Author: langlep

So 2020 was going to be my year. The year I got my life sorted after being served redundancy notice from my job in November 2019. The year I ticked off more things from my horsey bucket list. The year I got my mental health back under control and reduced stress in my life. I had a plan. And it was a good one. Then the plan changed dramatically on 2 January. I came off my horse at speed and broke my ankle. Badly. Like all good equestrians, I got back on and rode back to the yard, sorted Buddy out and then drove myself to A&E. That’s where this journey really began... I was sent home from A&E and told to crack on, only to receive a phone call later to say they’d missed a fracture (and a rather serious one at that). Whoops! So fracture clinic on 3 January, surgery on 5 January and home to recover. I started this blog as a way to chart my recover back to the saddle. As I cleared clinics and competitions out of my diary and wondered what the next few months would bring, it's been a safe space for me to say how I'm feeling. The new plan was to get a new job, to keep Buddy is kept ticking over and recover from my injury. Another good plan! I didn't expect a global pandemic, lockdown and all that happened in 2020. This blog has changed over time but it's continued to be my safe space to share the things going on in my life, with Buddy and the cats. Enjoy!

Winter duvet

I woke up last night feeling cold. So it was time to break out the winter duvet. Watch us have another heatwave now!

I love the feeling of snuggling up in fresh bedding. And the heaviness of the thicker duvet. It’s such a simple pleasure.

Regardless of what’s going on in my life. Or what time of the day or night I have to get up. I always make my bed. It’s such a little thing. But sets me up for a good day knowing it’ll be ready for me when I head to bed.

Another little outing

Buddy and I headed over to Blickling Estate NT today to meet my friend Katie and Archie for a long hack. Felt very autumnal today as so many of the leaves are turning.

We met up with another friend Maria and her dogs on our way back as she’d come to find us.

Great to catch up with them both. Even better to have a spot of lunch in the sunshine.

I do love our little outings. I’m so grateful for the Buddymobile. I love being able to get out and about. Blickling is so beautiful. It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to ride round.

Two soups

And so it begins. The batch cooking extravaganza. The slow cooker came out yesterday and I made my first batch of vegetable soup. Blended it today and boxed up for the freezer. It was actually six soups. But that wasn’t the Victoria Wood sketch. That was two soups.

For some people, this isn’t a big deal. But for the culinarily challenged Pip, this is. I chopped things without injury. I didn’t burn the house down. And I only got one steam burn from opening the slow cooker a bit too quickly.

This was a big win for me today. On the downside, I ran out of toilet rolls. And no, they’re not connected. 😉

World Mental Health Day

So it’s World Mental Health Day. Well this is the face of a person who has..

  • had bouts of depression
  • had bouts anxiety
  • faced many struggles
  • overcome so much
  • cried so hard they’ve feared they’ll never stop
  • laughed so hard they’ve never wanted it to stop
  • had so much energy they can’t sit still
  • had so little energy they can’t get up
  • thought so much they can’t sleep
  • been so tired they can’t wake up
  • felt like they can conquer the world
  • been scared to leave their house
  • cared too much
  • not cared at all
  • felt such pain they can’t breathe
  • felt nothing but numbness
  • loved deeply
  • been hurt even deeper
  • been a frequent visitor to dark places
  • always found a way back to the light

Mental Health isn’t obvious. It isn’t straightforward. It is something we all have. We shouldn’t need a day to tell us to think about it. It should be part of our daily life.

So let’s all try to look after ours. Do what makes you feel good. Be with people who make you feel good. But most importantly be kind – to yourself and others.

And if you’re struggling right now (as many seem to be), know that you are safe, you are loved and you are very much appreciated.

Mental Health

So here the thing that has the biggest positive effect on my mental health! And he’s completely oblivious to how much he helps me. He’s far too busy stuffing his face.

This little boy gets me out of bed on a bad day. He keeps me going when things look bleak. He motivates me to work hard. He’s made so many of my dreams come true. He makes my heart melt. He makes me smile.

And because of him, I’ve met so many amazing people, had some incredible experiences and made memories I’ll never forget.

Wind assisted

I had a rather windy lesson today. It was hard to hear Lewis at times. Thankfully Buddy wasn’t too bothered by it. Well for the most part.

I’ve entered some Arena Eventing so today we jumped a mix of show jumps and more XC style ones. He set up a corner and some cool lines.

Couple of interesting moments. Particularly when the green astroturf flapped while we were jumping a rather large oxer. I definitely got impulsion! Perhaps we need to wind assisted more often!

Look around

Headed over to meet my ‘Happy Camper’ ladies this afternoon. It was great to catch up with them. They’re definitely part of my tribe. I came away feeling so loved, appreciated and very grateful.

I know I’ve said it before, but I am truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

I had to pop over to the feed store afterwards and saw these deer on the way back. I stopped to take a photo. I felt equally blessed that I spotted them. What a stunning view. I’ve been very much in my head the past few days, so it was good to look around and admire the beauty all around us.

Bin day

Now I’m a very intelligent woman (or so I’ve been told), but I’m still baffled by which bin goes out each week. Seems I’m not alone in this as I frequently look out and see a selection of bins out around the close. Today was even more confusing as they were all collected!

Got a letter to say they’re changing the weeks that bins are collected. Clearly the bin men got a bit overwhelmed by it all as I got back to find my bins scattered over the driveway. I nearly drove over the food waste bin.

Made me giggle as I had to do some interesting manoeuvres onto the driveway. Still not sure what bin goes out next week. Will cross that bridge next Sunday…