When I went to see my Dad on Sunday, he was filling in his food choices for the next day. One option was cheese and onion pie. I was rather envious as I love cheese and onion pie. Let’s face it, I love any sort of pie. But I hadn’t had one for years.

So imagine my delight when I popped to the Co-op today. That was dinner sorted. And some. It was considerably bigger than I expected. Size isn’t always my forte…

Neither is buying toilet rolls it seems. Does anyone else have that one thing they always run out of? For me it’s toilet rolls. I’ve lost count of the number of times I thought I had a spare roll only to find I’m out. Just me?!

Hence my reason for being needing to go to pop to the Co-op. Why do we say that?! Why are we popping places? I pop to the shops. I pop to the yard. Another one of life’s mysteries.

Anyway, I now have toilet rolls and a full belly. The pie was lush. No comments needed on the toilet paper.

Buddy and I had a friend on our ride today. I’m not very good at bird of prey identification, but I’m guessing kestrel as it was hovering over the field.

Then as we got closer, it landed on one of the telegraph poles. Each time we got closer, it flew down the lane to the next pole. It happened over and over again.

I love birds of prey. There’s something very special about them. I see them a lot. As we were coming back, I saw a buzzard and a red kite too.

I remember someone telling me that it was a positive sign seeing them. It meant I was guided and protected. As I navigate another medical issue with my Dad, I’d be grateful for both.

I’ve been on that particular emotional rollercoaster for nearly 7 years now. First with my Mum, then my Dad joined in. Now it’s just my Dad, but it’s still tough. I’m also very grateful that I still have one parent. Getting older sucks…

I did a flying visit to see my Dad in hospital today. Bert came along for the nearly 300 mile round trip. He’s not the best company – he slept most of the way there and all of the way back! Luckily I had podcasts and online learning content to pass the time.

My Dad is still quite poorly, but he’s definitely better than he was. Fingers crossed he keeps recovering well…

I thought I’d take advantage of the fact it wasn’t raining to take Buddy out for a hack. The sun even made a welcome return earlier too. I actually over-layered, which makes a huge change from being cold!

I foolishly choose today to road test my new Winter breeches. I had very toasty thighs. Pleased to report that they were also really comfortable.

There was a bit of shooting about. It put Buddy a little on edge. But he held it all together. Well that was till a deer flew out of the undergrowth. Twice!

Horses are weird. He spooked at a deer, but was totally cool with a shed on the back of a trailer going past him! He also stomped through a huge puddle.

I needed to clear my head. Time with Buddy definitely did that.

So apparently it’s National Love Your Pet Day. Umm isn’t that every day?!

It makes me laugh how many ‘Day’s’ there are. And some of them are a little random. I share my birthday with the international day of the potato amongst others. I love potatoes, so I’m good with that one. But do potatoes really need a day?!

Bert was showing me the love earlier. He’s been a bit of a limpet this week. He knows I’m upset. I spent a lot of the morning making phone calls about my Dad. Bert sat with one paw resting on my shoulder. Emotional Support Bert once more.

He wasn’t so supportive when he decided to do zoomies round the field on our walk. Well one of us walked. The other was having too much fun! The Baby Sprocker has brought so much joy to my life…

I came back from the dressage last weekend with a new pair of winter riding breeches and a new base layer. There was a new outlet at the venue and I was rather taken with this base layer.

The owner didn’t have it in my size, so she said she’d post it to me. It arrived today. It’s very smart. I’m looking forward to trying them both out in the saddle.

My Dad is really rather poorly still. It was a much needed smile today. So was getting to the yard to find Buddy had been mucked out for me. Grateful for the love that’s been shown at a worrying time.

It’s not been my best day. But I have an ESBB (emotional support Bert and Buddy).

My Dad isn’t very well and topping up his NHS frequent flyer points. So Bert and Buddy were called into action. First Bert and I went out for a rather bracing walk. The wind definitely had some bite to it. I needed to clear my head or get out of it.

It struck me that this is the first time my Dad has been in hospital since my Mum died. Driving down to tell him she’d passed was one of the hardest things I’d had to do. It’s hard not to get 90 steps ahead when things like this happen.

Then I schooled Buddy and ran a dressage test. Not sure who was more shocked, me or him?!

All healing vibes gratefully received as ever…

Today marks the start of the Chinese Year of the Fire Horse. So it seemed riding my horse was the perfect way to usher it in. Thankfully he wasn’t a fire horse. He was very well behaved considering he’d had a few days off and it was cold and windy.

I also had Chow Mein for dinner. Yes I know it’s also Pancake Day, but I’ve still yet to master pancakes. I did buy a new frying pan though. Mine had seen better days. Still not sure it’ll help though.

I’ve decided that this year will be the year of my horse. I’m starting to put together my horsey goals. I’ve got two camps and a Championship in the diary. I know there will be more adventures to be had…

As I got back later than I’d expected, Toby had a night on the close. I didn’t fancy walking back from the yard in the dark, with Bert and my bags.

He’s a tad larger than my last lorry, so I wasn’t sure if he’d fit on my drive. I popped him on the pavement outside my little house. And hoped he wasn’t too much in the way.

I wish I’d taken a photo of him. I was too busy tidying and cleaning. There was a lot of muddy paw prints and foot prints to be mopped up. Bert’s water bowl survived the trip home last night without spilling a drop. I managed to spill the whole lot by trying to pick it up. Good job I’d already got the mop and bucket ready…

I was very happy with the final result though. I even emptied the toilet. Thankfully I didn’t spill that!

I took Bert out for a long walk too. The weekend was intense and I didn’t get much time to take him for a run in the forest. He was very happy to go run runs.

I sat and threw his ball for a while too. I had to use his emergency walk ball as I could find his actual walk ball. It’s somewhere in the lorry. Guessing it’s under the front seats. But forgot to look when I took Toby back to the yard. I’m sure Bert will find it next time we go out. Better take Buddy too next time.

Back home after two nights at Forest Edge. Talk about what a difference a day makes! Yesterday it was glorious sunshine (but cold). Today we had a blizzard!

It felt like every time I looked out of the window, it was getting heavier. I was thanking my lucky stars that I was in the toasty judges box again. Poor Bert got a little cold in the lorry, but I couldn’t fault him. He’s been such a good boy.

I really felt for the competitors, helpers and horses in the conditions. Thank goodness it was indoors.

Not a clue how many combinations I introduced. Most of them I think I got right, but there were a few tricky names to pronounce.

It was really interesting watching the tests. I was there for Prelim to Elementary. I came away feeling quite inspired. And rather tired…