Unicorn Piñata

‘A piñata (/pɪnˈjɑːtə/Spanish pronunciation: [piˈɲata] (listen)) is a container, often made of papier-mâchépottery, or cloth, that is decorated, filled with candy, and then broken as part of a celebration. Piñatas are commonly associated with Mexico. The idea of breaking a container filled with treats came to Europe in the 14th century, where the name, from the Italianpignatta, was introduced. The Spanish brought the European tradition to Mexico, although there were similar traditions in Mesoamerica, such as the Aztecs’ honoring the birthday of the god Huītzilōpōchtli in mid-December. According to local records, the Mexican piñata tradition began in the town of Acolman, just north of Mexico City, where piñatas were introduced for catechism purposes as well as to co-opt the Huitzilopochtli ceremony. Today, the piñata is still part of Mexican culture, the cultures of other countries in Latin America, as well as the United States, but it has mostly lost its religious character.’ (Wikipedia)

During her stay here, Tess, for an upcoming birthday party, has produced this unicorn piñata using balloons, capable of being burst by boys with sharp implements, as containers for the papier-maché body trimmed with castellated slices of scrap paper; coloured tissue strips; and a twisted card horn.

It was a delicate operation for Tess to place her creation safely in the car.

This afternoon we led the family on a pony and donkey hunt.

At the top of Holmsley Passage we stopped for a foal and other ponies among the bracken and the heather.

We did encounter one baby donkey trotting with its mother along the road at South Gorley, but by the time we managed to park the cars it was long gone.

In fact the traffic, especially along the narrow lanes, was so congested as to make the trip somewhat abortive, until it was rescued by a trip to Hockey’s Farm Shop for ice cream and fun with the livestock of this establishment, where Poppy was pleased to

stroke a donkey;

see lamas;

pigs at trough;

geese blending with buddleia;

a horse attending to pedicure;

and especially chickens.

We parted at Hockey’s and each made our ways home.

This evening Jackie and I dined on chicken marinaded in Nando’s lemon and lime sauce; her own savoury rice, and fresh salad, with which she drank more of the Sauvignon Blanc and I drank more of the Douro.

69 comments

  1. I can hardly wait til we get a chance to go on a pony and donkey search with you! I love that pinata… so carefully crafted! Derrick, would you e-mail me, please, so we can exchange privately some plans for that last week in September? bobjanbeek@icloud.com <3

  2. So many cute animals! I have participated in smashing a Pinata, it’s still a thing here. In Las Vegas, you hear plenty of Spanish speakers as there are lots of Hispanic people here.

  3. It sounds like a lovely day–all those animals and ice cream.
    The piñata is creative and clever. They were the thing here for a while for our kids’ birthdays, but we bought them. ?

  4. What a lovely final day for you all.

    Now to the image freezing gallery issue that is affecting some of us who use the Apple Safari browser.
    Jackie, hope you read this.

    Do One of the following. I chose the first option and I’m pleased to say the fix worked, however, WP couldn’t explain why this issue should affect just some of us and at exactly the same time.

    1. GALLERY FIX – Clear the cookies but KEEP your history, GO TO to Setting > Safari > Advanced > Website Data, then tap Remove All Website Data.

    2. To CLEAR your history and cookies, go to Settings > Safari, and tap Clear History and Website Data. …

    This was successful for me.

    1. Dear Sue, I am viewing on ‘Windows’, not Apple. I’m afraid I am not computer savvie enough to cope with clearing cookies and history on this system. (not even sure what that means) Looks like I’m doomed. Wish they would think of us oldies when they change things.

      1. You don’t need to do anything with your computer.

        If Jackie or anyone else is having problems if they used a different browser to view your site it would probably offer a temporary fix.

        I still have an open dialogue with WP so I will pass it on, I’m assuming Jackie is a follower of you but doesn’t have a WordPress account? Which browser is she using?

          1. The problem isn’t confined to your site. I had the same problem with Andrew’s site and I’ve heard about others who are having the same issue elsewhere.

  5. Looks like your hunt was successful! 😉 🙂
    YAY for all of the animals Poppy got to see and interact with! 🙂
    Growing up approximately 115 km from Mexico, piñatas were part of many of our celebrations! 🙂
    Tess’ piñata is so beautiful and fun! 🙂
    (((HUGS))) 🙂
    ? ? ?

  6. It’s a very pretty unicorn. The pinatas we bought for our children’s birthday parties were very hard to break into. The boys were getting violent, so we generally had to help things along. I hope this unicorn is easier.

  7. There’s nothing more fun than a piñata. They’re not so common in my town, but when I lived in south Texas they always were part of birthdays and Christmas celebrations. Llamas and stars were especially popular.

  8. My children first encountered a piñata through some British friends when we were living in the then Bophuthatswana – a new concept for us all. Since then my grandchildren have come across a few more at birthday parties. All are home made for I don’t think one can purchase them here. This unicorn one looks like a work of art.

  9. That’s a splendid piñata! The candy was inserted through the neck of a balloon; then the balloon was inflated to create the body? I agree with Sherry about the geese in the photo. They’re so lovely and white.

  10. pinatas were always a part of my kids birthday celebrations. they loved it! what a great outing you had and saw lots of animals. love the lamas 🙂

  11. We found a lot of beautiful piñatas when we lived in Chile. These days the piñata has gained popularity all over the world it seems. Even in India kids’ b’day parties are incomplete without the piñata! I love the innovative balloon piñata… I must try to make one.

    1. Thanks a lot, Tootlepedal. I appreciate that, especially as the problem seems to have no reason – another of their fixing stuff that wasn’t broke games I suspect.

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