Planning a trip...

Now, I'm going to start off by saying that I have no idea how others go about planning a trip, but to me my method seems a little unorthodox. I don't sit down and say, "I want to go somewhere. Where should I go?" Then start planning from there. No. That would be too easy. What usually happens with me is something will inspire me to think about going somewhere and then I start looking at how much it will cost for me to get there followed by what sort of activities there are to do.

Other people might think of what they'd like to do on a vacation and THEN decide where to go. Again, that's too easy. So, I was looking at my emails a little while ago and saw one from the Duke Lemur Center in North Carolina. A few months ago they were having a random drawing for an adoption package and a Zoo Borns book. I followed the directions for the contest and ended up being the one selected and was given Presley, a Blue-Eyed Black Lemur as my adoptee

Now, I don't know which of the two in the above picture is Presley and which one is his buddy Hemsworth, but that's okay.  Anyway, I got to think how neat it would be to go to the Duke Lemur Center.  I really like Lemurs, especially the Ring Taileds

And I've never been to that part of the country.  They have neat lighthouses such as Bald Head

and the famous Cape Hatteras

Some lighthouses, however, are out on one of the islands and require a ferry trip that would take up too much time of a day to reach so if I ever decide to visit, seeing Cape Lookout

is probably not in the cards.  Oh well.  I suppose I could survive that. 

Another reason to visit?  I have a friend who lives about two hours away that I haven't seen since she moved back to the East Coast 6 or 7 years ago.

So, in looking at everything, it would appear a trip to NC in, say, mid-May would not be out of the realm of possibilities.  I would, however, require some kind of happy drug (prescription, of course) for me to be able to handle the 4 hour flight one way, but at least I can get non-stop flights in both directions and while the flight there would eat up one entire day due to time zone changes, but the departure time for the flight home would give me an entire day just about for activities.

I'll have to think about it...

Earthquake? What Earthquake...?

Certainly not something you expect to hear people talking about in Central Arizona and EVERYONE is talking about it.  Because not everyone starts work at the same time here, as soon as a "new" person comes in for the day, they ask "Did you feel the earthquake?" 

Apparently a series of 3 small-ish tremors rumbled across the center of the state just before midnight and it was felt by people all over the area.  I was actually awake when the first one apparently hit at about 9:00pm and the last at 11:15pm or so, but I didn't feel it.  My cats didn't behave any differently.  I was watching 90 Day Fiance and didn't notice a thing.  Granted, I'm about 55 miles from the epicenter, but a retired co-worker who only lives about 4 miles northwest of me felt something.  A co-worker, who lives only 11 miles from the epicenter, slept right through it but it woke her husband up.  I don't know if I'm disappointed or happy I didn't notice it.  I've experienced small-ish earthquakes before.  In Las Vegas back in 1994 or so I was attending a live (model) horse show and it woke me up.  I was just barely asleep and was dreaming that the building I was in was shaking and it woke me the rest of the way up.  I just sat in the middle of my bed, unsure of what to do and then it ended.  It probably lasted about 30 seconds.  I was on the 3rd floor of a 3 story hotel so it wasn't really that bad, but our host hotel was 14 stories and people who'd been in that hotel said it was swaying pretty good.  Then there were a couple of aftershocks, but the floor of the conference room we were in was kind of springy and kind of felt shaky when you walked across it so it was difficult to tell if it was an aftershock or just someone walking.  hahaha.  A 4.2 was freaky enough for me, though.  I don't think I'd want to experience one of the big ones like they get in California where you can actually see the street or sidewalk move. 

I made my decision about whether to volunteer at the Endurance Ride in 2 weeks and that is No. I just can't commit to 8 hours and the Ride Manager said I'd have to do an entire 8 hour shift so I felt like that was the only choice to make. I'm bummed for sure, but that's how it is.

Well, I guess that's it. Hopefully the rest of Monday will be uneventful...meaning no more earthquakes. hahaha.

A horse-related volunteer opportunity... I don't know what to do...

Recently I have started following a couple of blogs by endurance riders.  I've looked a couple of times in the past, but yesterday officially started following them.  I know very little about Endurance Riding, but it seems like a fun, if not stressful.  Riders get hurt.  Horses get hurt.  Riders can go the entire distance only to get pulled at the last vet check and not complete the ride.  And that's the main thing.  To complete the ride in one piece.  Winning would be nice, but...hahaha.  From what I know, Arabians seem to be the most popular breed, although the one of the blogs I have started following she rides several different breeds, including a couple of gaited breeds.

So, I decided to look to see if there were any endurance rides in Arizona that I could go watch.  I don't plan on doing it myself simply because I'm a bad shape for any kind of riding right now and I don't have a horse to ride anyway, but I think it might be interesting to watch.  I found out there's one in a couple of weeks and it's super close to where I live.  They have a Facebook page so I went to their page to check it out and one of the people "in charge" of the ride posted that they still needed volunteers so I posted on the wall asking what volunteers would do and she gave me her email address to contact her, which I did.

And that's where we are now...if I agreed to do it, I would be helping maintain a water station.  As the horse and riders come through you get their rider number and record the time they are coming through.  It sounds easy enough for sure, but the part that has me hesitating on telling her I'll do it is that the shifts are 8 hours long and I would have to stay the entire time.  I'm pretty sure I would not be capable of standing that long and I don't know that I'd be allowed to sit down for any part of that so I have not replied to her, yet.  She needs an answer soon, though.  I don't know.  I don't know what to do.  I'm certainly under no obligation to tell her I'll do it, but I do need to let her know asap.  <sigh>

On a different matter...next Friday is day one of the Member Preview for the new tiger exhibit at my local zoo.  It was supposed to have been finished in 2012.  Then we were told 2013.  Then 2014.  Now we finally have specific date.  Member Preview on Friday and Saturday then it's open to the public on Sunday.  The zoo opens to members an hour before the general public so it'll be easy, at least initially, to keep the general public away, but I wonder what they'll do when the zoo opens to the GP.  When they had the temporary Koala exhibit (they were on a 5 month loan from San Diego), they had a specific line for members only and they had employees ensure non-members didn't get in to see the Koala before they were allowed.  The big difference is that the Koalas were in a stand-alone building in the Children's Zoo and it was easy to filter people into a line and not line but the new tiger exhibit is on a major thorofare that leads to the Komodo Dragons, the Borneo Orangutans and the lower Elephant viewing area.  I'm trying to remember how they handled the opening of the Komodo exhibit, but coming up blank.  Oh. That one sort of had an entrance route and an exit one so employees were posted at both locations to keep non-members out.  I imagine they'll do a line-type thing like they did with the Koala and leave half of the walkway open for non-members.  I guess I'll find out next week, although I'll probably be in and out before the zoo opens to the GP since that's the only exhibit I plan to visit that day.  I will share pictures more than likely.  It will be first time seeing the new female tiger Suriya, who came on a breeding recommendation from the Oklahoma City Zoo after breeding attempts between resident male Jai (jay) and a female from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle were unsuccessful.  Hadiah was sent to Dallas to pair with another Sumatran Tiger male and Suriya came to Phoenix.

Anyway, anyone have any advice on the volunteer thing?  I know it's ultimately up to me.  I will let you know what I decide on.

I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Stablemate Collector's Club!

Hurray!  After weeks of waiting after getting verification that the club was going to happen in 2016, it has FINALLY opened for membership.  All we were told was that it would be late October and it can't get much later than it is now except Saturday, which is the 31st.  We were figuring that's when the announcement would happen or at least tomorrow, Friday since they like to do things on Friday (payday perhaps?) but I went to the Blab forum and saw that the thread about the Stablemate club was at the top.  It's been active lately and figured that people were just "complaining" that it wasn't active yet, but then I saw the first message on the last page said it was open and the person had already bought into it.  I didn't even bother reading any other answers before "running" over to the Breyer web page and seeing it for myself.

Needless to say, I joined immediately.  It's funny, though.  A couple of years ago, prior to Breyerfest 2013, Stablemates really weren't on my "radar".  Sure, I had some, but I wasn't an active collector.  That changed, though, with the release of new molds, specifically Chrome and Dungaree.  After that I bought more and more.  I don't know how many I have and I only collect certain molds, but that's okay.  This is a brandnew club.  A club that apparently in the past Breyer said wouldn't be feasible.  I don't know what has changed, but I'm glad it did.  I'm excited about this club.

Anyway, I just wanted to share.  It's Thursday.  I have a headache.  It's payday but I have rent, car payment and car registration due so I have "no money".  hahaha.

MOAR Liebster fun!

**oops! I started this last night and was unable to finish it and forgot all about it until I was looking at DressageKid's blog and saw her post about the Liebster Award so now I'm finishing it up.**

Weird.  I don't know why the text came out that way, with part of it being blue and part of it being bolded.

I was nominated also by DressageKid.  THANK YOU!

Okay, so I'm going to cheat a bit.  I started answering questions then realized I was answering the wrong ones so I'm going to do her questions first then the ones I already started.  Hehehehe.

1. Who is your favorite horse, model or real?
Model: Totilas
Real:  Legolas 92, I guess

2. Where do you want to go, any world, any place, any time?
Alaska

3. Are you an only child or do have siblings?
I have an older brother

4. If all of your models were real, which one would you want to ride, show, etc.?
I don't know.  Either Bolya because of her cool color or Stud Spider because he's a solid looking horse.  I think I would show Stud Spider in Extreme Trail but I bet he'd do well in Hunter Eq because of his fairly flashy color

5. How did you get started in the hobby?
Depends on your definition of hobby.  Just as a collector?  I think I was at a toy store or someplace that had Breyers and I begged for one.

6. Who was your first model?
Well, Fleck the Family Arab Stallion was purchased before I was born but I didn't get him until I was 14.  The first that I actually had a conscious knowledge of...?  Halla, maybe?

7. What was your best model purchase?
A 2013 grey CC Shuffle and 2005 JCP Holiday Catalog Lady Phase for $160ppd

8. What's the worst thing you've ever bought?
Model?  I don't think I have a worst

9. Favorite tv show?
I have several but Cops is probably at the top

10. What is your least favorite Breyer mold, horse, and color?
There's several molds I don't like, no matter what the color, but Ashquar is probably at the top of the list.  No matter what color they put him in, I just can't get past the pose and that weird head.  Hahaha.

-------------------------------

1: Best model horse buy?
Hmmm.  I think the 2013 Breyerfest CC Shuffle in grey and the 2005 JCP Lady Phase.  I got them both for $160 including postage.  I've been wanting the grey one since it came out but the cost has been higher than I really wanted to pay.

2: Ever had a model horse barn set up?
No.  Although I've always wanted one.

3: Any Peter Stone models?
7 ISH and 1 Arabian that I did in DAH to resemble *Muscat, a pure Russian stallion who used to live in Arizona. 

4: How many Schleichs (if any) do you have?
I am not sure.  The Schleichs I have are maybe all wildlife animals like ones you'd find in a zoo.  But I don't know which are Schleich and which are Papo.  Hahaha

5: Favourite type of horse riding? E.g barrel racing, dressage, jumping…
I grew up riding Western because in Arizona, unless you have your own horse or take lessons at a multi-discipline barn, it's what you do.  That being said, I prefer English.  I have ridden English a couple of times and both times ended with me in the dirt, but I still prefer that style.

6: Ever been to Breyerfest? (Or any other model horse event)
Not Breyerfest or other Breyer-sanctioned event, but I have been to fairly big live shows in Oceanside, CA and Las Vegas, NV.

7: Least favourite horse colour?
I don't think I have a least favorite color

8: If you could design a Regular Model for Breyer, what would it’s mold, colour, eye colour and markings be?
Oh, that's a tough one

9: Do you have a subscription to a horse or craft magazine?
At one time I subscribed to Dressage Today, Paint Horse Journal, Horse Illustrated, Young Rider, Horse & Rider, Trail Rider Magazine and one for appies, but currently I am only receiving miniatures magazines. I need to re-subscribe to Trail Rider, though.

10: Favourite thing about the model horse hobby
How so many people are willing to help other hobbyists in need.

Leibster Award Questions...

Thank you to Nichelle at Desktop Stables for tagging me on your Liebster Award nomination.  These are fun.  

1: What first got you into model horses?

I don't remember, really.  I may have been in a toy store that sold them and talked my parents into buying me one.  I was 7 or 8.

2: Plastic, resin, both or other?

Plastic

3: Who is your favorite horse in your collection?

That's a tough one.  It's hard to pick just one, but I'm going to say Kalahkaari.  Either him or the original Lady Phase.

4: Who is your favorite model horse sculptor?

I actually don't have one.  I don't buy based on who the sculptor was and I really couldn't point out a model and tell you who it was sculpted by.

5: Finishwork artist? 

N/A as I don't collect non-OF

6: How long have you been collecting?

A looooong time.  35+ years...but not straight.  In the 90s I took a break.

7: What would your dream horse be? (real or model!)

Model: Zydeco

Real:  A 17hh bay Hanoverian

8: Do you have a sentimental favorite model?

Not really.

9: What do you like most about the model horse hobby?

Good question.  I've seen some real good things such as helping others out who are in need and I have seen ugliness.

10: What is your best memory involving model horses?

Winning my first (and only) Champion in halter.  It was at Arizona Live in 1996 and I got a neat clear trophy plaque thing.  I still have the award and the model that won it, which is amazing since I have so few other models anymore from that time period.

I want to go to Las Vegas!

So, every now and then I like to look at the online newspaper of different places, mostly San Diego but sometimes Las Vegas and that is what I did today.  I went to the online version of the Las Vegas Sun and saw a headline about Siegfried and Roy turning down a BOATLOAD of money to fly with 4 new Tiger cubs to the United Arab Emirates so the prince or king or whomever it is can see them in person.  S & F consider their animals to be their family so they said they aren't interested in taking their family all that distance.  Also in the article was a bit about granting a wish to a young girl through the Make A Wish Foundation.  She got to meet S&F and the 4 cubs, who were born in early August and she also got to swim with the dolphins.  Roy Horn is looking real good and there were several pictures of Siegfried assisting him. 

Of course, it may have been purely for the cameras, but the fact that they still live together and work together...I'd like to think it has more to do with a deep freindship and not the cameras.  Last I heard, they were no longer together as a couple, but they still are around each other all the time.  It warms my heart to see pictures like above because it shows that they are still dedicated to each other, regardless of what that relationship might be.

But I'm wanting to talk about the kitties.  I don't know if they were born of the S&F cats or if they got them from a facility in Florida (I hope not, considering their age...they should still be with mom), but I was surprised to see that each one is a different color.

From left to right you have the standard Orange, a regular (striped) white tiger, a stripeless white tiger and a golden tiger.  I wonder how often that happens...I don't think I've ever seen it before.  I know I've seen both standard orange and striped white in a litter, but not all 4 variations.  What I find "funny" is on the announcement board it mentions conservation...maybe in the form of the striped orange, but to get the white color and the golden color you have to breed close relatives that carry the gene.   I may have found an article that points to S&F's stripeless white female as the mother and if that is the case then her parents were brother and sister.  Oftentimes when you inbreed like that, the white cubs end up with birth defects, but these cubs look to be normal.  The last time I was there they had a sibling pair of striped white cubs and both had slightly crossed eyes.  But I don't want to get into the morality and ethics of inbreeding.  If you look at some horse geneology, you will see the same name on both sides of the tree so it's not something that is unique to tigers, but usually by the time it gets down to the "current" horse, the blood relation is likely mostly non-existent but you sometimes see or hear someone who will say their horse is by So and So on both sides or is a double So and So and they're proud of that.  But again, it's likely acceptable because the relation is several generations past.

Anyway, I want to go and see the new babies and, more specifically, the golden tiger.  I've never seen one in person before because, until the birth of this litter, the closest one to Arizona lives in Washington.  They just aren't that common.

So, I'm trying to figure out the money to see if I can swing an overnighter. I have a flight credit that would take up most of the flight cost and I can get a discount at a hotel. I could probably drive there for cheaper, but I don't want to do that. hahaha. Of course, as the time gets closer to when I'm looking at going, I'm sure I'll change my mind several more times. hahaha


Our weather is finally starting to cool off.  Mostly in the morning when I'm leaving for work, but I think we are finally out of the triple digits for the year.  It's supposed to get up to 90 in a couple of days, but I'll take that over 115 any day.  I think the hottest it got this summer was 119.  Yikes!

I hope everyone has a good weekend!