Welcome to blog! I started it in 2020 to chart my recovery from breaking my ankle (hence the name). I guess no-one saw a global pandemic coming. It's turned into a place where I can talk about the things happening in my life, my horse and my cats. Enjoy!
I broke out my new yard boots today. I bought them when I was at Badminton, but they’ve sat in the box. The reason? Well the old ones were still doing OK. Sure they have holes in them, but it’s been so dry it hasn’t been an issue. I did end up with rather dusty socks though.
Today was a different weather day, so I didn’t want squelchy feet. They are slightly different from my old ones. Still Ariats. Still super comfortable. They’re almost too good to get covered in muck and mud…
Well my self-imposed saddle pad ban has held firm for a while now. Then they had a sale…. And my resolve waivered.
So Buddy is the proud owner of two new saddle pads. One in Kiwi and one in Sage. In my defence. He has got a couple of pads that have seen better days. So these will replace those.
I can’t wait to put them on him. I think he’s going to look very smart indeed! Just need the weather to improve so I can actually take him somewhere now.
Bert’s new bed arrived today. I’d barely got it out of the packaging and he was trying to get in it. He was also testing its durability. With his teeth! Either that or he was trying to get the perfect spot for it. By carrying it round the room.
He was very happy with it. There was a bit of burrowing going on too. He’s such a happy little chap.
He’s also a shredder. He’s obsessed with toilet roll middles. They get shredded. And takes great joy in going in the waste paper box next to the fire. He’s shredded a few receipts and bits of scrap paper. Thankfully they’re there to be burned so no harm done. Other than my lounge floor looks a bit like the inside of a snow globe…
Today, I took the first step on an exciting new venture. I headed to the British Show Jumping National Training Centre in Leicestershire for an Officials Induction Day.
The weather was utterly foul. The windscreen wipers on The Comedy Car were going so fast, I feared one might fly off! Let’s face it, that’s not that far fetched! Still I arrived with a minute to spare for a very informative day.
They went through the pathways you can take to become a BSJA Official. You can do one, or them all depending on your areas of interest. I want to do the Judges one first. I’ll see about the rest.
I already judge, steward and commentate at unaffiliated level. This is formalising things I enjoy doing. As much as I love jumping. I know there will come a time when I don’t want to jump. Or can’t. So this is my way of paying it forward and giving back to a sport I love. That and it keeps me involved still.
I have no clue where it will take me. But every adventure starts with a first step…
Thought I’d put some oil in the Buddymobile yesterday. Always good to check your oil and water from time to time (she says like she knows what that really means).
It should have been a very simple job. Take off the oil cap, pour in oil, return oil cap. Right?! Wrong! This is me. This is the Buddymobile. I couldn’t get the oil cap off. I tried and tried, but it wasn’t shifting. I even enlisted a man to assist. No joy there either.
So today I took it to the local garage. After 10 mins fighting and lots of tools, it came off. In pieces. So new oils cap ordered. Till it arrives, I won’t be going far with my temporary cap. But at least the oil is in. And it wasn’t that I was being inept (for once).
Got back to the yard to be told that I’ve got a headlight bulb on the way out too. At least that should be easy to fix.
I do love the Buddymobile. Even if he’s a bit quirky sometimes. Then again, Buddy and I both have our quirks. So perfect really!
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…
End of an era Chez Langley. This washing machine has served me well. But things don’t last forever. I inherited it when I moved in over 10 years ago. I had no idea how old it was then! So it owes me nothing.
Like us as we age, it started having bladder issues and I’ve found a few accidents. The irony being that once I’d used a few tea towels to mop up the puddles, I needed to wash them.
That and it’s been prime drying weather these past few days.
So I started looking for a new one. It must be a good 18 years since I bought a new washing machine. Things have moved on massively. The bewildering array of functions is slightly overwhelming. As are some of the prices! For the money, I’d want the machine to fold and put the clothes away too.
So I went old school and popped to a shop. Had a good chat with the man there and a new shiny Bosch washing machine is being delivered tomorrow. Bye bye Bosch, I bought a Bosch.
I treated myself to some new yard gloves. Well the ones I have been using have definitely seen better days. In fact, I didn’t realise how bad they were till I put the new ones on. And promptly stuck to the wheelbarrow handle.
Love the motto on the packaging. Not sure how much gloves are going to live, explore and discover?! One things for sure, they will discover a lot of poo!
It’s new rug day for Buddy. His old one has seen better days. The tail flap is hanging by a thread. It’s covered in scratches where he insists on standing with his bum in the brambles. Starting to regret buying him a new one already.
This one is called Monarch and is Royal Blue of course. Only fitting for my little boy. Well he does have King of Diamonds and eventing royalty in his bloodlines.
I think he looks super handsome in it. Of course, this is probably the last time it will be this colour. Tomorrow it will be brown…
What a blooming brilliant day! We got to do something new today. We were demo riders for a BHS CPD day. We had to ride in front of 14 coaches / instructors.
There were five of us riding today. Four in a group lesson and one in a private. Yesterday, Jo Winfield chose us to have the private lesson. What an honour. She was complimentary about my riding ability, Buddy’s capability and our partnership. As were a number of the coaches afterwards.
Obviously I didn’t hear everything she was saying about us as that’s not the idea. She’s coaching the coaches as well as me.
Today was all about Arena Eventing. Something we’ve done before. But not like this. Buddy jumped everything I asked. He gave me such a great feeling. Got to open him up for the XC style jumps.
Still lots to work on. We had so much fun though! Just what I needed. I smiled all the way home. I came away with homework. And am learning to us my body to slow him down.
We will both sleep well tonight.
Tales, Tails and Talus 