Cuddles

When you’ve been out for the second evening running and you’ve been terribly missed. Hugo is currently trying to get in my gillet with me. He’s so cute.

Not quite so cute when he woke me up at 4am trying to sleep on me. Then Dodo woke me up at 7am dry heaving. That’s a sound that means I’d give Usain Bolt a run for his money.

I am very tired today. So early night for me. Well once I extract myself from Hugo. If his purrs could heal, he’d be a master. They’ve both been very attentive since my Mum died. They know, they really do.

5 star

Back home after a fab day out at Burghley Horse Trails. A mere 10 miles walked round the course today. And what a course. It was very testing. But then you come to expect that. It’s not a 5* for nothing.

There seemed to be a few bogey fences out there. It was quite an achievement getting round. Saw some amazing riding. Some incredible partnerships.

I’ve been to two 5*s this year. Badminton and Burghley. They’re so different. I love them both. Glad I managed to get to both. Even if it was just for cross country day.

Clocked up some more miles on the Comedy Car and my step count is high. My feet and legs are aching. I’m tired, but a good tired. It’s so worth it for the memories made.

Scar face

It’s been a bit of a worrying time for me this weekend. Dodo went missing for over 48 hours. He missed 4 meals!! Hugo is known to wander, not for any length of time though. But Dodo rarely does. So it was very out of character for him.

I’d been out looking for him. But as I hadn’t been at home the whole weekend, I’d hoped I’d just missed him. But when he didn’t return for dinner last night, I started to fear the worst.

I was woken at 3:40am by a very little voice on the bed. He was very timid, tired and thin. Goodness knows where he’d been. After giving him some food (Hugo was rather happy about extra food), we all headed back to bed.

I woke up feeling rather rubbish. Pounding headache and thick head. So back to bed I went. Dodo joined me for more cuddles. Trust me to be ill when the builders are in next door. Lots of sawing and banging. Still I think we both needed the sleep.

Poor Dodo has a big gash on his face. I’m guessing he got into a fight and either ran or was chased off. He might have gotten himself stuck somewhere too. Who knows?! I’m so relieved he’s home. He’s very happy to be home too.

He’s barely left my side all day. My little purr monster is returning. Let’s hope normal service is returning for me too. Early night for us both me thinks.

Head in the clouds

I woke up feeling very tired and a bit overwhelmed today. It’s been an emotional day. A really close friend of mine recently lost her big brother. It was his funeral today. My heart is aching for her as I can empathise.

It’s taken me back to losing my brother. I can’t quite believe it’ll be 20 years this year that he chose to end his life.

Although the circumstances are very different for my friend, the questions are similar, the emotions raw and life has changed forever.

Even after all these years, I have days when I struggle with his death.

I took Buddy out for a ride and looked up at the clouds. I had a quiet word with him. I hope he’s looking down and is proud of his little sister.

Out of sorts

I woke up feeling ‘out of sorts’ as my Nanna would say. Nothing major has happened. Nothing’s really changed. I have lots to be happy about. On the flip side, lots of things need sorted.

Today I just felt fed up with stuff. The last few weeks have been physically, mentally and emotionally draining for many reasons. I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved, how things have gone and grateful for more deposits in the memory bank.

Throw into the mix the scaremongering, unrest, negative sound bite and riots. There’s a lot of uncertainty again. Lots of frustration. It’s hard to stay in your lane. The world feels rather odd right now. Again.

The Olympics are a great distraction. I’ve cheered, I’ve cried, it’s so inspiring. Not without controversy though. I guess it shows that even at the top of your game, you can make mistakes. Things don’t always go right. It’s how you react to it I guess.

Take me today, I headed to the yard, mucked out and took Buddy for a wander round the village. Only to get home to realise I’d done the whole thing with my t-shirt inside out. Didn’t spoil the view…

Dirty

I think I might need to wash the Comedy Car. It’s a tad dirty after being at Hickstead. I thought I was being really clever parking on the grass near the exit. What I didn’t consider was the fact that the lorries would be going out that way too! It was very dusty. As you can see from the state of my car.

Now back home after a brilliant few days away. I am shattered but it’s a very good tired. Over the course of the weekend, I walked a far few miles. Friday my step count was 27.5k, Saturday it was over 38k and Sunday a mere 15k. According to my phone, that’s nearly 40 miles!!

It’s hard to explain the vast nature of the Showground. It’s huge! It definitely is one of those see it to believe it. A bit like the Derby Bank! Or the size of the jumps!!

It’s been an epic time. Watching Team GB lift the Nations Cup, seeing an incredible King George V cup and watching friends in action. Many of them tick things off their horsey bucket list, achieving dreams and making core memories. It was inspiring in so many ways. I’m so proud of you all!

It made me even more determined to get Buddy back to full strength so we can be there together next year. It’s got to be less stressful than being the team manager…

Thank you to everyone who made it so special.

Sleepy heads

This is what the kittens think of things. They have clearly decided to sleep through it. Can’t blame them. I wish I could. I felt rather tired when I work up this morning. Guess a day trip to Birmingham will do that to you.

Still I had a super productive admin day. Finally ticked a few things off the list that have been hanging around for a while. Very satisfying.

Less satisfying was the fact that having been dry all day, the heavens opened as I headed to the yard. Good job I’m not a fair-weather equestrian!! Picked the wrong country for that.

One good thing about the rain is that it makes weeding easier. Cleared a big patch of weeds on my driveway when I got back. Trouble is this wet / warm weather is perfect growing weather. Let’s hope they don’t come back too soon. I’ve still got a lot of weeds to tackle!!and more undergrowth to cull.

Coffee date

Oh my days, I was one very pooped Pip this morning. I didn’t sleep that well as I couldn’t switch my brain off. The downside to an adrenaline high day yesterday. I’m not sure people get the concentration levels you need to commentate. Sounds so easy, it’s just talking right?! Nope. You need eye in the back of your head to see who’s starting and finishing. Ears everywhere listening the the jump judges and officials. And be able to know where up to 5 horses are at a time. Oh and keep everyone up-to-date and mildly amused at the same time.

I love doing it, so not complaining at all.

Thankfully caffeine was on the agenda for today as I met up with a friend for coffee and a catch up. That turned into coffee, tea cakes, 2 hours of chatting and yet more coffee.

Well we can’t meet for a hack at the moment, so we did the next best thing. A coffee date.

Miles and miles

Well I’m back home after another mammoth weekend. Not sure how many miles I’ve done. Quite honestly, I’m too tired to work it out. Thankfully the M25 was very kind to me today as I headed home.

It was smooth sailing all the way back. Unlike my hair, which looked like I’d been dragged through a hedge. I was back to windows open and being buffeted after the joys of AC yesterday.

Still the kittens were pleased to see me. As you can see they were very keen to leave their sunbathing to say hello!

Staying the extra night meant I got to see Mum again before I left. She’s not doing great so grateful to have been able to see her.

Fumes

OK so I may have overdone it this weekend. Today I felt grotty again. So tried to have a gentle day. Managed a short ride on Buddy. Typically I picked it when it was raining. Thank goodness for my Equidry. It’s really been a great purchase.

I even wore it to the football tonight. I was slightly worried that I might be a tad pungent, but all good. And I stayed dry and warm.

A rather odd match, but a win is a win. Even odder getting home. First the bridge was closed, so I had to walk round the houses to the next bridge. Then yomped back up the hill. I knew I needed petrol, but wasn’t expecting to have to go to 4 petrol stations before I could get some. Kinda assumed that petrol stations in the city centre would be open. But the first 3 shut at 10pm.

The petrol light was on by the time I arrived at the 4th petrol station. You can imagine my relief. Little bit of a metaphor for my life right now. I do feel a little like I’m running on fumes.

Right now, I’d happily take a week in the Caribbean… A girl can dream huh?!