Islands in the sea of days
I've been quite busy lately so not updated as much as I would like to so I'm going to cover a few weekends in one update...
Two weekends ago, I went to visit herecirm, staying up at her house and getting to meet the rest of her family for the first time, which is always a scary prospect.
On the Saturday Sari was working at Sacrewell, looking after Shirehorses, so I took the opportunity to go along and help out as best as my very limited knowledge and expertise would allow.
Explaining something about the horse I was grooming to some visitors. I was probably making it up, but it turns out I know enough that I make up more or less factual answers by this point...
I got to ride Cooper, one of the clydesdales they have there, for a circuit of the farm. I didn't have my riding boots so it didn't matter that we couldn't find any stirrups long or wide enough for me. It was interesting going around their field as the horses still in there came galloping over and went off bucking around the place. Cooper, with his blinkers on, was intrigued:
"What are they doing over there? Should I join in?"
"You really don't want to know, big guy. And no. Definitely no."
When we put them back in the field at the end of the day I got to meet little Tom, a yearling Arab/Shire cross. He was supercute and playful.
In the evening we went out for dinner in one of the pubs in Sari's village with her family and I got to talk to them a bit and I think it went alright and then there was a pub quiz and we won on account of having more than the average amount of genius and Cambridgeshire pub quizzes being easier than Swansea ones.
Also we lucked out on a picture round that was about Harry Potter film characters and actors and as although I rarely see films I do waste time actor-spotting on IMDB I had a surprisingly good recollection of these.
The next weekend Sari was working on the day job and then with Shires in the afternoon so she couldn't come and visit, sleepsy_mouse and I planned to take the ponies out for a long ride on Saturday, but the weather looked glum and dull so we decided to leave it for the afternoon and did a short schooling session instead and then had a free afternoon.
Tom playing with one of the other Shires.
You'll notice I appear to be back at Sacrewell helping out with shirehorses. That would be because my free afternoon decision was to drive the 130 miles there to see Sari. She was surprised and very happy to see me, which was exactly the reaction I had hoped for, so that was very nice.
Tom likes scratchies a whole lot. Also he likes people. He's a friendly little cove all in all.
After that we went out for dinner in a restaurant in Huntingdon, almost like it was a proper date. The next morning Sari left for work and I headed home.
That afternoon Lou and I took the ponies out to visit the far side of the Old A3 towards Haslemere, an area that has never really been accessible until the tunnel opened, so we have more trails available to us winding up and down the hills and through the woods on that side of the ridge.
Zorro clearly most impressed with the view. The structure we're standing on is the foundation of "The Temple Of The Four Winds," which I think was some kind of folly built around the turn of the twentieth century.
This weekend Sari came to visit me, which is always a pleasure and as my parents were away for much of the weekend we offered to house and dog-sit for them. On Friday night we had dinner with them, which gave Sari a chance to do the family meeting thing as well. I think it went well, my family think she's pretty great anyways because I'm happier than I have ever been, but she made a favourable impression partly by looking absolutely exquisite ( a fairly standard way for a Sari to look) and being her usual charming self - as she is naturally very shy, I was proud of her for that.
Today we took Pip the dog out over Thursley common, so a few pictures from the wanderings follow.
Alder berries, I think. Some kind of tree berries, at any rate.
Pinewoods like these are very much the terrain I grew up in and I feel very at home among them.
A fallen tree in a swampy and little-traversed area of the woods, creating a pleasantly primordial atmosphere.
The boardwalks across Thursley Bog provide an ideal sunning surface for the local lizard population, who are very nonchalant about walkers and dogs going past.
Almost but not quite sharp photo of a yellow dragonfly. I don't recall noticing any yellow dragonflies in the past, so if anyone knows what make this is I would be glad to hear...
Sari has gone home now and I won't see her again for ages which is sad, but then it will be supersweet when we do get to see one another again. And it's not sad that she is going off to seek adventures in foreign countries. I'm happy for her in that respect. But I will miss her a whole lot.
Two weekends ago, I went to visit herecirm, staying up at her house and getting to meet the rest of her family for the first time, which is always a scary prospect.
On the Saturday Sari was working at Sacrewell, looking after Shirehorses, so I took the opportunity to go along and help out as best as my very limited knowledge and expertise would allow.
Explaining something about the horse I was grooming to some visitors. I was probably making it up, but it turns out I know enough that I make up more or less factual answers by this point...
I got to ride Cooper, one of the clydesdales they have there, for a circuit of the farm. I didn't have my riding boots so it didn't matter that we couldn't find any stirrups long or wide enough for me. It was interesting going around their field as the horses still in there came galloping over and went off bucking around the place. Cooper, with his blinkers on, was intrigued:
"What are they doing over there? Should I join in?"
"You really don't want to know, big guy. And no. Definitely no."
When we put them back in the field at the end of the day I got to meet little Tom, a yearling Arab/Shire cross. He was supercute and playful.
In the evening we went out for dinner in one of the pubs in Sari's village with her family and I got to talk to them a bit and I think it went alright and then there was a pub quiz and we won on account of having more than the average amount of genius and Cambridgeshire pub quizzes being easier than Swansea ones.
Also we lucked out on a picture round that was about Harry Potter film characters and actors and as although I rarely see films I do waste time actor-spotting on IMDB I had a surprisingly good recollection of these.
The next weekend Sari was working on the day job and then with Shires in the afternoon so she couldn't come and visit, sleepsy_mouse and I planned to take the ponies out for a long ride on Saturday, but the weather looked glum and dull so we decided to leave it for the afternoon and did a short schooling session instead and then had a free afternoon.
Tom playing with one of the other Shires.
You'll notice I appear to be back at Sacrewell helping out with shirehorses. That would be because my free afternoon decision was to drive the 130 miles there to see Sari. She was surprised and very happy to see me, which was exactly the reaction I had hoped for, so that was very nice.
Tom likes scratchies a whole lot. Also he likes people. He's a friendly little cove all in all.
After that we went out for dinner in a restaurant in Huntingdon, almost like it was a proper date. The next morning Sari left for work and I headed home.
That afternoon Lou and I took the ponies out to visit the far side of the Old A3 towards Haslemere, an area that has never really been accessible until the tunnel opened, so we have more trails available to us winding up and down the hills and through the woods on that side of the ridge.
Zorro clearly most impressed with the view. The structure we're standing on is the foundation of "The Temple Of The Four Winds," which I think was some kind of folly built around the turn of the twentieth century.
This weekend Sari came to visit me, which is always a pleasure and as my parents were away for much of the weekend we offered to house and dog-sit for them. On Friday night we had dinner with them, which gave Sari a chance to do the family meeting thing as well. I think it went well, my family think she's pretty great anyways because I'm happier than I have ever been, but she made a favourable impression partly by looking absolutely exquisite ( a fairly standard way for a Sari to look) and being her usual charming self - as she is naturally very shy, I was proud of her for that.
Today we took Pip the dog out over Thursley common, so a few pictures from the wanderings follow.
Alder berries, I think. Some kind of tree berries, at any rate.
Pinewoods like these are very much the terrain I grew up in and I feel very at home among them.
A fallen tree in a swampy and little-traversed area of the woods, creating a pleasantly primordial atmosphere.
The boardwalks across Thursley Bog provide an ideal sunning surface for the local lizard population, who are very nonchalant about walkers and dogs going past.
Almost but not quite sharp photo of a yellow dragonfly. I don't recall noticing any yellow dragonflies in the past, so if anyone knows what make this is I would be glad to hear...
Sari has gone home now and I won't see her again for ages which is sad, but then it will be supersweet when we do get to see one another again. And it's not sad that she is going off to seek adventures in foreign countries. I'm happy for her in that respect. But I will miss her a whole lot.