As if to mock me

When I announced I was going to use wordpress, all of a sudden wordpress stopped working for me.

I have also been busy building a little something, set to release in January.

Now last night I destroyed 3 of my fingers and it hurts to type.

I may never catch up on my blogging!  5 posts behind schedule now.

I'm Moving!

Not to a new house, not to a new barn, but a new blog hosting site.

I will be moving to Word Press

http://usarah.wordpress.com

This is due to 2 things:  its a little more user friendly, and I have something attached to it which will make its exciting debut soon.

All my old posts have been exported there, so you can still search through the archives for all my writing :)

Other Barn Animals

I was going through and cleaning up the photos on my phone, and decided I should share some of them before deleting.

Unnamed kitties, these arrived at some point last week.  They are still very timid, but by Sunday I was able to gently scratch them on their backs while they ate, although they didn't seem to pleased with it!

Nemo enjoying the tack room when I left the door open.  Locked rooms seem to be a magnet for cats.

Winnie forced his way into the hay room and couldn't get back out.  This happens at least once every weekend.

Bubbles and Nemo taunt Winnie as he struggles.

Timmy in the hay, back when he was skinny.  I swear, one day he was skinny, then I come back the next weekend (not over my vacation, just 5 days) and he was fat.  I barely even recognised him.

Minnie also fairly new, took a while to warm up to people.  This was the first time she enjoyed a face scratch from me.

Timmy wants to play with Minnie.  Now that hes fat, its a very unfair fight.  She hasn't grown at all.

Dori takes advantage of a good snuggle spot.

Winnie and Zoey looking guilty after eating 1kg of cat food.

 

Vacation Day 4 - Barbados

The plan for Barbados was for all of us (Less Nancy) to meet up and get a taxi to Harrison's Caves.  It started falling apart immediately as we waited for Katrina, 20 minutes past our meeting time.  Grandpa and I were especially mad about having to wait for her.  It was decided the group would go down to level 0, but shortly after, we split into 2 groups.  Mom, Ramlin and I were to wait for Katrina in our original meeting place, the rest were going to go to Harrison's cave before us and get tickets (as we had heard the line to get tickets could be over an hour long)

Waiting longer and longer for Katrina, Ramlin went looking for her.  Of course, just as she left, Katrina arrived.  She must have came to our meeting spot as we went down to 0, missed us in the elevator, and spent some time wandering around the dock (but didn't happen to run into the other group)  Now a good 40 mins late, we went out to the dock, but wouldn't you know it, group #1 was still there!

There was difficulty with the taxis charging more than we had thought.  Mom had researched the taxi price in advance, and they were asking what we thought was double.  Since Mom was with me waiting, it turned the situation standstill.  Turns out, it wasn't much more than we had originally priced out, and we got a lovely tour guide Jennifer out of it.  She was really amazing!  Took us out for the whole day, knew lots about the island, and really made up for the bad start to the day.

Upon arriving at Harrison's caves, there was no lineup at all!  Perhaps the reviews before were of when it reopened, making it a hot spot. 

Even better news was that they were celebrating an anniversary of them opening and were giving out free samples of Barbadian food!  What did I like most?  The fish balls were good (nice and spicy) but the best was by far "Sugar Cakes"  Sugar and coconut are the only ingredients.  Everyone in my family made a point of getting extra and giving them to me :)

We took the elevator down to where the tour started, beautiful garden, cool elevators:

 

Here are a bunch of pictures from inside the caves.  Sadly my camera died in the process of getting pictures, so this is it for my Barbados photos!

This one reminds me of pacman ghosts!

Underground waterfall

 

After the cave tour, we hit the road again.  Jennifer dropped us off at the beach and returned my grandparents to the port to do some shopping.  Thankfully Grandma offered to buy sugar cakes on my behalf, so I was able to enjoy the beach.

 

The beach was beautiful!  Sand was like icing sugar and despite the boiling temperatures outside, the sand was cool.  The water was nice and warm, clear and calm.  Not good snorkeling at this beach however, but I did see some silvery fish around me once or twice.  While sitting on the beach after, a guy with a plastic bag came by selling "Golden Apples"  At first we didn't want any, thinking it was golden delicious apples, but he gave us a sample and it was WONDERFUL!  Somewhere like a mango meets peach meets apple.  I bought one and Heather and I shared it.  Jennifer had told us that Barbados has a "Green Banana" which is tastier than regular bananas and doesn't grow anywhere else in the world. I wanted to try it, but no luck in finding any.

 

Stretch and Ride

Mondays are always yoga.  I was disappointed to get there last night to find that Lorie wouldn't be in, her mother is in critical condition.  So sending good energy her way!

The substitute instructor must have been the head of the organization, he was very good at the yoga himself, but I didn't like his lesson plan so much.  There were too many breathing exercises and not enough strength or balance poses.  However, this could have also been to do with the rest of the group who I had not seen before but seemed to struggle with a lot of the poses.  Not everyone is so lucky to have prepped all summer with other balancing acts, strengthening exercises and cardio.  I still cant believe how easy it was to catch on as technically this was only my 4th (or 4.5 - I count the one on ship as 0.5 as I didn't really learn too much) yoga class.  I posted previously about the "Unintentional Sports of Horseback Riding" and I guess yoga can be added in there.  Coincidentally, I have been working on a list in my mind every weekend of the unintentional sports of working in the barn.  Watch for this later, I may have to recruit someone to model or photograph these for me as that's much more fun than writing it!

Anyway, I felt that I hadn't worked enough and since I had plenty of time when I got home, I immediately changed into my riding boots and left for the barn.

Ok another side track here.  I wear my good riding pants to yoga instead of yoga pants.  On the other hand, I usually wear yoga pants when I ride.  Crazy?  Nope that's just me being horsey and cheap.  My yoga pants cost me $10, and my riding pants cost me about $70.  Clearly I don't trust my yoga pants for yoga, I can already see little holes starting to form at the seams where the butt is.  If I lose my pants, I would rather it be riding, because us crazy equestrians will understand!  Plus the saddle is a good hiding place for holey pants, whereas downward dog... well you know!

The ride was nothing that would stand out.  We just walked and trotted.  Bentley was super hyper, he hadn't been ridden since Thursday and even then it wasn't much because of my sore back.  He pushed hard to canter, but I stuck with the plan of lots of trotting in 10 minute intervals.  Toward the end, while he wasn't tired, he WAS being a lot better behaved, and trotting very nicely.  We used the time to work on lots of circles, small serpentines and some leg yielding to try and get rid of the stiffness on the one side.  Still didn't come even by the end of our ride, but some improvement.  Lots of slow work should help us recover!

After, since he was sweaty as usual (maybe not quite as sweaty as usual... it was much colder) I covered him in blankets

I thought he looked like one of the 3 wise men, in time for Christmas.  Lee thought he looked more like an Ewok.   Either way, he stayed in his hood for a good half an hour while I cleaned his bit, swept the aisles, and helped with the evening feed.  What a cutie!

Vacation Day 3 - Day at Sea

The third day was our only day at sea.  I booked a yoga class with Katrina for 8am.

The lesson was ok, but not great (I am really spoiled with the classes I have here)  they were all basic poses, and I am pretty sure its a standard script.  The instructor seemed more like a personal trainer who can do yoga than an actual yoga instructor.  The hour seemed long and repetitive.  The good side to it was the rocking ship added a new element to balance.  Katrina thought there was too many poses above the floor with the rocking of the ship, but I thought it could have gone further. 

After that, we put our stuff on some chairs we assumed to be in the adults only section and went to grab breakfast.  When I returned (we separated briefly after breakfast to get our swimsuits on) I realized we couldn't have been more wrong. Not only was the area NOT adults only, it was actually the toddler pool!

Of course, we immediately found somewhere else, and was lucky enough to have our own little section which had some shade for most of the day.  Heather and Ramlin joined us later.

After a few hours of lounging, I grew restless (I am not very good at doing nothing) and went to the gym for a run.  This was neat because the gym looks over the bow and in the daytime they open up the blinds, and it almost looks like you are running over the water.  I ran 7 miles, and COULD have done much more if it weren't for the giant blisters forming on each of my big toes.  My cardio and strength is there, now I have to figure out what to do about my shoes sliding ever so slightly.

Mom and dad happened to be touring the gym just as I was cooling down so I went with them to show them where everyone was.  Well they had all left and left my stuff behind.  I wasn't too happy about that.

After a shower, I went to get lunch, only to find out I had missed the lunch buffet by only about 5 minutes.  I had to settle with eating from the snack bar.  Unfortunately all I could really eat from there was nachos or french fries.  Not so good of a meal after running 7 miles!  I wish they had more fresh snacks available on board.  The closest thing to a vegetable at the snack bar was salsa.

I sat down and looked out over the boat while eating, but it was windy and instead of having a serene moment, my nachos blew into my hair and down the row of deck chairs, branding them all with gooey cheese.  oops!

Again, evening was pretty usual, good dinner in the dining room (we didn't go to the buffet any of the days) and early to bed for me.  Some may think its a waste, but my favourite thing to do on vacation is to go to bed early and enjoy a nice long sleep!

Yet another packed weekend.

Friday night was wonderful!  I went to see Heather and Rurik at their new barn.  It had felt like forever since we had hung out, and her new barn is almost completely deserted after dark.  We could vent about whatever, leaving us feeling great at the end!

Rurik is putting weight back on since I last saw him, he still is missing that sparkle in his eye when we fetched him from the field, but it comes back after being ridden for a few minutes.  We both suspected he is still adjusting from the move last week, and figuring out his place in the new herd.

Saturday was a regular day at Halton Place, but now Linda is there.  Shes off on vacation this week, so I offered to exercise Sable while she is gone.  So after I finished my morning chores, I got on Sable briefly and had my first ride in the HP arena.  Its so large and beautiful, and it felt so different to ride in it vs lunging or passing through to visit the bathroom.  I'm going to take a lesson on Sable with Lynne sometime this week, this is especially great because with Margie injured, I am not sure when I will get my next lesson with her.

I didn't have enough time to get to Myrddin after that, because I needed to be out of work with time to get clean and pretty for my office party.  On my way back from lunch, I started having a bad headache. 

It didn't stop on the way to the party, and the loud music just made it worse of course.  We still stayed throughout dinner but left before I could see a lot of the people I wanted to say hi to that night.  One interesting thing DID happen.  The DJ must have put his decorative curtains too close to the lights, and smoke set off the alarm for the whole building.  The fire department did arrive to which I told a few of the ladies "Our evening entertainment has arrived!"  This is particularly funny because last year we had an "award winning dance team" as entertainment, which turned out to be Vegas style showgirls.  Of course, they tried to get men on the dance floor with them which turned to all sorts of awkward.  After that, the dance floor was hot lava... nobody wanted to touch it! No dancers this year, but I like to think the ladies did get a little eye candy for being such good sports last year.

Yesterday I was supposed to go to the Myrddin potluck on my lunch, but my headache had not yet gone away.  I opted to nap it off on my lunch, which helped greatly!  I had wanted to go ride after work, but the snow had just started and calling for freezing rain, Lee didn't want me to go out late on country roads.  Also, the water mysteriously stopped at 5pm at HP... so I was sticky with ulcer medication (the syringe kept sticking, so in my struggles I managed to cover myself with it!), a shower was much needed.

I am hoping to get up to see Bentley tonight after yoga.  I don't usually try to cram in both, but I haven't seen him since Thursday and I miss him!

First 2 rides back

I was able to get out to the barn on Tuesday and ride a bit.  Boy was Bentley ever hyper!  He even threw a medium sized buck my way when I first asked for canter.  After a loud growl the canter was nicer, but another microscopic half buck was thrown in at another point, a second growl and no more problems.

We had the ring to ourselves so I decided to try some little jumping exercises to settle Mr. Energetic down (every time I asked for a circle, he took it as cue to canter).  I had Lee set up trot poles to a tiny crossrail.  As expected, the moment I picked up the trot again, he lunged forward trying to canter, it got even more difficult once he saw the obstacle.

We had some weird steps over the jump, but we got over.  Tried it a few more times and he just wasn't learning to relax, only how to make the canter work over the trot poles.  So I brought him back to the walk, and only allowed him to trot just before the trot poles.  He did it beautifully!  Back to walk.  Trot a little earlier and earlier each time until we were able to stay consistently trotting the whole time.  Our half halts were much more effective after the walking exercise and we added a second small jump around a large corner as a misshapen figure 8.  We then worked on trotting through the first jump with trot poles, cantering to the second jump, and coming back down to trot to repeat.

He was very good with the trot, and after a few bad distances in the canter, the two of us worked it out.  The walking exercise really helped to get him to focus and to listen to my half halts.


I also rode last night, however there was a class in there so we didn't get to do much.  Also, as I was tacking up (but not during anything in particular) I managed to hurt my back.  All of a sudden I was in extreme pain for no apparent reason.  Maybe a pinched nerve?  It wasn't anything related to where I hurt before and I didn't feel like I pulled anything, so perhaps its just one of those pesky things that pops up every so often.  Of course, I was already saddled and ready to go, so I rode anyway.  We just did an hour of light work, it hurt too much to trot a lot.  I guess it worked out ok anyway because I could just walk around the centre of the ring while the lessons went on.

There was nothing in particular that stood out last night, he was a little inflexible on the one side again, but I was having trouble with my own body so I am sure I was a major contributor.   Overall it was a nice ride and he was well behaved.  I practised keeping my hands down and steady while posting to keep him in contact, and he rounded beautifully.  Also worked on keeping him forward while he is in contact, as he tends to back off and lose impulsion when I bring him together.  He was a little confused, but we are improving still!

Wishlist

If you havent already, I reccommend that you get the Amazon Universal Wishlist toolbar.  You can go to any website online and say "I want it!" click the button, and it adds to one wishlist.  Much handier than having a wishlist at individual stores. 

If you are looking for xmas gifts for me, heres my wishlist
http://amzn.com/w/16LDJ00UUDRZW

Vacation Day 2: St. Thomas

The first day we landed in St. Thomas.  The plan here was that me, my 2 sisters and my parents would branch off from the other 4, take a rental car, and hit the beach.  This was probably the most relaxing day we had!

We got the rental car, and guess what, in St Thomas they drive on the left side of the road.  To make things more confusing however, they don't use the British style cars (where driver sits on right side), they use American cars (maybe because they are American territory?) which puts the driver on the outside of the road.  That made it very difficult for dad to drive, and we all had to be very quiet.  Shhhhhhh.  Ok, that's a little tricky for a bunch of women on the way to the beach!

We made it there safely, despite not being able to see around some turns.  The beach is free to visit but you have to pay $5 for a beach chair and they have a bar.  Our server's name was Sasha and she was very hospitable.  There were specials on buckets of Corona.  I had Heather or Katrina take a picture of me doing the stereotype corona by the beach picture, but its on someone else's camera.  I wanted to make Lee a little jealous!

Looking out from our spot to the left.

And to the right!  That's where the good snorkeling was I am told.

 

We stayed there for the better part of the day.  I went out swimming immediately when we got there, but I didn't stay long because even without putting my face in the water, the salt was really hurting my eyes.  I went back in a second time and was very careful to breaststroke out keeping my head out of the water.  Stroke, stroke, stroke... uh oh!  I hit something that didn't feel quite like water!  Jellyfish!  I immediately spun and swam as fast as i could out of the water, keeping my head up but still splashing in my eyes.  I like to use the phrase "I punched a jellyfish"  as that's what it really felt like.  I'm sure there are some good Chuck Norris jokes you can get out of that.

 

After a bucket of beer and some delicious smoothies, it was time to leave and we drove back toward the ship.  We stopped a few times to take photos. 

 

 

 

At one particularly beautiful spot, we saw a very nice ass.  Pun definitely intended!

 

Her name is Lady Gaga and she wears a beautiful flowered hat.  Take whatever jokes from that you want!

The roads were pretty steep (or we thought this until we got to some of the other islands)  Here is a picture I took out the back window, level with the car.  As you can see, you cant see road!  That's how steep it was!

Mom had eaten back at the beach.  She ate the only sandwich, and left her daughters to starve!  Haha.  So when we saw Wendys and really had to use the *trusted* bathroom, so we grabbed a bite to eat.  After, Katrina and I both bought a hat at the market across the street as neither of us had something floppy to protect our heads.  Both of us lost our hats at later points in the trip.  With the hat, my fanny backpack and my camera, I pulled off the ultimate tourist look!

 

 

I realized after, if I wanted the perfect tourist picture, I shouldn't have stood in front of the boat, but instead something weird or meaningless, like a fire hydrant or something.  Oh well!

 

Of course we had to stop at the bar in front of the ship when we saw IT HAD SWINGS!

Heather wasn't allowed to sit at the bar swings because she wasn't 18.  However, she WAS allowed to sit on a stool 2 feet back from the bar and watch us enjoy the swings.  Doesn't she look like she is having a great time?

After we got on the ship, it was pretty much a normal night.  Dinner at 6, then after I had relaxed enough to feel less bloated, I went to the gym and went for a nice 5 mile run on the treadmill.  I was happy to find out that my Monday night shows were on my own personal treadmill TV, so the time passed quickly and soon the gym was closing.  Early to bed. Early to rise!

This cool dude greeted me in my room and assisted in a restful slumber.

 

 



Happy Anniversary!

On this day exactly 1 year ago, I traded a wad of cash for a wad of fur.

Many of you may remember where we were a year ago.  A horse that had very little handling and was afraid of people.  I couldn't touch anywhere from his shoulder up, or belly down without him being terrified or kicking out with displeasure.  Putting on a bridle or halter was out of the question, its a good thing he came with one!

Within a few days, I was able to touch him enough to catch him in the field (even with some silly games) and sort of lead him.

A few days later he was picking up his feet and letting me put a saddlepad on him.  He was still an a-hole to lead and sometimes we spend over an hour just trying to get from the field to the barn.  How I wasn't injured or killed from being dragged through the mud that many times, I don't know.  Despite that, he was progressing nicely in hand... no longer trying to play nip me when trotting beside me and following commands well.

Only a few weeks after I got him, I saddled him and sat on his back for the first time.  He took it like a pro!

Soon I was able to (after great struggle) get a bit less bridle on him and we started working at faster gaits.

In March, we did our first ride on the "trails" in other words, around the hayfield. 

 

In April, he was starting to be ok with his ears being touched and for our first lesson with Margie, I introduced the bit.  Took it like he had been doing it all his life!

 

Over the summer we had issues with on and off lameness, so instead of working him too much, we found other ways to amuse ourselves.

 

 

And finally at the end of September, he was able to complete his first and second distance ride!  Wow, look how different he looks!  Not physically, but he is so much more mature and confident.  No longer a little boy!

He has become the horse I can do anything with, the horse of my dreams!  Now we are at our new home, and looking forward to many more great years to come.

Vacation - Day 1: Debarkation

The day started out nice and early with our trip to the airport.  There was a slight setback when our boarding passes we had printed in advance didnt work, so we had to go through the whole ordeal. 

After clearing security, we all took turns going to the bathroom, Katrina came back stating about how some child vomit had accidentally flung her way and got on her hand.  Of course, I snickered to which she tried to curse me with a sick child next to me on the plane.

The opposite coudlnt be more true, instead I only had one person, empty seat in the middle, and he was very quiet and kept to himself.  Exactly how I want to spend my flight!  The time *pun intended* flew by and we were in San Juan before I knew it.

After landing, all 9 of us met to get taxis to port, however Nancy's cane had been forgotten/lost/stolen so only half of us went to the port.  It was nice to be able to wait somewhere with some ventilation and Katrina and Heather went for ice cream.

Nice Heather!

Heather and went ahead of everyone else to get checked in.  When we got there, they took a picture of us together for souvenir purposes.  Just as we were about to check in with our boarding passes, everyone else came in and yelled at us to wait for them (although looking back, we didnt need them for anything... one of the negatives about travelling in large groups, one person gets confused and confuses the rest then new rules and directions get created!)  Everyone else went to get their souvenir photo done but Katrina missed it, so she was being called back.  I told her she had to go and get the photo for her ship ID and even though everyone was posing in photos together, she believed me and stood alone for her photo.  Heather and I LAUGHED AND LAUGHED!  Katrina wasnt very happy and made a stink about it, which of course made us laugh more. 

Heather and I were sharing a room, so we went together to find it after some more confusion resulting in dad forbidding us to go to our rooms (thats what happens when you get older, punishment isnt going to your room, its staying out of it) while he tried to set the limits on our spending cards.  It was painful to watch him try to use the touchscreen  and eventually as he was giving up and telling us to go to our rooms and figure it out later, I just took over and did it in only a minute.  The room  was quite nice, the window was actually very large, not just a port hole, but a full window.

I cant remember what we did after that.  Probably some exploring before dinner.  Dinner was very good, I seem to remember having the fish.  The portions were fine dining, which some  may consider small, but I was happy with just one appetiser, one main, and sorbet for dessert.  Of course that sparked the debate as to what is the difference between sorbet and sherbert.  Also signed up for a "cruise the vineyards" package which gave me 5 bottles of wine (split with Katrina).  It was just enough to last us all 7 nights of the trip!

After dinner, I believe I did some more exploring, found the gym and got the schedule for yoga.  I met up with Katrina and Ramlin (Nancy's friend) later as we wanted to go to some of the onboard bars/clubs.  We tried every one (probably 4 or 5) but they all were deserted.  Only had one drink in one of the bars and went back to the rooms.  We met up with Heather who was apparently not allowed in the teen club without written permission from parents (at 16, who really needs this!) so we all just hung out until 3am in Katrina and Ramlin's room.  Ordered some room service which is free and called it a night!

Congrats Tayla!

Again I will delay my vacation report, because this morning on the way to work, i got an email from Tayla that she had her baby.

Little (big) boy.

On Monday, she messaged me to say she wouldn't make it to the Christmas party.  Funny thing was we were in a meeting to discuss the arrangements for the party.  We wondered if that was code for "I'm going into labour" but she assured us she wasn't (but kind of wished she did)

She got her wish and came early.  Very happy for her!  I had a feeling it was going to be a boy :)

Yoga - lesson number 3.5

Although I desperately wanted to go visit my horsie last night, I went to my usual Monday yoga class.  I tried to justify not going but as I counted the amount of Mondays left before my 10 class pass expired, it was quite apparent that I couldn't make any excuses.

Don't worry, i haven't forgotten to write about my vacation, but I haven't had a chance to go through photos yet and I thought it was better to write about yoga while it is fresh in my mind. 

So last night was focused on lower back, shoulders and wrists... my specialty!  I certainly stunned my teacher Lorie with my super-yoga that night.  In fact, there was some where I was able to hold the pose better than her (to give her credit, she had been doing zumba all day and was likely tired at this point!)

She said there was a "request of the week" to do camel pose (I assume this was from one of her other classes) and said that it was hard but we will work up to it and no hard feelings if we cant get it.  Well, I not only got it... PERFECTLY (in her words) but it was relatively easy for me.  She certainly raved about my back's flexibility and I was able to push it and all the other poses very far.  I was wearing my GEC tshirt, not sure if anyone made the connection that riding & mucking=incredible back strength! 

Some of the balance poses also were quite easy for me, and I related it to things I do at the house or barn.  Gives me an idea for a photo series.  That will come in a few months I am sure once I get all my thoughts together!

Lorie is great, so encouraging, I cant believe how well I am able to perform with her.  Hmmm hopefully I can find it in the budget after my 10 classes are done to keep going.  Time to start eating less or something!

I'm Back!

Although I didn't mention anything last week, I went on vacation.  I didn't publicize it as it seems like a bad idea to tell the whole world that your house will be for the most-part unguarded.  Lee was home, but worked enough that I can still use the phrase unguarded.

Besides, I am sure most of who reads this either knew I was going, or went with me.

I will get into details of the vacation later, but for now I have to get to a weeks worth of work and emails that are clogging up my to-do list.