A Minor Miracle

 Since my blogging efforts have been bogged down by biting off more than I could chew (three weeks of Florida, hundreds of photos from 5 cameras, hiking birding canoeing), I am trying a much smaller subject.  I've just completed a week of dusting my entire herd -- deep cleaning, rearranging, sorting out sales pieces, cleaning and repairing shelves, documenting lost entries -- and in the process, a minor miracle happened.  I found Rigel's lost horn.

We last saw him on December 13, when I posted this forlorn portrait to my FaceBook:

 At that time this little Rigel unicorn did not have a personal herd name.  Since then, he's acquired not only a name but parents.  Uffington pretty much had to be the sire, in my herd named Albedo;  the dam's choice came to rest on the satin cremello 'Girls Rule the World' Winx/Emerson, in my herd named Kiss Away.  They all three have those Breyer cremello blue eyes.  His name comes from a 9-book science fiction series by James S. A. Corey, the Expanse:  "Zehatan"  from Expanse #8, Tiamat's Wrath.  It's a country in a new galaxy (one of 1373 such, though not all are named).  I refer you to exhaustive science fiction series for a ton of names -- !

So I came home from Florida and dragged myself into dusting the whole herd, something that hadn't happened in at least 8 years and probably more.  The glitter in their dust, PearlEx accumulating from 5 NaMoPaiMos, had been bothering me more and more.  The stuff is toxic.  I put on a mask and ran the air filter.  Shelf by shelf, I took off the scarves and ribbons lining them, shook my head at the damage (one shelf had rusted and took some sanding) and went at it.  These 3 photos show how I moved through the job, starting at the uppermost left and going top to bottom.

 Above and below taken March 21. 

This last shot, near the end, was taken March 25.  There are 2 shelves hidden from view at the bottoms.  For all my trying, only a little shelf space was gained.  :(  You can spot the Rigel foal, fourth in from the lowest right corner, beyond Vail, Winter Wonderland and the Stone Irish Draft.  He is next to the cremello Winx.  When he fell, he hit the electric register below (see next pic).

 So much for biting off more than I could chew!!  I guess I needed some deep spring cleaning;  and the horses have always been the first and best recipients of my intentions.  I had forgotten about Zehatan's missing horn tip, and was completely astounded when I spotted it lying on the carpet, next to the air conditioner I keep down there.

(What?! You don't keep spare air conditioners on the floor of the tack room?) 

 I can only guess that his original accident ricocheted the tip onto a higher shelf, and when I pulled the scarf off, I flipped it onto the floor.  Maybe I just dislodged it from where it had been hiding;  air conditioners (never mind all the other junk!) have lots of hiding places.  Miracle indeed.

I laid out the tools and supplies needed for repairing one unicorn horn on March 27.  The tip is in the faience bowl, the spool stainless steel wire is for the pin, the blue case holds drill bits, the orange tube is my old Ambroid glue (at least 30 years old by now but still good) and the pin vise has its own braided leather handle.

 In the process, I changed my mind.  The gauge of the pin went from 28 to 25 and it got a lot shorter.  I couldn't drill very deep and had to content myself with ramming it into place by hand, before gluing.

 This final portrait is brought to you by my magnifying glass.  I love how his ears appear.  A unicorn should have shaggy ears, or perhaps we could say fluffy?  This is truly my herd's only unicorn, so we have just the one data point.  Yes, the lines show where I glued on his chip, but I'm so happy to have him whole again and I truly don't mind.

 Good luck to all who are trying to mend broken things, cleaning what needs cleaning and sanding off the rust.