Virtual Tevis raised in the high five figures for WSTF, which is good for me as it gives them incentive to repeat.

Next Year
I hope Tevis is able to ride next year. I also hope they hold a virtual version for us stay-at-homes.

Have fun with more virtual start/finish, checkpoint photos.

Front-load the miles early on. Even more than we think we need.

Cross fingers that they remember the lessons from this year and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Perhaps venture on real trail ride.

Recent Posts
Milton [The Finish]

[Tevis post archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse.

 

Awareness of the outside world. Giving credit. The cover doll on Breyer’s *Just About Horses* 2020 is a black cowboy, ticking the diversity boxes for race, gender, and age. Well done, Breyer. Now all he needs is a helmet.
~~~

Found out that Full Circle Horse Park does not allow lunging or loose horses in their ring. No more zoomies. No more gleeful rolling. [Frolic]

Sad face.

It has been been so long since I have had my horses in another person’s care that I forgot about the arbitrary rules that go with boarding. What ring you can use. When you can use it. Where you can ride. When you can ride. The reasons make sense; the reasons don’t make sense. Either way, as a boarder you have to live by house rules. To quote Doc C, cathedra mea, regulae meae.

Sharing is overrated.

Years ago, I was accused of leaving manure in the washstall of a barn. When they tried to figure out the culprit, they decided to blame me. That’s when I realized I needed to find a new place to keep my horse. If the barn culture had turn against me to that extent, it was time to leave. I have many sins. Failing to cleaning up after my horse is not one of them.

What about barn fam, you ask? I have boarded at seven barns in four states during my horse career. One barn, life-long friends (waves Hi). The other six ceased to exist as soon as I left. Plus, as I have said, the only sure-fire method to avoiding barn drama is the ability to walk away chanting, ‘Not my circus, not my monkeys.’ [Why Not Rack Off Into The Sunset ?]

With horses at home, we have to …

Do all chores.

Haul to better riding facilities.

Solve all problems by ourselves. Or make arrangements for expert consultants, i.e. farrier, vet, etc. Be there when expert consultants arrive.

Be on call 24/7.

Tradeoff?

We can do what we want with our horses, when we want, where we want.

Totally worth it.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Images

 
Awareness of the outside world. Washed Ashore.
~~~
HENRI MATISSE ONLINE: Painting with Scissors by London Drawing Group, class taken November 2020.

Based on Violet Leaf on Orange Background (1947).

Tightrope walker and juggler, from old photos, inspired by the circus performers in Jazz. After the first exercise, I cut the forms out as stencils, giving me positive (right) and negative (left) shapes.

To drag this back on topic, a horse.

I don’t hate these.

Materials
Household scissors
Melissa & Doug 6×6 origami paper

Process Notes
As much craft as art. Possibly why I was more comfortable with the class. Craft is a much more happy place for me than art.

Was I drafting this blog post while doing the class? Yeah, I but always am. Thinking about possible blog posts is a constant for me. So, while I might not have been 100% present, coming up with a fun idea to share also makes me happy. [Life With a Blogger]

Links
Another person who took the class. Win’s Books: International Art Class: Matisse – Painting with Scissors.

A video of Matisse cutting, with huge scissors, using cutting style you would not expect, YouTube: Footage of Henri Matisse making a paper cut out.

Tate Modern.
The Guardian: Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs review – ‘how rich, how marvellous, how alive’, Adrian Searle, 2014.

Matisse: Nicholas Serota on curating a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ exhibition, Nicholas Serota, 2014

Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs at Tate Modern – in pictures

MOMA
The exhibit. Introspective Magazine: “Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs”, Carol Kino, 2014

The process. MOMA: Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs

Speaking of Internet rabbit holes. I struggled to locate the home of Violet Leaf in order to link to it. Turns out the owner died recently and the sales of his collection are hung up due to Covid, Gagosian: Works on Paper from a Distinguished Private Collection.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott