Here we are, 2 weeks after the wedding, all dressed up in the new carriage at our first proper competition. All went well at first, we got a reasonable dressage mark, but then it went a bit wrong. Well quite a lot wrong actually. Whilst practicing for the cones, one pony had abit of a panic and took off, taking his mate with him, that wouldn't have been too much of a problem as they are quiet ponies and i could have stopped them fairly easily but as i turned them, the seat came off and I was ejected in a graceful arc and dropped to the rock hard ground in a splat. I knew I wasnt damaged, but oh boy did it hurt. and continued to hurt for the next 2 weeks, and now I'm having fluid drawn off my hip every week from the soft tissue damage. It turned out the seat was velcroed on! it is definitely going to be bolted on before we use it again! At least the ponies weren't fazed by the experience.
Meanwhile life at no 2 continues. We've had great growing weather, raining mostly at night and hot sunny days. The grass seed has taken in the bare patches although the pigeons and pheasants have eaten alot, and the rabbits eat the new grass but its coming along in spite of them. Of course that means more mowing, especially as I'm doing battle with the docks, and the wheelhorse, sadly, is very unreliable. John Galvin is the only one who can get it going, and he's away most of the time so the decision was made to get a newer one. Well here she is, in all her beauty, I dont know how old she is, but a hell of a lot newer than the other one! I got her off ebay and i think I'll try to sell the old one on ebay too. There are some nuts who love old machinery so it might be worth it.
The chickens are all growing, I've got 35 now, i hope to sell some of them but not until they are ready to start laying as they're worth more then, so meanwhile they're just eating their heads off and needing lots of attention. I do love them though, they are so entertaining to watch, I've become an expert on poultry politics!
The 3 little gardens I've planted up are growing well although next year will be much better when everything has had a chance to grow.
I've started on garden no.4, its going to be cottage garden style and I've grown lots of plants from seed but again they won't flower till next year so I'd better live that long.
I've booked a holiday, the first in 8 years, a city break of 5 nights in Istanbul. Christopher took me there for my 50th birthday and I really loved it. This year its my 60th so Jeannie, Rosemary and myself are going in September. I miss the dogs already.
I've continued to have work done to the house. The little porch over the kitchen door is good, I can leave the kitchen door open when its raining and it doesn't come in.
The best thing is that I've had a toilet fitted under the stairs. I haven't got a door on yet so its a bit odd to have a toilet in the dining room but greatly practical when you live on your own. I have got an original victorian door which matches the others in the house for it, but i've got to get the old paint stripped off and a door frame made.
Thats about it for now, thanks for looking in, and feel free to leave a comment if you're inclined.
Posts
