Lots of things going on. We're planning trips and we're deciding what 'stuff' needs to come to Florida with us in the Fall - trying to pare down our possessions. 




One of my all time favorite things - is one of my first rides. The first picture here is of me sharing the ride with my cousin, Anita.

It is my rocking horse : Black Beauty. It is a real wooden horse that my grandfather removed from a carousel that was on fire. The story is that he was passing by, saw it burning and asked, 'If I can get one of the horses off, may I have it?'  When told he could, Grandpa took his ax from under the seat in his wagon and chopped off the pole. He then had the rockers made and used a large piece of iron to attach the horse to the rockers.

Over the years (and miles) the wood has dried out and in our move to PA, Beauty suffered a broken left rear leg. We discovered this summer a man who does excellent restoration work - it is impossible to tell where the led was 'snapped off' !

The paint is old, but not original. Beauty had been painted several times by my mother so we are faced with the option of doing some kind of $$$ restoration; cleaning and painting ourselves (I had thought of using airbrushing to make it a smooth surface); or leaving it as is - just using some kind of 'furniture oil' to add to the drying paint.


MY RIDE:

I deleted some of the background clutter - and the saddle is not original - my mother found it and put it on for some of the kids in the neighborhood to use years ago.
How old is it?  i don't really know but - - - it is at least 60 years old cause I had it when I was 5 !