I Wish You a Merry Christmas

Howdy, y'all, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

I am so lucky to have 5 pictures in! Thank you all, your photos are beautiful! 

Chapter Two of A Christmas Blizzard!! 

The wind continued to howl after supper, and into the next day. It was like a huge, monstrous wolf had come to stand over Enterprise, Oregon and howl with all its might at the teeny moon. It was like the breath of that wolf could blow over a thousand pine trees.

Kate and her family anxiously waited the blizzard out. Snow piled up against the house, covering the windows and the door. There was no way to go outside, unless you knocked the snow down. Kate didn’t think Papa or Ruben were that stupid to go out in this storm - that is, until Papa announced he couldn’t stay in the house any longer while his Quarter Horses suffered. He opened the door and knocked down the snow, then the storm swallowed him - literally - and then it swallowed Ruben.

Now Mama was not only worried sick over the horses, but she was now worried awful over Papa and Ruben.

The Christmas tree, decorated with sparkling lights and packages under the bristly branches, offered no cheer. Kate nervously swung her legs back and forth in her chair, wondering if any of her friends were having a jolly time in the storm, or if they were painfully waiting like her family.

Kate’s ears had gotten so used to the loud yell of the wind that she became numb to it. But her heart continued to beat fast, her mind whirled. It had been an hour and Papa and Ruben hadn’t come back.

Kate stood with her back against the hearth, warming up, and watching Mary and Caddy play dolls. Henry tossed toy horses and soldiers around, then went to peek under the tree. Kate sighed deeply and shifted her weight from left foot to right.

Suddenly, Mama straightened. Her brow furrowed and she cocked her ear to the window. “Dear me, do you hear that?”

Kate listened intently. She heard not a thing; no more moaning, no more beating of branches on the roof. Silence!

Gingerly, Jane rose from her chair where she sat reading Sense and Sensibility and threw the drapes open. Light poured into the house through the sleek robe of ice that coated the window. Kate squealed and raced to the door, threw it open, and burst outside.

Smack! The ice was worse than in town. Kate found herself on her backside the moment she had her two feet on the slippery ground. All around her were snow drifts.

Kate, Henry, Caddy, and Mary rushed into the barn and fed the starved horses. Prince nickered gaily and urgently as Kate mucked his filthy stall and gave him hay and grain. She murmured apologizes, then kissed him. “I’m so sorry, Prince Charming,” she mumbled into his mane. “I’m so sorry.”

It was then that Jane walked in, bundled in winter clothes. “What of our father and dear brother?” she asked.

Kate bundled in a heavy coat, a blue scarf, her earmuffs, and gloves before starting the long search in the snow. She and her siblings shouted as they ran from snow drift to snow drift, pasture to pasture. Henry uncovered frozen horses here and there, with the girls sobbing harder each time. Devastation had met their ranch after the snow storm.

Kate and Jane bounded into the pine forest, the one in one of the pasture. The sound of melting snow dropping onto ice or something solid tinkled through the forest. Kate brushed aside heavy branches topped with snow and called Papa’s name. “Thomas Reed!” she shouted. “Ruben! Papa!”

Jane grabbed her wrist, eyes wide with worry and wonder. “The base!” she squeaked. “Remember? It’s big enough for more than a dozen horses and men!”

Kate shook her head. Why hadn’t I thought of that? She and her sister turned left and crashed through the branches. She ran as hard as she could. Her stocking snagged on a log and she fell, face down in snow so cold it froze her cheeks. Numb and shocked, Kate staggered to her feet. Jane was in front of her, brushing aside branches in front of a mound of snowy grass.

Kate jumped to help, ignoring the pain of her hands going numb. She tore at the planks of wood. “Papa!” she screamed.

“Is that you, Kate?” The muffled answer came through the shaft’s boarded doorway.

“It is!” Kate slammed herself against the boards. “Jane, help!” A whinny echoed through the shaft, then more. “How many horses are in there, Papa?”

“Fifteen!” came Ruben’s voice. “Hurry! We’re all hungry and cranky!” As if agreeing, there was a snap and Ruben’s muffled yelp. “Back, Belle, you get back!”

“He was bit by Belle,” Jane giggled, tearing at the ice coating the doorway. Kate stuck her thumb into a crack and bit her tongue. She scrunched her face up and pulled. Snap! “Get back!” Kate shouted. She and Jane jumped back as the boards fell away. Dirt poured down, along with snow and water, then Kate saw the dirty faces of her father and brother and fifteen mares with their foals. She and Jane helped Papa, who was limping, and Ruben, who was fine, out before herding the mares and foals out of the forest and to the fence. Henry and the two youngest sisters led them to the barn, for food and water and warmth, while Ruben and Papa came staggering into the house.

“Thank God you’re safe,” Mama gushed, falling on both and kissing them. Tears sparkled in her eyes. “How in the world did you survive out there?”

“The old war shaft,” Papa croaked. “The mares went in without so much of a complaint or a whinny.”

“It was warmer in there,” Ruben’s teeth chattered. “Rather than suffering through driving the mares back to the barn in the dark, in the snow, and in the wind.”

Kate stuck by her father’s side until he had a good drink, a full belly, and a wrapped leg. She held his hand. “I’m so glad that blizzard is over.”

“Me too,” they all chimed. Henry grabbed a gingerbread cookie and chomped into it. “Yummy.”

“May we go ride?” Caddy asked. “Not only did Snowflake suffer from hunger and no water, her legs are so cramped she needs a ride pronto.”

Kate eagerly turned to her folks.

“I doubt the storm will come back,” Mama said. “What do you think, Tommy?”

Papa shrugged. “Stay close. I don’t want another adventure like this morning’s.”

Kate hugged herself with relief. She had wanted so badly to have a private Christmas Eve ride on Prince and now she had gotten her wish. Spending time inside with a wild blizzard rushing around outside on her first Christmas Eve with her colt seemed horrible.

Kate and her giggling siblings, except Ruben, bundled up and burst back outside. The cold air nipped at Kate’s cheeks and nose, turning them cherry red. But the sun was refreshing and it was a beautiful sparkling day.

Little did Kate know was that when she stepped outside that second time, she wouldn’t step back inside until late Christmas Day night.
Push HERE to read Chapter Three

*** 

Tomorrow I go into the hospital for an out-patient round of chemotherapy. I would appreciate prayers for a slick IV poke, no problems during the infusion, and for a recovery with no fevers. 

Last time I got a fever after returning from the hospital and had to go to the ER on Tuesday at 9:00PM. At 3:00AM Wednesday morning I arrived by ambulance at the hospital in Portland and had to stay until Friday before going home. 

Please pray that WILL NOT happen this time; we all are hoping I can stay home for December and New Years peacefully and without complications. I'd hate to miss New Year's Day celebration. 

        

Thank you all for the prayers, I feel so blessed. 

*** 

The Horse Breed of the Day is . . . the AMERICAN SHETLAND!!! This small, Standard-bred type pony is used for gymkhana, jumping, and trotting races. They are a breed created by breeding Shetlands, Hackney Ponies, Welsh Ponies, and Harness Ponies together. They are slimmer and more athletic than regular Shetlands, with a more slender neck and not such a stocky body. 

They come in nearly all the colors, and can be 10 to 12 hands high. They were bred here in the United States mostly in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa by a man named Eli Elliot. 

The Horse Color of the Day is . . . PALOMINO!!!! The gorgeous color is one of my top favorites. It can be a creamy light gold to a dark, coppery, rich, I-can't-explain-how-golden color. They always have either a flaxen, white, ivory, or blond mane and tail. Palomino and sorrel can get mixed up, but palomino is usually more golden. 

There are also chocolate palominos, a rich chocolate coat with a flaxen or white mane and tail. These are called chocolate taffies, but in the USA they are called silver dapples or chocolate palominos. There are also bay silvers and black silvers, which are practically bay and black horses with white or flaxen manes and tails. 

If you cross a Palomino with a chestnut, you can get the richest golden color of palomino. However, that chance is only 50/50!

And, since it is a special day, I am introducing Saddlebred-Arabian-cross palomino horse, Mister Ed!! 

This is the famous, gorgeous horse of the late 1900s (when our parents were kids or not even born) who played in the show "Mister Ed." Love him! He was originally named Bamboo Harvester (odd, right?) but as he became more popular with the show, they renamed him Mr. Ed. 

His mother was an Arabian cross, his father I think a Saddlebred, and I bet there is Quarter Horse in there somewhere, I could be wrong. 

The show is great, you should definitely look into it!

*** 

I will just put the contest info at the bottom, so it is not lost under all my posts. I will do this until the deadline (January 1).

But today, there is a Breyer Horse Contest I am putting on! 
My email: palominoizzy@gmail.com

Explaining The Model Horse Contest: 

All you have to do is take a picture of your model horse or horses under a Christmas tree, in front of lights, standing in snow, or maybe with Santa Clause. Anything that includes Christmas somehow. Then you will send me your best photo. The deadline are the last days in December. On that day I will post all the pictures. You guys will vote for your favorites (each picture will be numbered and you will say which numbered photo you like best in comment section below) and I'll announce the winner on January 3. Please try to get your picture in by New Years Day. The winner will get either a horse drawing step-by-step book, a Susan K. Marlow book, a Jeanne Birdsall book, a journal, or a horse activity book; winners choice. If you don't have a model, you can always use a stuffed animal horse ;) I've also added that you can send a picture of your real horse, if you own one!!!
Does that make sense? I've changed a lot, I'm sorry.

We have a few contestants for the Competition and two of them have sent their pictures!! Yay! #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5 are in, are there any more?

~Izzy West