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.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
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 :)
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 :)
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
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 :)
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!
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!
Monday, December 10, 2012
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!
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!
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!
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