I bought myself some new crockery today. I’ve been thinking about getting some for a while, but haven’t found the right set.

The set I have is nearly 20 years old now and showing it’s age (there are quite a few chips now). I say set, I have 7 dinner plates, 5 side plates, 8 pasta bowls and 1 cereal bowl! Can you tell what I’ve broken the most?! How on earth I’ve ended up with only 1 ceral bowl is a mystery. I mean I know I’m bad at cooking, but clearly I eat more cereal and toast than I thought.

Anyway, I saw this set today and had to have it. I love Highland cows. Not that I’ve met one. I think it’s the fringe.

My dinner tasted better on a new plate. Is this what it’s like to be a proper grown up?!

Can you tell that I had a delivery today?! They came to pick up the skip today (might have put a few extra bits in it first). This is what I found when I went to move my car. Good job it was underwear and nothing breakable…

Surely it would have taken less effort to ring the doorbell than attempt to stuff it through the letterbox. I’m sure there was some logic there…

Common sense is definitely on the endangered list. Maybe I just need a bigger letterbox?! Whatever, it did amuse me.

OK I admit it, I really enjoyed our two flatwork lessons today. And I think Buddy did too. It’s not always been our forte, but I know that some of that is my stuff.

We practically floated round the arena. In fact, the instructor commented on how light on his feet he was today. That has not always been the case…

The word ‘delightful’ was used several times. High praise indeed!

There has been a huge shift in my riding since our last camp. Some of the feedback then was about how I can ambush Buddy sometimes. I override and can be quite ‘shouty’ with my aids. This is something I was aware of, but was stuck in a pattern.

So I took a look at it and worked out some things. Since then, I’ve been working on less being more. Giving him clear instructions and us both time to prepare.

Today’s lessons built on these intentions. I have a few more exercise to use and ways to progress them. We know I love a plan. And homework!

The biggest thing today gave me was a huge smile, tears of joy and a full heart. I adore Buddy. Today reminded me just how good it can feel to be on the same page. And believe me when I say we’ve had times where we weren’t even in the same library…

There was a lot of sweat, a few tears, but thankfully no blood! I will bank today away under ‘things we can do well’.

Bert is very happy to be back at Forest Edge. He headed straight for the footpath into the forest and had a lovely run and snuffle.

Buddy is very happy to be back too. He went into his stable and started to devour his haylage. He might not be quite so happy tomorrow when he has not one, but two flat lessons! The lack of jumps might be a bit of a challenge for him.

No shock that I am very happy to be here either. Though I am a little bit in shock that I am attending a dressage camp. I’m not what I would call a dressage diva. I had to give myself a bit of a peptalk on the way here. We are here to learn, not impress anyone.

It’s been lovely catching up with everyone. And being fed. Bert had venison strips. Buddy gets haylage. I got pasta, garlic bread and chocolate brownie (not all together). Yum!

Bring on the learning…

So it appears that Buddy has been in the wars today. Arrived at the yard to find he was missing a chunk of fur.

Luckily it’s superficial. Just looks a bit dramatic. Not a clue how he did it. We went through possible options. Then found a chunk of hair on a post in his field.

Wonder if he had a rather enthusiastic scratch or just scrapped by…

We’re back home from my Dad’s. The M25 wasn’t particularly kind, so bit of a long one. Stopped to let Bert have a pit stop too.

Overall he was such a good boy at my Dad’s. He ‘bought’ him a mug to say thank you. It said ‘The Grand Father’.

He can now tick going to Grandad’s off his list. I think he enjoyed it. I’m sure he’ll be back.

I’m glad I was able to stay so that I was there on Father’s Day too. I don’t see my Dad that often, so it was lovely the way it worked out.

Think Bert’s happy to be home though. Back on his manor. He’s snoring rather loudly. Think I’ll be joining him soon…

My Dad suggested that we headed up to the South Downs for a run about. Clearly he meant Bert as he’s still a bit wobbly after his procedure. Bert, on the other hand, had a wonderful time.

It was a tad windy up by the Jack and Jill windmills. So my Dad sat and watched the clouds roll by and I took Bert along the bridlepaths.

They both needed a nap after all of the exercise and fresh air…

I took Bert for a walk round Blunts Wood this morning. It was nice and cool in the woods. But there were meadows he could zoom across too.

I know these woods well as I used to walk through them twice a day on my way to and from Secondary School. I’m that old that it was still called Secondary School and hadn’t been Americanised to High School.

I’m also of the generation that had to walk or cycle to school. Whatever the weather. It was 1.3 miles each way. Come rain, wind and even snow, off I’d go. I can’t remember being driven. It just wasn’t done. And if you forgot something, there wasn’t anyone bringing it to you. You learned a valuable lesson.

Walking back in the dark through the woods was normal. Not sure if it was safer back then or we were oblivious to any possible risks. Maybe a bit of both. Not sure it helps us to live in a world where fear is the norm and people are constantly looking for possible danger.

As we were walking I spotted these pretty flowers. Not a clue what they are. Bert decided to photobomb my arty shot. It actually came out OK.

My Dad is having a surgical procedure tomorrow so I’ve come down to take him and look after him for a few days.

That means Bert has come to Grandad’s. So far he’s loving it. He’s got a new toy. He’s had a fried egg and gammon. What a spoilt pooch!

The downside is that he’s had to face stairs. Lots of stairs. Now he’s faced staird before. But for some reason, he’s found the ones here rather terrifying. He was OK going up. But got stuck coming down.

I have to admit, as a child I was pretty scared of the stairs to start off with too. Soon I was swinging round the bars and falling down them. So I get it.

It took a few attempts, a lot of treats and a bit of a discussion. But he scaled the first flight up and down. Sure he’ll be the stair master by the time we leave. Well I hope so anyway.

One thing I love about this time of the year is seeing the poppies springing up everywhere. They are such happy looking flowers. They always make me smile.

I spotted these on our walk. I love the fact they’re thriving even though the bank is really steep and soil is quite loose. Bit of a lesson to us all. You can still shine, even in the toughest of conditions…