Virtual Brush Box

Once again, spreading the content jam over multiple slices of post toast. [Getting Ready]

For what we spent on the vet stay, I can at least get a few blog posts out of it. Happy to pay. Glad we could afford it. But it was certainly a number.

~~~

Did Rodney miss Milton while Milton was at the vet clinic? [Milton Arranges A Spa Stay]

Initially we thought yes. Shortly after Milton refused his cookie, we loaded up and took off, which included feeding Rodney, getting the dogs and cats settled, hitching up the trailer that hadn’t moved since October, and so on, and so on, It was a minor whirlwind. When we got back, Rodney was looking a little frazzled. We thought he was wondering where Milton was.

In retrospect, he might have been ill. Rodney’s go-to move for pain is to get spooky. He might have had a mild bout of whatever Milton had. Would be logical. Rodney never stopped eating, nor acted ill. If anything, he had extra energy. After a few days, he settled. Or got better. Or both.

Did Milton miss Rodney? Not really.

Felt punk. Had company the first and third nights. Not thrilled to be left alone the middle night. Mostly looking for food. Unfortunately for Milton, he chose a health spa, one that monitored his diet, rather than a luxury spa that fed him bon-bons.

Were they happy to see each other when Milton came home? Kinda, sorta.

Initially, Rodney came up to the fence line to greet Milton while we took Milton’s shipping boots off. Much neck arching and nosing and snorting and squealing over the fence. It was adorable. Then we let Milton into the field. Rodney was happy to see his buddy. Milton was happy to see the hay Rodney had left on the floor of the run-in. Rodney stood around for a while, then went back out to the field.

It’s tempting to see this as Rodney being forlorn and wanting to be friends while Milton ignored him in favor of hay shreds. But that could be a human interpretation.

Equally likely. Happy that the herd had been reestablished, Rodney wandered back out into the field.

Either way, Milton continued to pick at the leftovers.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. “International LEGO day is celebrated annually on 28th January, which marks the day the first patent for the Lego brick was submitted in Denmark.” STEM Learning: International Lego Day – 28th January. A teacher’s website with educational resources for LEGO builds.

~~~

Last week was extremely cold for us, complete with loud, red boxes on our weather apps and the weather folks tells us to bring pets in and check on friends and family. We did what we could. Dogs and cats came in. Milton found a warm place to stay. Checked with neighbor. Family lives north of us. [Milton Arranges A Spa Stay]

That left Rodney out in the cold. So, we double blanketed him. His heavy turnout over Milton’s old medium weight. The new medium weight stayed with Milton.

Two blankets at a time is not the new minion behavior. Mathilda wore double blankets in her golden years.

In the morning, I removed the lighter blanket that was underneath, leaving the heavy blanket in place for the day. It occurred to me that the removed blanket would be quite cold come evening. It would be rude to have your warm toasty blanket lifted up so that a cold slice of nylon could be inserted.

I brought the underblanket into the house for the day so that it would be warm when we put it back on in the evening.

🔓 🔓 🔓

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Imagine living where this is a statement. “Sometimes the wind prevents walking.” My Shetland: Inside Now!

~~~

First off. Milton is home & feeling better.

Last Monday

6:15 am. Normal. Passed cookie test.

8:15 am. Refused cookie. Punk. Hanging head. Fever of 102.5. Shivering. !!! Walking. Covered with second blanket. Despite vigorous pooping, earned himself a ride to the vet clinic.

10:30 am. Vet clinic. Fever. Stomping feet. Colic workup for you, my lad. Rectal & ultrasounds. Impaction in large intestine. Doughy but not hard. So, our horse is full of sh*t. Banamine etc administered.

Back to stall. Started picking shavings for leftover hay molecules, above. Wet spot on flank is from ultrasound goop. In retrospect, he was better as soon as he had drugs on board.

Kept overnight on poop watch.

Tuesday

Passed the poop. Vet was pleasantly surprised that he passed it all so quickly. Yay. Go Milton. Stay until back to regular eating.

That night was due to be extreme cold for us. Not unhappy to leave him in a heated barn. His colic surgery was after a cold snap, so we are a bit jumpy about Milton and cold.

Wednesday

Better. Eating. Cleared to leave. We thought he was still a bit low plus another night of moderately cold temps inclined us to leave him where he was.

Thursday

As soon as we showed up we could see Milton was over his hotel stay and ready to go home. Still some below freezing nights to come but not as cold.

Friday, Saturday, and so on

Home. Eating. However, a little slow, a mite crankier. Clearly – to us – he was recovering from having been sick. He had that air of ‘Did anyone get the number of the bus?’

Once it was clear that Milton was on the upswing, vet mentioned the size of mass a few times. Apparently, our horse was full of a lot of sh*t.

Colic doesn’t usually present with fever. Did pain from his intestines cause the fever? Did the fever spike the impaction? The world may never know.

Given his recovery response, he definitely had something.

Onwards!
Katherine

Paper of the outside world. Georgia Tech: Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking.

~~~

At the end of year, I get stir crazy and start signing up for stuff. This year’s crop is the Alaska class that I already mentioned, a crochet project that you may hear about if I ever get started, and The Paper Year from Helen Hiebert Studios. The subscription includes monthly instructions for a paper project, zoom meetings, guest speakers, discussions and so on.

In honor of my new interest in all things paper, I decided to do a papercraft c.v., similar to the one I did for weaving. By this I mean paper manipulation, not paper used as a substrate for writing or drawing. [Weaving In and Out of My Life]

A while back, I went on an origami binge, bought paper, folded things, virtually attended an online conference, and then wandered away.

[Gary’s Star, Origami] 2022
[Origami Dragon, Paper Art] 2024

Plus many origami links in the outside world section.

Book making has been a thing for a while, including a marvelous workshop in Tuscaloosa through the UA Book Arts Program. I briefly entertained the thought of enrolling in their university classes, but it didn’t pan out.

Bookmaking at Makebhm last year.

[Quick Books, Book Making Class #1]
[Preparing The Parts, Book Making Class #2]
[Two Covers, Bookmaking Class #3]
[Finished Books, Bookmaking Class #4]

I took a class for making an art journal, which I misconstrued as constructing the journal rather than filling a blank book, thereby making it into an art journal. Still, was a fun class. [Journal Workshop] 2024

A paper class in the style of Matisse, [In Which I Try Painting With Scissors] 2020

A letter cutout. Most of the rest of the various alphabet letters were photographs or computer designs. [Text Art: Z is for Zebra] 2015

In the past, there were paper activities that did not make the blog. Back then, I was trying to stay on topic. Trying to keep posts at least vaguely horse related. Unlike now, where I simply fling whatever I want into a post, as today. [Countdown] 2012

The photo at the top is the from a pre-blog era papermaking class at the local art museum. I saved the first piece of paper I made as a memento, thinking it would be the beginning of a long line of handmade paper. It wasn’t, or I should say, hasn’t been yet.

The rest has been fiddling with paper. Making and decorating trip journals. Cutting up a stack of postcards in an attempt to make a 3-D version of the image. And so on. As far as paper crafts go, I am definitely an amateur, even a dilettante, which I don’t mean in a bad way.

Merriam-Webster defines dilettante as “a person having a superficial interest in an art or a branch of knowledge” MW: dilettante. Sure, I’ll accept that. I have a little bit of interest in a lot of things, vide origami above. Call me a dabbler if that is a less judgemental term.

At least I got a blog post out of it.

Onwards!
Katherine

🖥️ 🏴󠁵󠁳󠁡󠁫󠁿 🖥️

I slammed the apartment door, dropped my bags on the entry table, and announced, “I’m moving to Alaska.”

From the living room, a voice said, “No, you’re not.”

Me: Yes I am. I’m tired of lights and noise and people. I want live off the grid and be at one with the vastness of nature. Al-Can Highway here I come.

Roommate: You’d go spare in a day.

I walked into the living room and flumfed down into a chair by the window.

Roommate: Bad day at work?

I turned to watch taxicabs play race-to-the-stoplight. After a while I realized the room was silent. Was I supposed to be saying something? I turned back the room.

Roommate: I rest my case. Your idea of a soothing activity is to watch traffic. You are the most on-grid person I know. You do something with computers that I do not understand.

I opened my mouth. They held up their hand.

Roommate: You’ve explained many times. I still don’t understand.

They got up. Went to the kitchen. Returned with a half full bag of polvorones. Handed me the cookies.

Roommate: You convinced your college to recognize esports as a varsity sport. Your idea of fun is to get together a raiding party with your new best friends in the Czech Republic or Rio. (waved hand at wall) You make digital art that half the art world adores and the other half thinks is a sign of the downfall of civilization. You would never survive without broadband, a robust electrical system, and taco shops that are open at 2 am (gestured at bag of Mexican cookies).

Me: You’re right. Of course. But I like to think about it.

Roommate: No harm in that.

Me: Do you every get tired of playing amateur psychologist and talking me down from the trees?

Roommate: Nah. Your energy is part of your charm. You’re like one of those sled dogs who lives to pull and has a hissy fit if they are not chosen for the team (paused in thought). Now that I could see you doing. Going to Alaska as a sled dog.

Me: Hmmm.

Roommate: I know that look. You’re thinking of new video installation.

Me: What if you could? What if you could run the Iditarod as a sled dog? Not as a person in a dog suit but behaving the way a real dog would. You would get rewarded the closer you are to maintaining actual dog behavior. We could do this with all kinds of animals in all kinds of different situations. We’d get animal behaviorists involved. That would be one of the selling points. People could have the experience of thinking like an animal (paused to stare into space for a moment). Is this a good idea or rife with the potential to be horrifying?

Roommate: Why not both?

Me: I would have to go to Alaska. To do research.

Roommate: Now, that I could see you doing.

🖥️ 🏴󠁵󠁳󠁡󠁫󠁿 🖥️

Inspiration

Currently ettending UChicago Graham School, Alaska: Indigenous, Russian, American.

How do I write a story set in a place I’ve never been?

The native traditions have so many cool stories. They would be fun to riff from. How do I use the ideas without cultural appropriation?

Onwards!
Katherine

Photography of the outside world. Natural History Museum: Ice Bed.

~~~

Southern Ice
Coosa River
Alabama USA
January 2025

Ice\Water
Coosa River
Alabama USA
January 2025

Behind The Lens

Project explanation. [Photo Safari The First], [Quarry, Photography, Things]

Onwards!
Katherine

Horses of the outside world. Wired: Cave Paintings Showed True Colors of Stone Age Horses. A new study of prehistoric horse DNA suggests that spotted horses roamed ancient Europe, and that early artists may have been reproducing what they saw rather than creating imaginary creatures. Balter, ScienceNOW 2011.

~~~

Diego
Stepping Stone Farm
January 2025

Show coming up. Time to get out to the barn.

Riding

Note that I am in the big ring at the start of the lesson. When one is uncertain, one can opt to start or even ride the entire lesson in the small covered arena, termed the round pen, shown in front of Diego’s ears in the photo. I haven’t ridden in the big ring since … scratches head .. my last lesson with Optimus? I figured if I was going to a show the next weekend, I should begin as I mean to go on.

Driving

The next day I went back for a driving lesson. Ears photo taken standing next to Diego before getting in the cart. Jog cart sits low. All you see is tailpipe.

Outro

This was not quite the same as my usual waffling and then jamming in a last minute lesson. Winter Tournament had two more shows, one in town, one farther away. I had always planned to go to the in-town show, in February. Then the cold snap rearranged the schedule and the local one was being held next.

One other between-show lesson. Rocky, back in December. Brought my emotional support husband and rode a new horse in the round pen. Media did not turn out. The rest of the time was holidays & ridiculous cold.

Onwards!
Katherine