Riding Update, December

 Not much riding has been happening.  Between it being the holiday season, and still deer hunting season of one sort or another, and me being a little punky-under-the-weather off and on, I think my butt has been in the saddle twice?? since the last update.

Both rides mainly concentrated on keeping Camaro's attention, as the big door at the end of the indoor arena is closed and he really, really prefers it to be open.  He'd much rather see things going by outside.  That closed door is a scary thing.  So, we've worked on keeping him mindful of what I'm asking him to do, and me remembering to ask him a million questions so that he doesn't have time to think about how scary that end of the arena is when the door isn't open.

Rides go sort of like this:

Camaro:  trotting along, all nice and steady and 'oh, hey! The door is closed!! I can't keep on contact, nope, my head must go up like a camel's'

Me: 'Hey, Camaro, how about three steps of right bend followed by three steps of left bend?'

Camaro: right bend, left bend, we're through the scary end.  Comes around the next wall and sees the door shut 'My inside shoulder must brace against your leg, because I think I might need to booger; the door is closed'

Me: "how 'bout some leg yield for a few steps?  No?  How about I poke you with my spur?  Thanks for getting off my inside leg"

Camaro: beautiful lateral steps in response to spur touch.  Good contact, for a few strides, and then "hey!  Door!  Lost my brain!"

Me: "Shoulder!!" "10m circle right here."  "Focus on me, halt, walk four strides, halt, trot four strides. . . " "No sucking back as we approach the door, be BOLD Camaro!"

Meanwhile, we've done a few longeing sessions, and he's been a rock star at those.  Working on keeping him straight, shoulder staying nice and where it belongs, upward and downward transitions, and having a nice upward canter rather than a flat sprawling one. Even when he's passing the door.

Hoping January will find us back to a several time a week riding schedule.

Sewing/Stitching Update, December

 In the last month, I've done quite a bit on the counted cross stitch banner that is intended as a Christmas gift. All the cross stitching is done now and I am working on the backstitch outlines.  Most of this has been accomplished during Faline's naps.  I don't foresee any difficulty in getting it completed on time.

Sewing, however, has been hit and miss.  I did make a quilt block for an internet forum quilt I'm participating in.

I have also worked on the disappearing hourglass quilt that I'm making for a Christmas gift.  All of the blue & neutral squares have been sewn into hourglasses and are ready for the next step in cutting.

The green & neutral hourglasses are partially sewn--the tops and bottoms are put together and ironed, I just need to get them sewn into blocks.

From here on out, I'm going to need to be diligent in setting my sewing time in stone on the calendar and not putting it off for other (people's) things if this disappearing hourglass quilt is going to be ready for gifting in two and a half weeks.

Knitting Update, December

 I finished the stockings!  I finished the stockings before Thanksgiving!  They now reside in their new home and were received with many praises.  Whew!  Looking back, I think those stockings have been my big project for 2021.  Each one wasn't really time consuming, but as an identical trio, and keeping detailed notes so that they'd absolutely be identical. . . that was herculean!

Quite by accident (as in, I wasn't looking for them at the time) I found the most perfectly colored pony beads to sew on the Christmas trees as ornaments. Not by accident, I also found gold star buttons to use at the tops of the trees.

After finishing the stockings, I didn't work on my Dad's Rubia socks until last night.  And of course I forgot to take a picture, but sock #2 is 2/3 complete, maybe even closer to 3/4 complete.  Another good few hours of knitting and it will be done.

Instead of working on that, I decided to see how quickly I could knit a new sweater for Faline.  Could I get it done in time for gifting for her birthday?  If not, it could always be a Christmas present.

Well, it got done.  Just in time to block and be dry for her party day.  I used the Viola and Sebastian pattern that I made her infant sweater out of last Christmas, only this time I did the Viola (lace) version and in a size 12-18 months.

I can confidently say that Faline loves it.  As soon as she opened the box I'd wrapped it in, she took it out, put it on (with a little help) and wore it the rest of the day.

Readingwise, I read several books in the past month:

• A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo.  Another Kate Burkholder book, another thoroughly enjoyable and suspenseful read.  
• The Mason House by T. Marie Bertineau.  I loved this book, despite it's mixed reviews.  Probably I loved it because I have lived in (and am very familiar with) the area of the Upper Peninsula it's set in (although most of the story is set in the 70's and 80's and I lived there in the early 90's) and have experienced the culture, the people, the climate, the income level that it is centered around.  For people far removed from that sort of setting, it probably doesn't come across as relatable or even realistic.
• Copper Country by Kristin Neva.  Second in her Copper Island series, this is another UP book. While many of the characters are also in the first book, this one is easily a stand alone book that doesn't have to be read in order. A light read, I tucked this one in my hunting bag and read it over a week while sitting in a tree stand waiting for deer to wander by.
• Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand.  This is the third of a trilogy and nicely wraps up the story.

Currently I have Missing by Shelly Shepard Gray in my hunting bag, and in the house I'm reading Bringing Maggie Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer.