The big Bank Holiday round-up.
Man, what an awesome Bank Holiday weekend. I usually work at least one of the days, but this year I didn't and it was definately the right decision. Money does not necessarily equal happiness.
Thursday after work I had my second driving lesson (now I can turn left AND right! We also did roundabouts, and I went up to fourth gear. Going up is fine, coming down for junctions etc. was a little bit tricksy), and after that I headed south to find me a glenatron. <3
There was a big family Easter get-together on Friday, so I met the majority of the Moxon clan. As a super-shy person it was somewhat daunting, but everyone was so lovely and the weather was nice and OMG Ben's mum is such an amazing cook ... sooo it wasn't nearly as bad as my anxious self had imagined. :)
On Friday evening, Ben's band had another gig; it was technically their first paid one, because everyone was given a free drink. Even me. :D I also learnt the value of having a 6'8" policeman as your drummer, hahahaha. XD Got to love those slighty dodgy pubs...
Saturday was spent mostly chilling and playing with ponies. Also visiting a few tack shops on a quest to find riding gloves that cost less than £20...
I came home Saturday night, because Sunday and Monday were spent at the Oxfordshire and Thame Country show with the Shires. Our first musical ride of the year! :D Ben wasn't able to come and watch, which was kinda sad-making, but couldn't be helped ... on the other hand, Jen rode with us on Sunday and Flurry - who I used to work with and haven't seen for 2 years - rode on the Monday. So that was nice. :)
I took this on my way home from work at some point last week - I liked how the sunbeams were shining through the gathering rainclouds.
On being turned out in the morning, Beatrice makes a beeline for her boys.
Bea and Boy with William and Harvey acting as chaperones on either side. The boys seem to love climbing onto those hillocks; I was thinking how curious that was this evening, actually. I guess I never thought of horses finding play in the topography of their field.
William and Harvey.
Ben and I helped to hide eggs for the Easter Egg hunt on Friday. He's my Easter Bunny! And if you're sniggering with ideas of rude innuendos right now, then rest assured that I have already thought them. Heh.
All he was doing was seeing if he could hide an egg inside the bird feeder; but the lighting and the pose have just transformed it into a scene from some sort of epic fantasy. I was a little distance away when I saw this and just had to get a shot. :3
Playing with Pippa, who belongs to his parents.
Pip looks attentive - and also remarkably tiny...
I love how they seem to be mirrored in this shot! Haha.
Pippa prefers it when I juggle, because I drop more balls.
I just liked the angle.
She is a clever pup. :)
XD What she's actually doing is getting ready to leap and catch - I caught her a split-second before she did so. However, it looks like the poor dog's cowering away from all these balls flying towards her. That's honestly not what's happening!
I like this one. :) Mostly I just like seeing him happy...
Cash likes velcro!
Cash and Zorro kisses.
The big beautiful cob himself.
Ben rocking out with his mandolin.
Their keyboardist was away, so this was the band line-up for the night.
Although a friend of Ben's did step in to help out on the last song. :)
Ben also went up to play bass with the house band and, amongst other covers, they did a cracking rendition of the Postman Pat themetune. Friggin' awesome. I especially liked the vocalist's comment of "Well, that was random!" at the end. XD Also I don't know why he's sticking his fingers in his ears at this point, but it amused me so I took a picture. :P
Stu is pretty good with the random hand gestures.
Bringing Cash in on Sunday.
Cash thought that the whip was a good chewtoy.
Pretty little pony.
D'aww. :3
<3
OMFG HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING SO ADORABLE. *dies of cute*
Jen on Sunday with Cooper, who was her ride for the day. :P
Doing our walk-through before the ride; I think I was just mucking around and showing how I could trot on, but it looks like Jen is shaking her fist and chasing me. XD
Me and big beautiful Macey. All these riding photos were taken by Pip's boyfriend Paul, who came along to watch on both days and proved indispensable. First he fixed the car (the back wheel blew as we were on the way to the showground. Exciting times!), on Sunday he very kindly agreed to take photos of the displays for me, and on both days he MADE ALL THE TEA. :P Very grateful 'cause it's nice to have pictures!
Mace is such a goon. I love him dearly but I wish he'd just learn to settle and not pull like a friggin' train whenever he gets excited...
I am not in this shot because I was a little bit too far to the left. For shame. Bad me. :(
Macey and I in the lead, Jen and Cooper behind.
First pair: Elf on William, me on Mace. Second pair: Steph on Horace, Jen on Cooper. Third pair: Mo on Boy, Pip on Harvey.
Me and Macey. See that foam on his chest? When I say he gets excited, I'm not exaggerating. :P
Me and Macey following Jen and Cooper. How awesome do they look? :D
Our other display was Toy Story themed. Mo on Boy as Mr Potato Head, Steph on Horace as Buzz, Elf on William as Jesse.
Yes ... I was Little Bo Peep, again. :P
Macey's so fast, he's out of shot!
Pip as Woody, Jen as Soldier, me as Bo. These guys in the crowd kept wolf-whistling and I didn't know why, until Paul pointed out that - from a distance and due to the colour of my jods - when my dress blew up, it looked like I was bare-legged. >_<
Oh - also, about 5 minutes in, a stitch went on my bonnet and the pissing thing BLEW OVER MY FACE. So I spent the remaining 15 minutes alternating between steering my horse or pushing my bonnet back up so that I could actually see. Sigh.
And this is Flurry, who had Cooper on Monday. :)
Our next musical ride is on the May Bank Holiday - at Burghley! HELL YEH.
Thursday after work I had my second driving lesson (now I can turn left AND right! We also did roundabouts, and I went up to fourth gear. Going up is fine, coming down for junctions etc. was a little bit tricksy), and after that I headed south to find me a glenatron. <3
There was a big family Easter get-together on Friday, so I met the majority of the Moxon clan. As a super-shy person it was somewhat daunting, but everyone was so lovely and the weather was nice and OMG Ben's mum is such an amazing cook ... sooo it wasn't nearly as bad as my anxious self had imagined. :)
On Friday evening, Ben's band had another gig; it was technically their first paid one, because everyone was given a free drink. Even me. :D I also learnt the value of having a 6'8" policeman as your drummer, hahahaha. XD Got to love those slighty dodgy pubs...
Saturday was spent mostly chilling and playing with ponies. Also visiting a few tack shops on a quest to find riding gloves that cost less than £20...
I came home Saturday night, because Sunday and Monday were spent at the Oxfordshire and Thame Country show with the Shires. Our first musical ride of the year! :D Ben wasn't able to come and watch, which was kinda sad-making, but couldn't be helped ... on the other hand, Jen rode with us on Sunday and Flurry - who I used to work with and haven't seen for 2 years - rode on the Monday. So that was nice. :)
I took this on my way home from work at some point last week - I liked how the sunbeams were shining through the gathering rainclouds.
On being turned out in the morning, Beatrice makes a beeline for her boys.
Bea and Boy with William and Harvey acting as chaperones on either side. The boys seem to love climbing onto those hillocks; I was thinking how curious that was this evening, actually. I guess I never thought of horses finding play in the topography of their field.
William and Harvey.
Ben and I helped to hide eggs for the Easter Egg hunt on Friday. He's my Easter Bunny! And if you're sniggering with ideas of rude innuendos right now, then rest assured that I have already thought them. Heh.
All he was doing was seeing if he could hide an egg inside the bird feeder; but the lighting and the pose have just transformed it into a scene from some sort of epic fantasy. I was a little distance away when I saw this and just had to get a shot. :3
Playing with Pippa, who belongs to his parents.
Pip looks attentive - and also remarkably tiny...
I love how they seem to be mirrored in this shot! Haha.
Pippa prefers it when I juggle, because I drop more balls.
I just liked the angle.
She is a clever pup. :)
XD What she's actually doing is getting ready to leap and catch - I caught her a split-second before she did so. However, it looks like the poor dog's cowering away from all these balls flying towards her. That's honestly not what's happening!
I like this one. :) Mostly I just like seeing him happy...
Cash likes velcro!
Cash and Zorro kisses.
The big beautiful cob himself.
Ben rocking out with his mandolin.
Their keyboardist was away, so this was the band line-up for the night.
Although a friend of Ben's did step in to help out on the last song. :)
Ben also went up to play bass with the house band and, amongst other covers, they did a cracking rendition of the Postman Pat themetune. Friggin' awesome. I especially liked the vocalist's comment of "Well, that was random!" at the end. XD Also I don't know why he's sticking his fingers in his ears at this point, but it amused me so I took a picture. :P
Stu is pretty good with the random hand gestures.
Bringing Cash in on Sunday.
Cash thought that the whip was a good chewtoy.
Pretty little pony.
D'aww. :3
<3
OMFG HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING SO ADORABLE. *dies of cute*
Jen on Sunday with Cooper, who was her ride for the day. :P
Doing our walk-through before the ride; I think I was just mucking around and showing how I could trot on, but it looks like Jen is shaking her fist and chasing me. XD
Me and big beautiful Macey. All these riding photos were taken by Pip's boyfriend Paul, who came along to watch on both days and proved indispensable. First he fixed the car (the back wheel blew as we were on the way to the showground. Exciting times!), on Sunday he very kindly agreed to take photos of the displays for me, and on both days he MADE ALL THE TEA. :P Very grateful 'cause it's nice to have pictures!
Mace is such a goon. I love him dearly but I wish he'd just learn to settle and not pull like a friggin' train whenever he gets excited...
I am not in this shot because I was a little bit too far to the left. For shame. Bad me. :(
Macey and I in the lead, Jen and Cooper behind.
First pair: Elf on William, me on Mace. Second pair: Steph on Horace, Jen on Cooper. Third pair: Mo on Boy, Pip on Harvey.
Me and Macey. See that foam on his chest? When I say he gets excited, I'm not exaggerating. :P
Me and Macey following Jen and Cooper. How awesome do they look? :D
Our other display was Toy Story themed. Mo on Boy as Mr Potato Head, Steph on Horace as Buzz, Elf on William as Jesse.
Yes ... I was Little Bo Peep, again. :P
Macey's so fast, he's out of shot!
Pip as Woody, Jen as Soldier, me as Bo. These guys in the crowd kept wolf-whistling and I didn't know why, until Paul pointed out that - from a distance and due to the colour of my jods - when my dress blew up, it looked like I was bare-legged. >_<
Oh - also, about 5 minutes in, a stitch went on my bonnet and the pissing thing BLEW OVER MY FACE. So I spent the remaining 15 minutes alternating between steering my horse or pushing my bonnet back up so that I could actually see. Sigh.
And this is Flurry, who had Cooper on Monday. :)
Our next musical ride is on the May Bank Holiday - at Burghley! HELL YEH.