Cool

May has arrived with a plom! It’s been the hottest day of the year. So I spend a lot of it in a car. I had to drive to Essex to do a site visit. Cruising along in the Upgrade with air conditioning was decedent to say the least!

Gone are the days of arriving looking windswept and interesting in the Comedy Car with the windows open.

The Comedy Car has found a new home. Where a new person can giggle as they wizz along. I’m sad to see him go. We’ve had many adventures together.

I’m very happy with the Upgrade though. He feels huge compared to the Comedy Car. I’m loving the air conditioning. I’d forgotten what a joy that is.

Terminator

We’re back home after another epic training camp. Epic in so many ways. Bert’s first camp and to be honest, he totally aced it! He waited patiently while I went for my lessons. He made himself comfortable in the Buddymobile. He slept through every night. He had zoomies in the forest and played nicely with the other dogs.

Every time I left him, I told him ‘I’ll be back’. I’m no Arnie, but it did make me giggle. Just call me Terminator.

Buddy aced camp too. Six lessons, massive lightbulbs and huge leaps forward in our training. He feels stronger, straighter and much more rideable since his injury.

The only ‘downside’ was the heat! Talk about from the sublime to the ridiculous. Last year, I didn’t take enough layers. It chucked it down and was freezing. This year, it was like someone had left the oven on…

Very draining for us all. We coped with a heady mix of fluids and electrolytes. I am very tired now. We shall all sleep well tonight.

Boudicca’s Way

What an wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Riding round High Ash Farm in the glorious sunshine. It’s April and it was 19 degrees!

The bluebells are starting to come out. It’s so peaceful there. Well apart from Kathy and I chatting all the way round.

Buddy was very happy to be out for an adventure too.

Daffodils

I spotted these lovely daffodils this morning. Daffodils always make me smile. They are such cheery flowers.

Spring is definitely here. It’s my favourite season. I may have mentioned that. The one thing I don’t like about Spring though is the multiple outfits required. I took Bert out for a walk first thing in a down jacket and gloves. Brrrr.

Come afternoon and I arrived at the yard with overtrousers, fleece and jacket. The sun came out and the layers came off. I popped Buddy over a few jumps and was too hot in just a base layer.

Then once the sun had set, it was back to fluffy socks and many layers. Good job I have lots and lots of layers.

Roasting

Today has been the hottest day of the year so far. It’s been toasty for sure. Thankfully there was a lovely cooling breeze as well.

The positives about the warm weather are that my garden looks wonderful at the moment. I got all my washing dry on the line. I stripped the bed and got the bedding dry too.

The downside is that there was a lot of sweating as I stripped and remade the bed. Why did I think that would be a good idea in 30 degree heat?! Do other nations have such issues? Or is this a British thing?

The humidity has been off the scale. It’s currently 27 degrees in my living room. And yes, my hair is ‘doing a Monica’.

Sheltering

The kittens have abandoned the conservatory recently. Well except on the hottest days. Cause that’s where you need to be when it’s hot, a ridiculously hot place!

Today, they barely left it. Choosing to spend the day asleep instead. Cats are so funny. They definitely go through phases. One minute they have a special place. The next, they refuse to use it. It seems the chair is back in vogue. Let’s see how long it lasts…

Hot mess

Oh my days! It’s been a hot one today. Typically the day I was due to spend most of it in an indoor arena. Talk about sweatfest! Might as well sweat off a few pounds as I’m not riding as much at the moment.

It was so inspiring watching the latest batch of campers. So many new faces. Some I’ve watched more of their journey. It’s wonderful seeing people push themselves and enjoy time with their ponies.

This afternoon, I got to try something new too – dressage writing. Blimey, that’s stressful. Especially when I didn’t have that much to lean on. My writing was akin to a doctors. Either that or a spider crawled across the page. I have a deep respect for those who do it on a regular basis. I’m sure it gets easier. At least I can say I tried. I’m much better at shouting than writing. The irony when I write a lot for a living. Think I’ll stick to stewarding or commentating and leave it to those more skilled than me.

Poor planning

I found out yesterday that I wasn’t needed to groom for the Norfolk today. I was at a bit of a loose end. Well till a client asked if I could do a site visit to Essex.

I set off early to beat the heat, in shorts no less and windows open. The downside to the Comedy Car – no AC. I was making good time till an accident on A12 stopped my progress. My Sat Nav took me on a bit of a scenic route. You know the type where you feel like you’re getting further away from where you’re heading. It also kept telling me there was a faster route. Which seemed to add more time! Work that one out.

Still I got to my destination, did what I needed to do and headed back home. It was only when I was nearly home that I realised I’d been about 20 mins away from Ingatestone Saddlery.

So that was poor planning on my part. Probably better for my wallet though. I will get there one day.

Cloister

I went to a wedding today. It was held in Norwich Castle. I love a castle. And Norwich Castle is pretty special. So that was rather cool. Ironically it was like the bowls of Vesuvius inside.

But the venue for the reception topped it though! It was held at The Great Hospital on Bishopsgate.

I had no idea it was there. My gosh it’s stunning. They have the smallest cloister in England. It seems I love a cloister. It was like something from Harry Potter.

Originally built in 13th century for retired clergy and church staff, it’s now sheltered housing. Still run by a charity, it’s got great event spaces. The food was lush. The staff on point. The downside to being in Events is that you can see things others don’t. This was wonderful.

I took so many photos of the grounds and buildings. Just stunning.

1 tog

The weather has warmed up considerably over the past few days. That’s resulted in a few broken nights’ sleep as I’ve been overheating. Even with the summer duvet.

I’m not a fan of sleeping uncovered. Last summer I found I was getting cold under an empty duvet cover (call me Goldilocks). So a new lightweight duvet was needed. Just the one tog!

Watch the temperatures plummet and a new ice age decent on the UK. I apologise now…