And the saga continues

[dancinghorse]

I am crazed, I tell you--crazed.

Finished the Christmas shopping today.  I think.  I strafed the Fourth Avenue Street Fair--in and out in an hour, including stops for gifts and a pause for frybread with honey.  Must have have frybread.  It's required.  I almost fell into Fair mode, which is leisurely and takes hours, but I had too much else to do.  It was beautiful weather for it, and half of Tucson was there--temps in the 70s, clear and sunny, what we call Chamber of Commerce weather.   Quite a contrast with the past month.

However I had to rush through, then run errands, make PO run, etc.  And get back in time to feed horses lunch.  After that I went thud for a bit, then fed horses dinner, then finished cleaning the guestroom closet and mostly finished excavating the office.  Still left to do: set up shelving system (my dad is coming over with tools for that tomorrow--one of today's errands was to Home Depot for missing hardware), sort and stow all the old mss. and research materials (books were sorted and stowed yesterday), then, like, clean the place.  Then decorate for Christmas.  We have a real tree, so that gets put up as close to the date as possible.

This coming week I'm hoping to get some time off.  I've been working so hard, writing is starting to seem appealing again.

I am working on minimizing holiday hysteria.  We'll see if I succeed. 

I got an odd message today: Total stranger asking me to help sell a horse I've never heard of, whom she bought from someone I've never heard of.  She was convinced I had trained this horse and sold it for its owner.  I don't know how she came up with that--if he'd been a Lipp it might have made some sort of sense, but a TB?  Capria kills them on sight.

If anyone's looking for a 6yo bay TB, 17.1, very gentle, has done a little dressage, likes to jump, seller will pay shipping back to Arizona or somewhere else warm and dry (he is not doing well in the mud and snow of upstate NY), asking $5500, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the seller. 

We're planning a Joni clinic for January 8th and 9th--lady from Austin is bringing her Lipp (Marita's full sister, no less) and possibly a friend, and we're foregathering to ride, schmooze, and play with ponies.  Joni clinics are fun--we haven't done one in a while.  We lay on a buffet spread--potluck with bells on--and rig up the camcorder and people come and ride and train, and some stay overnight with horses, and Saturday night there's dinner for everybody who wants to stay over.  A whole weekend of horses, and this time, all or mostly Lipizzans.  We Like.

Meanwhile I am reading proofs for my Alternate Generals story, written years ago and finally making it to press--Baen, April 2005.  The story is rather Out There, and it's all Harry Turtledove's fault.  He would make a passing reference to Genghis Khan the Jewish Mongol.

In Xanadu did Solomon Khan/The Temple of the Lord decree....

Bad Harry.  Bad, bad Harry.

Comments

[sfmarty.livejournal.com]

the fair sounds like fun. I don't start getting in the Christmas mood for a few weeks yet. Too much work. The testing will be over on the 22nd.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Just one more week, then.

And after that...Tucson?

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Mmm, frybread.

[maryosmanski.livejournal.com]

What is frybread?

(I suspect if I saw it, I would know what it is by some other name.)

What is frybread....

[casacorona.livejournal.com]

It is a light, unsweetened, bread dough (sopapilla dough, I think, without the sugar), which is worked into a large flat round. That round is then dropped into a deep-fryer. The bread puffs up and turns golden brown. It's eaten hot, with Things on it. I like it with honey drizzled all over it. It's also excellent with shredded cheese sprinkled on. Some like powdered sugar and cinnamon. Yet others put taco fixings -- chili, cheese, lettuce. They call that a Navajo taco.

Frybread is absolutely disgusting when it's cold or more than a few minutes old.

Re: What is frybread....

[cremona86.livejournal.com]

Ahh... Fried dough...That is what us new englanders call it.

Re: What is frybread....

[maryosmanski.livejournal.com]

Ah! Funnel cake.

That's what I suspected it would turn out to be.

Re: What is frybread....

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

It's lighter than fried dough and not quite as rich as funnel cake, but it is in the same continuum. A true wonder of taste is blue corn frybread with beans, lettuce, salsa, and cheese. Heaven.

total stranger

[therowdyblues.livejournal.com]

I don't have a horse to sell dang it. Just wanted to say hi and thanks for all the horsey news. I'm still living vicariously through you. I am so missing the 70 degree weather. We spent Thanksgiving down there with Grandma-in-law and it was so nice. I can't say that it was beautiful (everythings so brown) but it was nice to wear a jacket and be able to breath in the nice warm air. I guess things are pretty brown here (Kansas) too but they are in Green Valley so I guess I thought there would be some green somewhere. Guess there's pretty much no chance of you guys going out and chopping down your down tree anywhere huh? Grandma just decorated thier cactus out front. Much easier than hauling in the real tree but you must becareful to not get to hasty when putting on the lights. ha ha. Anyway, have a very merry holiday season. Thank you for entertaining me. I love having books written by someone whos just as horse crazy as I am. You know whats important and its always how good the horse is and not how big the mans muscles are. ha ha.

Seasons Greetings,
Kelli

Re: total stranger

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Hi, there! Nice to see you here. :)

I think the Southwest is beautiful in its own way--its starkness is the beauty. Greenery looks overwrought and out of place here, and lawns are too bright and unnatural-looking.

I saw a saguaro skeleton tonight with old-fashioned big multicolored lights wound around it. Very typical. And there are rows of luminarias along people's driveways. I love the traditional New England white Christmas--growing up in Maine, I got a lot of them--but the Southwestern Christmas, with its different traditions, is just as wonderful.