Morning

Good morning - it's a beautiful one out there today.

The weekend flew by as normal - shopping, taxi service for the kids, gardening, fish-pond-pump cleaning, chicken mucking-out, roast dinner, dogs, cleaning, washing, tidying, ironing... You get the picture.

Also decided that I need to lose some weight - so I am loosely following the Slimming World plan from today. I have lost weight with them before, and it's quite a good one for me to follow. We have agreed that we are cutting down on what we drink too - that should help.

I have been doing some photo work too - and have updated my other blog My Corner of Norfolk as I've been going along. More of that to do today, including photographing some daffodils.

This week I want to go to the garden centre for a coupe of clematis plants, I have to stay in tomorrow waiting for a parcel so I shall do some photo work then, riding on Wednesday and the weather is set to be lovely so we should be on a hack again, Thursday and Friday are free at the moment, although I want to go to the city one day.

Right - need to do something so I don't raid the kitchen for food!

Ho hum

You know yesterday's pile of ironing? It's still there, but it's grown.....

It's been a beautiful day today - really warm and lots of bird twittering in the background. Very spring-like. I have been looking at my photo work, and the projects I should be doing at the moment. They are all to do with colour, and I really must get my arse in gear and buy some flowers to photograph so that I can progress a bit more with it all. I know what I want to do, so now I should really get on with it... And with the ironing.....

Photos from Sweden

As promised...



This is the Wasa which sank in the 1600's and was raised again in 1961. The darker wood is all original. Well worth a look if you are in Stockholm - fascinating story.






Frozen lake at Arvika. All the lakes and many rivers were frozen over, at the airfield they said that two weeks earlier they had been landing on the ice, but now it isn't strong enough to do that. I didn't ask how they had found out.....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Busy weekend

Not checked in here for a few days, but I do have an excuse! Last Friday, my husband and I flew to Sweden for the weekend. I have mentioned before that he is a pilot, and he has been looking for aaaages for a motor glider. When I first met the husband, he flew gliders as his hobby, having learnt to fly them in the ATC. A few years ago he got his PPL and since then has mainly flown power. But he has always wanted a motor glider which gives the best of both worlds. And he managed to find a nice looking one which was based in Sweden. So, after much planning, we went away for the weekend, with an arrangement in place to see the plane on the Sunday. So we went to Stockholm on the Friday and stayed over on Saturday too to do some sight-seeing. We saw the Wasa, which is a 300+ year old oak warship which sank on its maiden journey after just 20 minutes. Three hundred years later it was found in the harbour and it was eventually raised on 24 April 1961. Since then it has been conserved and restored and is 95% original and a spectacular sight. So much so that we spent over 4 hours in the museum!
On the Sunday we got the train to Arvika where we were met by two men from the airfield who took us over to see the plane. The airfield is in stunning surroundings, the lakes were all frozen over, the skies were blue and the sun was shining. Perfect. Husband crawled all over the plane and then flew it, and loved it. Deal done, hands shaken, and back to the 1970's in the form of our hotel for the night. Not quite as plush as the one in Stockholm, this was faux-Roman with colonnades and painted marble effects. Hmmmmmmmm!
Back to Vasteras airport via train on the Monday and home again.

I do have some photos and I will pop them on here shortly.

No.1 son has collected his car, bought from his aunt, and is happily driving it on L plates with husband in the passenger seat. He is made up of course!

No.2 son spent most of the weekend at the stables, not a bad life eh?

And I was up there today for a hack. On Pampa this time and in a western saddle which was lovely and comfy (like an armchair) although my jumper kept getting caught on the horn. It was a beautiful morning with blue skies, and we saw deer in the fields. Can't get much better ways to spend a Wednesday morning than that, surely. Lots of trotting, and some long canters with no brakes! I abso-flipping-lutely loved it.

And now I'm back home drinking tea and looking at the pile of ironing that needs to be done... It really needs to be done...

Success

Well I woke up very apprehensive about today's riding lesson. Last week I couldn't get to grips with canter at all. Trotting was fine, but canter - nooooooo. So I arrived at the yard full of nerves, I just wanted to ride well.

Bev had decided that I'd ride Lara today - I love that horse. She is bouncy in trot, much more bouncy than Murphy, but it seems to suit me. Even sitting trot on her is really comfy. Bev had us doing all sorts of trotting, including her own invention : 10-1 trot. This is doing each of the four trots (rising, sitting, standing and light-seat) for 10 counts each, then 9, then 8 and so on down to one beat of each. Absolutely knackering. And yes, I did say standing trot. Now standing trot was a challenge, but as I went through the reps my balance slowly came and by then end I was (fairly) comfortably doing it all (with just a few collapses back into the saddle as my core strength is non-existent).

Then straight into a right rein canter - no time to think - and she is so very comfy in canter. The canter didn't last long before we went to trot, and I found out that her downward transitions are pretty immediate. So position and balance are crucial. Left rein canter was fab - 3 maybe 4 laps of the school. So pleased.

Lara is a star.

So my next lesson is next Wednesday, and Bev has said that if the weather is ok we will hack out for a long straight canter, and in a Western saddle. Yay...

The Weekend

We had a lovely weekend. The weather has suddenly turned warm and we took full advantage of it.
On Saturday we flew down to a friend's house as my husband needed to speak to him about the motor-glider he is hoping to buy. It was lovely flying down and dropping in on him, even if he was just on his way out and not able to chat that day ! We will have to go again soon!




This is the Chipmunk we flew in. Lovely.
Then on Sunday, we took the dogs to the beach at Caister. We hadn't been there before, but there was a fab big car park right next to the Lifeboat Station which made parking and getting the dogs out nice and easy.
The beach was lovely, soft sand and a few pebbles. The dogs had a great time chasing up and down the beach and into the sea chasing seagulls.




Look at the shadows in the photo - and that is in March!!!!! The dogs have been snoring ever since we left the beach, and the smell of wet Labrador is wafting through the house as I type!
A lovely roast dinner topped off a great weekend.
This week, I have another riding lesson, and I also need to go into the City to collect my new glasses. I also want to go through my clothes and have a Big Sort Out. Spring is definitely in the air...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Waiting in..

...for a new mattress to be delivered. Our current mattress is nearly 10 years old and has been to New Zealand and back with us, in a container! It's saggy and has lost its support. A bit like me then...

I'm feeling a bit low today - it's the first anniversary of an event I'd rather forget if possible, but realistically I know there is no chance of that, so it'll be a day that I get through from now on.

Need to put the kettle on I think. Nice mug of coffee. That'll help...

Cantering is my Nemesis

OK - so I'm having problems with my canter...... I was on Murphy this morning, and did loads of trotting with 5m lops and stuff and keeping him on the track, and it was all going fine. Legs ok, hands ok, body position was fine. Then I had to canter. On the right rein it wasn't too bad, I did a few circuits of the school, but I did feel a bit like he knew what he had to do without me asking. I tried to concentrate on keeping in a good position and keeping my hands still. Then I had to change rein and it all went a bit pear shaped! His left rein is his less flexible side, and I struggled to get him into canter, and when he did I felt really, really unbalanced. My hands went up, my bum when down as his back came up, my legs were, well, I'm not entirely sure what they did, and there was quite a bit of daylight between my bum and the saddle. I got off, Bev got on, they showed me how it should be done. Ho hum.

I'm back there on Tuesday and I WILL crack it.

In other news, younger son is off school poorly today, but I think he's ok - just a bit under the weather. Older son has secured an apprenticeship starting on Monday. We are all very pleased for him. It'll be a shock to his system having to get up and out by 8am each day !

Still no luck

Still haven't got any further with getting a job. Will keep on trying...

Off to get some jodhpurs in a mo - I have only one pair as I was waiting to make sure I got on ok before I bought any more. I'm hoping to go up to the stables this evening when my son gets back from school and we can go in the indoor school together.

I must get going - I'm beginning to slip back into the habit of doing not a lot. Not a good place for me to be...

LATER.....

Ok so it's about 4 hours later and I did go out and buy some jodhpurs :) Nice chocolate brown ones which seem very comfortable.

Son got home from school and said he didn't want to go to the stables, and that I should go on my own, which is probably true. But I haven't tacked up completely on my own and I just wanted him to watch me and make sure I was doing it right. Not got a lot of confidence at the moment, again...... So I have just got on with getting dinner ready for them and I hope that I'm feeling a bit more confident tomorrow.

No joy so far

on the job front. I have applied for several and have been phoning and chasing, and as promising as they may seem, it's all leading no-where at the moment.

The weekend was good - busy. We dropped our younger son at the stables on Saturday morning and then carried on into the city. I needed an eye-test and found that my prescription has altered. So I have two pairs of glasses on order now.

Yesterday the weather turned foul - wind, rain, sleet and snow. And it was cold. We went to Old Buckenham airfield to see someone my husband needed to talk to, and then headed home! Not a day to be out.....

I've not ridden today, the weather has continued to be horrible. I am planning to ride in the indoor school tomorrow if it is free.

I have just got back from the dentist tho with the kids. No treatment needed for any of us, and see you again in 6 months! Lovely.

Plans for this week? Well I want to ride a couple of times before my next lesson which is on Thursday. I have a mountain of ironing to do, and some washing too. And I could really do with getting on with some proper photography for my OCA course. And try and nail a job would be good too.....

Another hack

As planned, I went up to the stables to meet Frankie for a hack. She was there when I arrived and we got the horses tacked up and set out " on the quiet road". Quiet? Loads of traffic, and vans, and a bus, another horse, some chickens, several cockerels, dogs, people, cars reversing, kids in a playschool running out to see the horses......... Lara, bless her, took it all in her stride, and when I asked her for a trot so we could go by the bus that had pulled in for us, she gave me the smoothest trot I could have wished for, especially as the bus was quite full and everyone was watching! We were gone for about 2 hours in all - enough that my legs know about it..... It was lovely - I really enjoyed it. I am also a little bit pleased with myself that I have got to this stage, bearing in mind that for a long time I haven't pushed myself, or been able to push myself, to do something like this.

The chickens are doing well - Eddie and Caketin are laying almost daily. The weather has become a lot milder, although it is meant to be going colder over the weekend again.

The house is a bit of a mess currently, so I'm going to have a bit of a blitz on that this afternoon.

Oh, and we have booked to go to Sweden for a few days soon - never been before so we are looking forward to that.

Right, so coffee, wash hair, tidy house, son to stables, food shop, collect son, dinner. Sorted.

Happy Leap Day

For yesterday!

Soooooo busy yesterday, so didn't manage to pop in with a riding update. So, a day late, I can tell you that I did loads of trotting with no stirrups, 20 metre circles, and then a few canters:-). All on Murphy.

Today was neck-reining on Lara, with barrel racing thrown in too. Now Bev has told me that I need to go to the yard every day next week and ride in the school for half an hour or so to build up my time in the saddle. Yay me ! Tomorrow I am hacking out with Frankie - just walk and trot - Yay again !

Legs update - not too achy, but a bit bruised according to my husband!

I have had some disappointments over the job I was hoping for, but then I have had 2 calls in the space of half an hour about other contracts. Fingers crossed.....