Rocking hippo

My dad made Anika a rocking hippo. Yes, a hippo not a horse or a moose. I asked for a hippo and he delivered.  He carved it out of a log and added the rocking parts after. Every time we would go to my parents house (every 2-3 weeks) I would check out his progress. He started it before Anika was born and finished it before she turned 6 months old.

 

My dad liked the process if making things from wood. He liked to look at the wood and see what it had in mind for itself. He was a very talented man.  What he did not like was the finishing of a project. When it was finished it had to be perfect - which could take months to years of taking a little off here and sanding a bit there. So finishing became my job.

beeswax finish

I used a beeswax finish to keep the dirt off and give it a nice warm tone. It was not as difficult to make as I thought.  (Which is good because my dad also made Anika enough blocks to fill a 5 gallon bucket - which I need to finish.) Anika had no where to hold onto, hence a saddle needed to be made.  I picked up an issue of Mother Earth News hoping to see what a saddle should look like - no saddles but a lot of chicken coops.  So I guessed.  I used some great scrap fabric I had from Hannah Johnson Fabrics in Duluth and a few belts I found at the Goodwill in Ely.  

Ani just looks at it. She has been on it once and hopped off at her first chance. I think I will move it to the living room and we can take turns riding it while watching some African documentary.