Cutesy McFluffysnuggles

 It was Mom's birthday this past Thursday! She worked for most of her waking hours, like 11+, which was a bummer. In the fleeting time remaining, they managed to squeeze in a tasty takeout dinner and the present-opening, so at least the day ended on a fun note.

Oh, the suspense!

Mom's family sure is generous! What a haul!

A few explanations:

- Mom received a Hermione doll for Christmas. She put the rest of the Harry Potter collection on her wishlist, and this happened. =) At the time she made the list, Ginny was only available in a set with Hermione, hence the duplicate. (Hermione can literally be in 2 places at once, just like in book 3, ha ha.)

- The tiny eyes are to stick on little houseplants. More photos likely to come...

- The book's about Sable Island Horses and has some gorgeous photos.

- That gray thing in the back is a very wrinkled sun hat: it's advertised as being able to be packed very small and came that way. (Seems like a good idea for traveling, right?) Fingers crossed she'll be able to get the wrinkles out.

- "Loctite" is poster putty. Mom has a lot of posters attached this way in her room and the horse room, and it doesn't last forever...

- The new birds are an osprey and a puffin! (Puffins sound a bit like cows - who knew?!)

We didn't play horse games much on her big day: just lassoed a few wilds on HI3 - no standouts - and logged onto Star Stable only long enough to care for the horses. However, that YouTuber knew what she was talking about. The horse bazaar did begin this week, and 2 of the breeds she mentioned are currently discounted there: the Percheron and the Appaloosa.

We like the Percheron but have no particular affinity for the breed. If we were to get one, this would be my choice:

The Appaloosa is my favorite horse breed, for obvious reasons. I'd love our fourth horse to be one of these. 

Unfortunately, my sisters are not as on board. How is this possible? you might ask. Well, it's because Star Stable Appaloosas spend a lot of time looking like they're dozing while idle. They like chill horses, but they're not so wild about ones bordering on narcoleptic.

I even had a name picked out. *Sighs*

So... sadly, the plan is to keep waiting. Hopefully, the YouTuber is right about the remaining breeds that are also going to be part of this bazaar. If so, we may soon be jumping from 3 equines to 5!

I will leave you with some entertaining screenshots from our recent questing.

clogging a giant drain with hay...

... to purposely flood a cellar. 

(Turns out Scout cannot doggie paddle, but he has amazing lung capacity!)

Our first major encounter with Ms. Drake:

It's a shame Clara couldn't keep Cutesy McFluffysnuggles. =) Or read the book she worked so hard to retrieve for a kid NPC.

Later, Clara did get an interview with Ms. Drake. (Part of a larger plan to get info on what GED is up to and hopefully bring it down.)

...the third option, clearly!

Clara was eventually promoted to assistant and has passed along vital info to Herman, owner of Jorvik Stables. (Isn't the uniform great? XD)

Clara also attempted to solve the mystery of some thefts at Moorland Stables, which eventually led to this "Nasty Character." Unfortunately, this also involved her getting knocked out while entering a lighthouse, even while wearing her riding helmet, and Mrs. Holdsworth baking a dangerously spicy pie.

Mysteries continue to abound!

Yes, we do!

Hmm, any ideas?

Clara also helped solve the puzzling case of a missing horse. Not just any horse, but the Baroness's prized eventing horse, Butterfly. Butterfly got swapped with a very nervous look-alike they decided to call "Valiant." At the end of the storyline, Clara and Desertdash chased after the villains responsible for stealing Butterfly, one of whom was Valiant's abusive previous owner.

The car crashes, and the villains are pretty mad! Fortunately, Valiant comes to the rescue!

Aw! I wish it was an option to adopt Valiant! According to the story, he and Butterfly become good friends and get to live together at Silverglade, so I guess we'll be content with that.

And... drumroll... at long last, we got around to continuing the main quest line.

Off we raced to the castle with the Baroness's key!

Free at last!

At least they're not blowing Clara off anymore.

Finally, the latest cute side quest: Ydris the ringmaster was holding auditions. Multiple hopefuls had lined up.

Esben the Knabstrupper was not exactly an instant success, despite Ydris's boundless enthusiasm.

It all worked out in the end, though!

Maybe I should try to get my sisters to set our sights on a Knabstrupper eventually rather than an Appaloosa? They're pretty cool too!