Oasis

I had breakfast and lunch al fresco today. My garden is usually a little oasis of calm. I love sitting listening to the birds.

Not today. Today there was a lot of noise. Seemed everyone was using the nice weather to get out in the garden too. There was a cacophony of lawnmowers, power tools and even a chainsaw!

If you can’t beat them, join them eh! I resisted the urge to join the noise. But went and did some tidying in the borders instead. The ivy had gotten a little out of hand on the back fence. So it needed a good cull. Still got a way to go with it though. It’s looking much better though already.

Comatosed

Hugo gave me a fright when I found him comatosed in the conservatory earlier. He was out for the count. I wondered if he’d overheated at first. It was pretty warm in there. Cause that’s cat logic. It’s a nice sunny day, so let’s go and sit in a glass box!

Thankfully he was OK. Just very tired from a heavy night of sleeping. I wish I could sleep like a cat, I really do.

KitKats

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. But I do love a KitKat. They’re in my Top 3 chocolate bars (after Double Decker and Twirl). So imagine my joy when I went for a meeting with one of my clients and not only did we have KitKats with our coffee, she gave me these bad boys!

It’s a bit of an in-joke as we categorise issues in number of KitKats it will take to solve. I’m very tempted to recommend this system to the UN. Pretty sure it could take off.

Unsettled

I’ve felt very unsettled today. And quite emotional. I know what’s going on so that’s good. I’m working through some deep rooted stuff. Always exhausting. So I did what I always do when I don’t know what to do. I went to see Buddy and took him out for a hack.

That was after I put the magazine I’ve been working on to bed. A phrase I love on many levels. I think it’s so cute that it goes to bed. Not a clue where it comes from. Probably something to do with the old printing presses having beds where the typeset sat. Anyway it always makes me smile. As does finishing the magazine.

Buddy may have bitten off more than he could chew on our hack today. Even when I’m feeling low and emotional, he lifts my mood and makes me laugh. Although he did look like a redneck with cleaver hanging from his mouth.

Resilience

I thought I’d lost this Lily. It was one that started to regrow after the heatwave last year. Then got battered by the frosts and snow. So happy to see it survived. It’s about half the size it would normally be. But it’s still there.

Talk about resilience!!

Bressingham

Today Colette took me to Bressingham Steam Museum and Gardens for my birthday outing. It’s become a bit of a tradition now to visit a garden for our birthdays. Thankfully there are lots of gardens for us to visit locally.

First trip here for both of us. I’ve seen the sign on the A140 as I’ve been driving past. It’s a lovely place to stop at.

The gardens were stunning. Very varied and lots to admire. We walked over 2 miles round them. Then we popped into the museum. They had a train carriage where they used to sort the post. And a Dad’s Army section with lots of memorabilia from the show. It took me back to my childhood growing up watching the show.

I love it when you find a gem of a place to visit.

Rollin’

Took Buddy down to the Hall today for their clear round SJ. I put him in the 80cm and 90cm as he’s been jumping so well lately. It was his first 90cm course in a competition-like setting, so thought I’d see what he made of it.

Once he’d gotten over his dislike of the bright pink pig fillers, he ate up the jumps. Frustrating cause it’s not like he doesn’t jump pig fillers we have at home. But they are a different shade of pink, so guessing I need to up the pink-factor.

No clears, but I went with the aim of having fun and using it as an educational round. Big ticks there! He made 90cm feel small. He’s getting stronger and stronger (in a good way).

Just need to recreate it in competitions now. Buddy loves his post wash down roll too. Thankfully he was more elegant jumping the jumps.

Advanced

I got to hold an Advanced Event horse today. That’s the eventing equivalent to ‘I carried a watermelon’ from Dirty Dancing. Closest I will ever get to that level.

This is Flynn, my friend’s horse. He was doing his first Advanced at Little Downham. So I went over to support her. Gosh he’s a bit lush!

It was wonderful watching him in action having heard so much about him. Another horsey day to finish off my birthday week. I have the feeling I will be seeing Flynn in action again…

Layered look

Today saw the return of the overtrousers! It’s 1 June, right?! I’ve been cold all day. The fan heater made an appearance at one point. As did the layered look. I headed to the yard wearing many!

Decided to free jump Buddy. He made me laugh as I’d barely set up the channel and he trotted over the jump. He’s so easy to work with. He picks which way he wants to go. It’s so much fun.

Thought I’d let him play, so kept putting it up for him. He was loving it. Ended up at belly button height – an official measuring system right there! Guessing it was 1.10m or so. I’ve got long legs so who knows?!

We were both a tad warm by the end. I didn’t need all my layers after all.