My name is Emily Jenkins, and I am a horse addict.

Oh God. I have a problem… or at least… I’m pretty sure I do.
Granted, I’m building up my business, and it continues to grow and prosper.
I currently have 9 leasers, and 7 horses, and it’s January in Michigan. I’m almost positive I’ll get another 2 or 3 leasers come summer.
I know that to keep my horses’ work level down, I will have to buy another horse some time before camp starts. It’s a fact that I’ve come to embrace, and I think that I can handle it both financially and time-wise, especially as camp season comes closer… and closer.
It’s funny, I think that people hear I have seven horses and assume that I keep them around for kicks. Like one horse isn’t enough for me, personally, so I just buy another one and another one until I find the perfect one.
The thing is, right now I have every single horse working full-time in my lesson program. There’s not a single horse, other than Ffiona (who is still in training and is pretty much “my” horse) who doesn’t tote their own weight, and then some, and it’s not even the on-season for riding lessons!
My question is… how big can I make this entrepreneurial adventure before it’s gravitational pull causes it to implode?
Okay, I’m pretty sure I’d just suddenly find myself stretched for money, and I’d have to sell a horse or two… Not really implosion. I just don’t know how much farther to take this.
I’m pretty sure once the weather picks up again that I’m going to be getting at least 6 students back, as well as all of the students that I’ll pick up from the camp this summer (last year it was 6 or 7, and I technically still have a waiting list, but they’re all younger kids who aren’t ready to ride in 8 degree weather.)
Pah…
I’m just ranting… Yeesh. I’m done.

—-
edit: okay. I’m not done. Then there’s the fact that supposedly Kay is going to be moving back to the area to start teaching some, and that she’d need horses to teach on, when she gets students…
Ugh.
I… don’t know where I’m going with this.
Or.. I’m not willing to say that I do.

 

Drawring

I spent this evening trying to focus steadily on drawing for the first time in a verrrry long time. It’s been several months, if not years, since I’ve had the kind of attention span that’d let me sit and draw for hours. 

The first is a Lazuli Bunting. I’ve always wanted to be able to draw birds, and I’ve always had the hardest time. I found that since I’ve started taxidermy I understand their bodies so much more thoroughly. I understand what is really going on under those feathers to make them shift in direction… muscular and skeletal reference does wonders, apparently. I labeled it using Spencerian cursive referenced from my new book (See the previous entry for my latest impulse buy…)

The second (actually drawn first) is a long-eared jackrabbit- a favorite subject of mine. I got the reference from google images. Upon uploading this image, I realized I recognized the rabbit. I immediately dashed into the bedroom and grabbed the first issue of Mouse Guard: Winter 1152. There, in the back, is the beautiful pinup drawn by Geof Darrow, of a mouse riding a large rabbit… The rabbit is so similarly positioned to the one that I managed to find online that I have to think maybe we were drawing from the same source. Made me chuckle a little bit. I changed a few things to my rabbit, to help him fit on the page (hence the ridiculously bent ears… hah)

I am sorry about the cruddy pictures. I don’t have a scanner right now, and it’s tough to successfully photograph things in a livingroom with scattered lighting.

Right. That’s it for now. I’m tired of drawring.

 

Impulse Buy

I just totally made an impulse buy. I’ve been toying around with the idea of taking up calligraphy for a while. I don’t really have any interest in the really old and intricate forms of calligraphy. I really just want to learn Spencerian script (or Palmer, but Spencerian is more accessible.)

Example of Spencerian script

I hopped on amazon and discovered “Spencerian Penmanship” by Platt Rogers Spencer. This is the original manual given to 2nd and 3rd graders in the mid-1800’s. It’s reprinted by a small print press in Fenton, MI. I had to buy it. Just Had to.

 
It also comes with five “copybooks” or work books. WooHoo!

Yes, I know I’m a dork.

 

Madam Merganser

Found myself feeling stircrazy and bored this afternoon. In fact, I was stircrazy and bored the moment I opened my eyes this morning. Not sure why. 

I decided it was high time to work on a project i’d been meaning to get to. I’ve got a whole series planned. Worrisome Waterfowl? Maybe not… 

I’ll update as I finish more. This is .. Madam Martine Mergansèr.

Madam Martine Malevoline Mergansèr was born sometime in June of the year 1773, during the reign of French queen, Marie Antoinette. Throughout her youth, she was often seen in high court, decked in jewels and she was known for her incredibly sinuous manner through which she quickly gained status. Upon the emergence of the French revolution, she became deeply entwined in Jacobian conspiracy, and became spy for the Monarchy. She was quickly discovered by the new republic, and was put to death in 1793, at the foot of the corpse of Louis XVI.

I’ve got a another one started, and several others flitting about in my imagination. Hah. 

Also, I finished stuffing Frederick the Mole, last night. My student Ellen gave him to me after a group of girls found him in the back of a horse stall. I have to say, there’s not much you can do when stuffing a mole. Even the live ones look all lumpy and pillowlike. Hah.

I’ll post photos of him some time. For now, I’m off.

 

Finished photos of stuff(ed things)

Right. So I hope I’m not offending or freaking anyone out with all this. I don’t kill things for taxidermy, and I’m not a serial killer. Promise.

Here’s a finished photo of the squirrel I worked on as mentioned two days ago…  I really think she looks irritated. I had to position her in a non-traditional way since I sculpted a bodyform  that was too long and thin for anything else. She looks like she smells something gross. At some point, I’ll find something interesting to have her eating or chewing on. She has a bit of cotton strapped to her nose because for whatever reason her hair was sticking up strangely there. 

Of course, I can’t take much credit for how realistic she looks, yet. I have to let her dry fully before getting a big head about how nice my first mammal turned out.

Here’s a photo of an eastern cottontail rabbit that I finished yesterday. When I picked her up, she had two broken legs. In fact, the legs had been broken nearly off. She’d been hit by a car. I had to taxidermy her without hind feet, and I’m drying her feet separately to reattach later. Just a little tidbit there. Haha.

 

A Quick Back Post: The best Christmas gift

I received a phone call from Jeremy the other day while I was at the barn. I was just finishing up the Secret Santa gift exchange get-together with my students and Katy Miller (who was in town from Georgia) and I’d made plans to go out with Miller afterwards. Jeremy told me I had to reschedule my plans and come home. Hmm… Odd. He said it was a surprize and he couldn’t tell me why I had to come home. 

I HATE SURPRISES. Hah.

When I got home, I found Dan Szpara and Hazuki Shirota, both good friends of mine, sitting in my living room. Dan had come in from Japan and thought he’d surprise the hell out of me by dropping by unannounced. (Note: YES I hate surprises, which resulted in a number of curse words and loud nasty exclamations rather than your typical “Hi-How are ye?”)

Dan and Hazuki, and Jeremy and I went out to sidetracks for some great food, great drinks and great talk. It was so… great. I honestly can’t have asked for anything better to finish up the holiday season. I’m still in shock, despite the fact that Dan is already back in Japan, and Hazuki is back in Boston.

 

New Stuff (or… Newly Stuffed)

Jeremy snapped a couple of shots last night of me working on a squirrel (shortly after I photographed him working on a page.) Last night was the first time I’d ever worked on a squirrel (or a mammal, for that matter) and WOW was it easy. After working with thin-skinned birds for some time, switching to a thickly skinned squirrel was very simple. I could tug, and squish and smoosh things around without worrying much about damaging the final product. 

I’ve posted a couple of shots below. I made the squirrel a bit long and thin, so I ended up stuffing her a bit more, post stitches, and I tried to pose her in a realistic gesture, while also covering up the parts that I messed up. 

There is a bit of gore, but Jeremy was good at keeping it friendly. I’m always surprised how little blood is involved in taxidermy. This little lady was a bit more bloody than usual since she had blood pooled in her skull from being hit by the car that killed her. 

I know the candles are creepy… dissecting squirrels and burning candles seem like fodder for a horror movie, or a bad ritualistic cliche, but really the sandlewood candles helped keep my head clear in moments when I was struck by the smell of flesh. It doesn’t stink, I just don’t like it much.

 

I don’t have any photos of the finished mount, but these’ll have to do for now! This last shot is just after I had completed resculpting the damaged skull, set the eyes and pulled the skin back into place. I’m really happy with how her eyes turned out, especially since I used ceramic beads ($.10 ea) rather than taxidermy eyes ($4.30 ea). I like the slight variation the ceramic beads give me, because they come in strings that vary from black to brown, so I can choose which color eyes to use and I have a much more subtle range of colors than those offered commercially by Van Dykes.

 

Chill Chill Chilly

Wow it’s cold out there! I just checked Weather.com and found a beautiful display of the wind chills for today. 

Note that we’re in the grey area of Michigan, implying wind chills of -15 to -20 degrees. We managed a whomping -17 yesterday. I’m hoping for warmer today, as I’m supposed to be teaching at 4:00. Yikes!

Of course, I’m mostly alright with this weather. I love the cold. It’s not until the negative double digits that I really start to feel it in my core. My students, however, are peanuts with very little tolerance for cold. Maybe I can bribe them with hot cocoa…. Hmm…. I bet I can!

*Note to self. Buy large thermos, fill with hot water, bring cups and hot cocoa mix.

 

 Merry Merry Merry. I woke this morning to 8 or so inches of snow (last night’s 5 on Tuesday’s 3) and I can’t help but be in the Christmas spirit. I went shopping yesterday to get various baking ingredients, only to find that I forgot to pick up waxed paper, thus halting all of my holiday baking plans. Poop. Of course now it’s white-outing outside and I’m debating whether or not it’s worth it to venture out into the snow for waxed paper. 

Actually, the traffic along Cross is flying, so I’m assuming the main roads aren’t bad. Either that or Ypsilanti is plagued by overconfident winter drivers. Hah. 

I’m sitting around in my long johns listening to Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas cds. I can’t think of a better collection of Christmas songs. Wow. You can visit the Asthmatic Kitty Christmas web site to listen to them via streaming audio. Okay some of them are a little… silly… but many of them are wonderful arrangements of traditional songs. 

I suppose I’m going to venture out for waxed paper, so I can Christmas the hell up.

 

Connor’s Bootie

Jeremy brought Connor in this evening and suddenly cried out in alarm. I came out of the bedroom to find Connor holding his paw up, covered in blood. He’d torn his toenail right from the quick, and had a little nub of flesh poking out from various shards of toenail and fur. Ouch! Of course this couldn’t have happened on a less stressful night… We’re getting ready for the horse show that I personally am putting on tomorrow. Wowza. What a lot of work.

I ended up running out to walgreens (with hands covered in blood, without thinking… HAHA ew) to buy some betadine and wrap (both of which I have well stocked out at the barn.. heh) and I washed and bandaged his little paw up. He was so brave as I cut the remains of his tonail off. 

I decided to make him a little boot to cover the foot. It only took two scolds for him to leave it alone. I’m hoping it won’t get infected… the less vet bills the best. Whew.

While clipping the hair and nail away from the bloody quick, I couldn’t help but feel utterly right… doing something to help an animal in need. One of the most prominent constants in my life has been the desire to help animals. I’m really considering vet school, I’m just so put off by the cost. It just felt so right, tonight.

Oh, I should post a couple of photos to keep you updated. 

 

These were our halloween pumpkins. Mine is the larger of the two… I was carving the pumpkin the night Lyra collicked. I had dashed from the art attack, leaving pumpkin guts on the floor to tend for my horse. Damned animals and their poor timing.

 

Oh, and here’s Jeremy in a hat borrowed from Katie Cook. Hahaha.