Sunday brunch

Headed off early to meet up with two of my camp friends for a hack round Blickling. We took a different route and were out for two hours! I could have kept going. It was so lovely. We chatted all the way round.

It seemed lots of people had the same idea as the car park was rammed. Two people had parked so close to the Buddymobile, I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out. Thankfully they came back as I was putting Buddy away so I didn’t have to do a 97 point turn.

Honestly, some people have no common sense. My lorry isn’t huge but I do need more than a couple of feet end. I wish I’d taken a photo of it. It really beggered belief. Still no harm done and it didn’t spoil a lovely morning.

Fuel in the tank

Well if this lot doesn’t keep me going, I’m not sure what will! Tried my first shake today before I headed to the yard. Can’t say it’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted, but needs must. And it certainly helped me get the calories I needed.

Got a great suggestion on how to make it more palatable. Bought 3 different flavours to try so will see which one I like the best. Might do a bit of mixing too. So far so good.

Competition prep

My new competition sticky jods have arrived. A winter thermal pair and a lightweight pair. All part of the master plan to crack dressage (and competing).

Also part of the master plan is sorting out a snaffle for Buddy as he’s been unsettled in his mouth. Today we tried a different one and there was a definite improvement. Got a couple more to try too so fingers crossed we find one he likes.

I’ve also ordered some meal replacement shakes to try and sort out my nutrition issues. One thing I’ve realised is that I’m not setting either of us up for success by not looking after myself. So making a conscious effort to improve.

Just need to enter some competitions now….

Ruby Murray

What a treat for a Thursday night. A curry and a catch up.

I actually tried something different too. I say I’m going to but when it comes to ordering the words ‘chicken tikka bhuna’ comes out of my mouth.

Not tonight. Tonight I had chicken shashlak. And it was bloody lovely!!

Verglas

My heart sank a little when I opened the curtains this morning. A heavy frost and thick white mist greeted me. After such a glorious few days, it really felt like Spring was on the way. It wasn’t long though before the sun broke through.

I spent most of the day on calls. The last one, I sat in the conservatory basking in the sunshine. And I spotted the tiniest glimpse of pink on the camellia buds. I must admit I got very excited about that! Thankfully the lady I was talking to completely understood. And retorted with a very large fox peeing in her garden. I love random conversations.

Hydrotherapy

Buddy Boy became a Beach Boy today. Fab afternoon mooching about on Sea Palling. We totally lucked out with the weather! It was a glorious day.

After initially being slightly weirded out by the waves, Buddy was soon having a paddle. In fact he was rather enthusiastic in his paddling and soaked me!!

How stunning does the beach look?! I love Norfolk, I really do.

Low mileage

Now I am definitely a word girl. I can do numbers, but I wouldn’t say they’re a strength. But I love some numbers. Today the Comedy Car went over to 58,000 miles. That’s quite a cool number.

What was also cool, was that it happened just as I pulled into my driveway.

Pretty trotting

After a longer than expected hiatus, Buddy and I entered the boards today for a spot of pretty trotting. I worked out that our last pure dresssge competition was December 2019. I’ve done camp tests and ODEs since then though.

So this was a big deal for us. Well me. We’ve been working hard on our flatwork so I was hoping to see some improvements. But as I drove there, I told myself today was about having fun. And if I got over 60% I’d be thrilled.

Things didn’t run smoothly this morning. It took me longer to plait and the Buddymobile needed another jump start again. But we were off only about 10 mins behind schedule. The A11 was crawling along. So I was behind when I arrived at WHW.

Still got tacked up and onboard in super quick time. I’ve been riding a lot in sticky jods recently, so to switch back to non-sticky took a bit of adjusting. I slide quite violently when I asked for canter. Poor Buddy wasn’t sure what to make of it all!

Still we entered and the test went rather smoothly. I was really pleased with Buddy as he’s only ever been to WHW for jumping. He did all the moves at roughly the right places. And didn’t spook at anything.

Really pleased with 64.21% (6th place). And we got a 7.5 for our first centre line.

Then it was a bit of a wait for the second test. I lost track of time chatting so Buddy had a very short warm up. It was all going rather well till my brain decided to go AWOL and I totally blanked. Error of course for me then. Like I can afford to throw marks away. Doh!

Picked it up again and finished the test. I was expecting a very low mark. So 58.46% wasn’t too shabby (10th).

All in all there were lots of positives to take from today. And I know where I need to improve.

First thing I need to do is buy some competition sticky jods. Then I need to sort out my nutrition as I felt the tank empty. Two bits of toast isn’t enough it seems for a full day out.…

Snowdrops

This is a sight that makes my heart sing. Or should that be spring? It’s definitely round the corner

I love it when the bulbs start coming up. It reminds me that nature will out. I know I’ve lost a few bits in the garden after the false Autumn and hard frosts. Things got very confused (as did I!)! It’ll be interesting to see what comes back.

The only downside is that it means I really, really need to get out in the garden and start tidying up. I need a few more hours in the day at the moment. Thankfully the nights are drawing out so I will get my wish soon.