Back from our Weekend Away

Had a wonderful weekend. Giggles is so cute and very verbal for her age. Also really determined in anything that she wants to do. Uncle Beloved (who actually gets "Aunty Beloved") was dragged around by the hand for a while at the park to help her do things. Until she was finished with him, when she waddled off to something else. Adorable.

After the party we went back to the house to put Troy together while Giggles had a sleep (he'd had to travel in two separate cars). Once he was operational all the adults were impatient for her to wake up. One of Giggles' other aunties got to have a ride to check that all was okay, due to the fact that she is very slim and tall enough to get on without unnecessary transverse pressure.

Giggles was still a bit sleepy when she finally got to see what was under the doona, and stood transfixed for a while. She was put up onto him and the boys rocked her for a bit, but when they stopped, she got him rocking herself.

She has an amazing seat and pretty good hands for someone who is only two and has only had a couple of pony rides before. I'm seriously impressed!

Still negotiating with her parents about posting a photo of a grinning Giggles having a ride. We'll have to see.

Later, she was playing with other presents and had a toy brush. She went and brushed Troy's tail. Cute. Then she gave her plastic toy llama a ride. That was so sweet I could have eaten her all up.

All the boys (the various uncles) kept on asking my Beloved about the project and complimenting him on the job. He was very good at explaining that I'd done the carving, staining and painting. I was starting to get a bit peeved (although he had done a fantastic job of the laminating, sawing and all the joints required).

Will we be going into rocking horse production any time soon?

... I don't think so.

Chance that we are not relieved that this project is finished?

... Approximately None!

Wild Thing!

Got to go and take the dog to his great-grandparents', ice my slice and pack the car.

But I thought you might be interested.


Anyone have curling tongs so that I can bend his hair down?

The chance that there won't be better photos after the weekend?

... Approximately None!

A Horse for Giggles: Part 8

Nearly there.

Troy has had his second of three top coats of paint today. Tomorrow he will get the last.

He now has the rods bent and in through the rails between his feet. Bit of a hicup with the way we were planning to attach the rods to the stand, though. Worked really well (he was rocking beautifully) until the point where weight was applied to Troy, when the attachy thingies entirely gave way, leaving a bit of a divot in the top of the stand.

My Beloved believes that he has solved this problem. I hope so. I'm not certain when we'll get the opportunity to test it out prior to Saturday due to needing to let the paint dry. It's probably okay, Giggles weighs a lot less than me.

I finished the saddle today. The webbing for stirrup leathers and girth had to be singed so that it wouldn't fray. My wonderful Dad bung a nail into his soldering iron for me so that I could do this to all the holes and cut edges. My wonderful Mum had some serious press-studs that help keep the saddle's 'ears' down over where the stirrups attach.

It has a few wobbly spots up close, but it does really look like a saddle. And any equestrians please note that I have run the stirrups up the leathers properly. Attention to detail is my motto. No slack habits in this household!


So that leaves me with the saddle cloth; glueing of mane, tail and forelock; and one final coat of paint. My Beloved has to paint up the new attachy thingies, and put the four screws that hold the saddle into poor Troy's belly.

Then we have a little engraved plaque to attach. I got it done at a local jeweller's and it has Giggles' name, her birthdate, the fact that it is from Grandma, Grandad, Uncle Beloved and Aunty Jenny and that Uncle Beloved and Aunty Jenny made it for her with much love (I thought that "with love" was better than "with blood, sweat, tears, unbelievably disgusting smells and an occasional word that we wouldn't be allowed to use in front of you". It wouldn't have fit on the plaque, and would have cost a packet on a per character engraving basis).

Tomorrow. The last day for work. It is possible.

How much am I going to miss this project?

... You got that right!

Why I wouldn't trust latex for anything important...

Yesterday, when I was staining Troy, I remembered that I have disposable gloves in the house. I didn't want a repeat of last week's grotty hand, so I donned the gloves and merrily stained away secure in the knowledge that the stained layer of latex could be removed when the job was finished.

Now, people trust every day that latex is going to save them from having babies or from nasty diseases. I've decided that I don't.

For one thing, you never know that it has failed you until the final outcome is obvious.


Can you tell me which fingers of the gloves had holes in them?

And, boy, do I wish that the answer to that question was

... Approximately None!

A Horse for Giggles: Part 7

The mega-project is still on-going and we are leaving for the coast on Friday for Giggles' birthday party on Saturday.

It is still looking possible that we will be finished on time, but the timeframes are getting quite tight. So many little bits of projects that will hopefully all come together in the next few days.

It was a big weekend.

Saddlery the easy way?

Oh, for goodness sake just take it to a saddler! Who wants to be fiddling around with this the weekend before? It's nearly finished now, just a few finishing touches before I can show you the final product.

While I was upstairs doing that, my Beloved was downstairs doing this:-

Boxy, but beautiful (hey, wasn't that a Volvo advertisement some years ago?).

Finally, a whole horse!

Then there was lots of sanding and carving and we killed the little Ozito sanding machine. It sparked, then died. Troy, you were just too much for a little sanding machine.

I do know, though, that Troy can take my whole weight. It would be interesting to have a visual record of some of the positions I've needed to get at different bits of this timber horse for sanding or carving or painting. Today's post could have been entitled "Musings from beneath a timber horse". But I decided that the world did not need to see a record of the inane things I think about when I'm staining timber.

After today's staining and first top coat efforts. Thanks for the help, Mum.

He came up shiny and luminous and gorgeous.

Tomorrow he is off to get the swinging rods put on, followed by a second coat of paint.

How many coats of paint do I want to have to put on on Friday?

... Approximately None!

(But I'm likely to be glueing in his mane, tail, and forelock)

A Horse for Giggles: Part 6

The deadline is looming. We've been madly using every spare minute to get Troy finished. We go to the coast in 9 days' time.

I'm just hoping the final coat of paint will be dry.

And it doesn't feel like we're getting very far. So many things need working out or drying time or we need to do something else first.

Thank goodness for the Queen's Birthday Holiday next Monday.

I can prove that I've been doing things, though -

Jen, remember that you have disposable gloves in the cupboard.

Of course, there was another job where it would have been really good to remember that I had disposable gloves in the cupboard. Remember these? -

Now, if the average person has to wash their hands six times in scented soap to get rid of the smell, how often does an average person have to wash the hair to get rid of the smell?

I can't actually remember. Lots.

To get the last of the chaff out of them I had to condition them, comb them thoroughly, let them dry and then comb them again. Then check to see if they passed the sniff test. Any last remaining little specks were then considered to be 'clean dirt' due to the number of times they'd been soaped, rinsed, conditioned and brushed at.

Here's one batch hanging up to dry on the laundry spout. I think I only have six paper clips left that haven't been bent into hooks to hang up hair to dry. Good thing I work from home, or I wouldn't have had enough.

I didn't have enough rubber bands, but Dad works from home too, so we got by.

Dad, do you want your rubber bands back when I've finished with them?

Why ever not?

This was one of the longest of the tails. You would never have guessed that it was this colour when it came in.

Of course, it isn't that colour anymore. I got at it with the hair dye.

I made certain it was a dye that covers gray.

It did.

Here is all my hair lined up. The big pile in the foreground are the longest and thickest ones that are designated as 'tail'. The next ones back are designated 'forelock', and the others are lined up longest to shortest for the mane.

(Is it freaky that I still have the original box for my sewing machine, which was new back in 1985? It's my Mother's fault - it started off as hers and she kept the box because we lived out west and it had to be shipped in for servicing. Of course, I've had the machine now for about 10 years and have no such excuse.)

I stitched the tails to cotton tape.

I didn't use them all.

I really regret the fact that I de-clodified more tails than I needed.

And washed more tails than I needed.

And conditioned and brushed more tails than I needed.

And dyed more tails than I needed.

There is no way I'm throwing them out.

I'm still experimenting with options for glueing the ends in so that the individual hairs can't be pulled out. Silicone didn't quite cut it. We'll see how an actual glue goes, but I want something that will stay flexible enough to be inserted into a slit in Troy's neck.

I am running out of time to conduct clinical trials on different products.

Chance that I'm going to let this deadline beat me?

... Approximately None!

A Horse for Giggles: Part 5 or so

Okay, so I've done a dumb thing. I've forgotten that Blogger uploads photos in the reverse order to the way they were selected. And it won't let me change them. *Sigh*

So here is the whole point of this post, which I was going to save for last. Isn't it the cutest thing you have ever seen?


Yes, Troy is still headless, which does make it easier to take him to Mum and Dad's because my sewing machine is playing up and I needed to fit the bridle to make certain it was going to work.

I think it is even cuter when it is hanging about. It makes a jangly sound just like a real bridle, but doesn't smell as good because I've used vinyl, not leather. I'm so proud of me for getting the bridle made in a way that means it can be taken off and put on. A wooden horse's ears don't squish down to allow this to happen without some jiggery-pokery. But it works!

My Beloved managed to bend the ends of the wire around the rings to make the bit. Spectacular!

These are the saddle bits waiting for Troy's body to be finished, so that I can fit everything as I go. I had so much fun in the saddlery, picking out the bits I needed.

Then I had to pay for them.

So how much work did I achieve this afternoon?

... Approximately None.