Structure

The Buddymobile is back after having a lot of work done on it. One of the rear wheel arches needed replacing. Sounds like a simple job. Right?! This is me, so of course not!

It was bad. First I knew was when a bit fell off. Never a good thing!!

It seems that the wheel arch has been an issue for a while. Water had been coming into one of my side lockers, as well as hitting the living floor. As a result, there was a lot of rotten wood that needed to be replaced. Good job I didn’t go through it. Or my bed collapse overnight.

So I have a rebuilt wheel arch and new floor in the locker and living. Need to get some replacement lino to complete it.

It will need to go back at some point to have the other rear wheel arch done.

I did get an upgrade while it was being done. A new step to make getting in and out a bit easier. Made good use of that as I was giving it a deep clean this evening.

Naked pony

They say things come in threes, but today mine were all good.

First, I got laundry on the line. With the sunshine and high winds, it was dry rather quickly.

Second, Buddy had a naked day in the field. He was very pleased to see me

And finally, the Buddymobile is fixed. More on that tomorrow.

All in all a good day.

Panda Power

Back home after a fab horsey adventure. Emma and I talked non-stop. I’m so glad I decided to be spontaneous and go with her to the Champs this weekend.

We thought we were lucky when we arrived yesterday to be parked right next to the stables. Not so lucky when we had a horse calling and crashing during the night. Neither of us got the best night. At one point, I was debating getting up to check it wasn’t cast or collicking.

Bit of an early start to do the Arena Walk. As Emma and Panda were the first in their class, there wasn’t much point going back to the lorry.

It was so windy today. But really warm. It would have been a glorious day if the wind had dropped.

Everyone had the same issue though. And everyone did really well in rather challenging circumstances.

It was lovely watching people. One of my observations was how diverse the horses and riders were. From leggy warmbloods to hench highlands, and everything in between. The riders were all shapes, sizes and ages too.

Wonderful to see people enjoying being away with their horses. I enjoyed it too. I was very well fed and watered. Came home feeling inspired to get Buddy to another Championships.

Stowaway

Greetings from Arena UK, Grantham. Last night at the Carleton RC Committee meeting, I found out that one of the members was heading to a Champs the next day solo. So I offered to stowaway in her lorry and come with her.

Ended up volunteering for a few hours. It’s been ages since I was away for a horsey adventure. It’s good to be back out. Even if I’m not here with Buddy.

Sat in the lorry, cider in one hand, waiting for a posh fish finger sandwich. Living the dream. Sometimes you just have to say yes to things.

Brunch and jumps

I had brunch with this gorgeous girl, her brother and her Mum today. Maisie was an absolute poppet. If a little traumatised by the rather unkind actions of another diner, who decided to run over her tail with a wheelchair. Then proceeded to have a go at her owner for not having her under control. I’d like to point out that Maisie was sat minding her own business when said incident happened.

Talk about turning the room against you! The whole cafe (and I’m not exaggerating) looked shocked at what had happened. Several people came over to check she was OK. And the manager brought her a bowl of sausages, eggs and bacon.

So unkind of the lady. Who could have simple asked for her to be moved so she could wheel the chair past. A lack of communication backfired on her as people where definitely on Team Maisie today.

Poor little girl was shaking to start off with. She soon got her wag back when she realised people had only good intentions with their attention.

Thankfully it didn’t spoil a lovely brunch. I’m a big fan of brunch. It’s such a great concept.

To top the day off, my friend then came back to the yard to help me with some jumping practise. She set up a grid for Buddy. It’s hard to do it on your own, so I’m grateful to have someone on the ground. Buddy seemed to enjoy it too. Big smiles all round.

Bonuses

Check out my stunning amaryllis. It’s got a bonus baby too, so I will have more stunning flowers. My amaryllis from last year is getting ready to bloom too. What a wonderful sight. And a wonderful Christmas present. For the past few years, my friend Jan has given me one. They seem to love this sunny spot.

Wish I could say the same about all of my plants. I was woken up by a loud thud this morning. It seemed one of the kittens had knocked a plant over in the conservatory. There was soil all over the place, in their bowl and on the mats.

So out came the hoover. And off went the kittens. Glaring at me through the doors in the rain.

As the hoover was out, I did the rest of the house. Then washed their bowls. Before feeding them (and me). All before coffee. An interesting way to start the day.

Pooches

Flying visit to Suffolk to round off a lovely Easter weekend. Simon and Harry have loads of pooches for me to cuddle. At one point I had three dogs trying to get on my lap. Banys won. But only by sitting on his brother Boris! They’re all so cute.

Bailey is still my favourite. He was very happy to see me as always. There’s something really heartwarming about seeing a pack of happy pooches running towards you.

It’s been a lovely Easter. Full of friends, horses, cats and dogs.

Spring forward

I’m 53 years old. You’d have thought by now that I would have mastered the whole clock change thing. In my defence, the clocks in my house aren’t helping matters.

Last Sunday, my alarm clock sprang forward unexpectedly. That resulted in me getting up an hour early – without realising it.

I manually adjusted it so it was correct.

Today, said alarm clock decided for some unfathomable reason to fall back an hour. So I lost two hours!

Yes it should automatically update like my phone does. Not a clue what’s going on there!

Seems the weather is a tad confused too. After a beautiful Spring Day yesterday, we’re back to Winter vibes. Yesterday I was full of the joys. Today I wanted to hibernate. My planned garden day turned into a house day. And yes, there was a lot of clock changing going on…

Spring cleaning

I decided to give Buddy’s stable a bit of a Spring clean today. I used a leaf blower to clear away the cobwebs and cleaned the walls. The leaf blower was a little bit too effective as I ended up covered in cobwebs! Good job I’m not afraid of spiders.

Very pleased with the result though. It looks so much better and brighter again.

After going out for a ride, I decided to give Buddy a Spring clean too. A bit of a bath, then tidied up his tail and mane. He looks very smart too.

It was one of those days where I wanted to spend as much time outdoors as possible. It was such a lovely day. A very happy Easter Saturday indeed.

Slayer

Today I slayed a dragon. Well not totally, but I made huge progress. You see I have a huge fear of brown envelopes. Particularly the ones from the tax man. I think it’s the way they’re written. Quite simply it puts the fear of god in me!

I’m very good with words. But not that good with numbers. Well I am. But not when it comes to taxes, finances or more technical numbers. I tend to have a toddler like response to them.

Now given I run my own business, a toddler tantrum doesn’t cut it with the tax man. Thankfully I have a wonderful friend who somehow manages to deal with my ineptitude, petulance and toddler tears. And makes me do the things that I really don’t want to.

After over an hour of listening to how important my call was and that I could find the answers on their website, I finally got to speak to a very helpful tax man who helped me understand what was going on and why I’d had a letter (that I really didn’t understand). I now need another letter before I can actually fix the issue. And when I say I, of course, I mean she.

To celebrate my courageous achievement, she bought me lunch. The downside was we ate it in a car park with a rather interesting view.

I’ve learn new stuff today. Fear not Accountants, your jobs are safe. I’ll stick to words and telling people’s stories. That’s where I’m at my best.