Two more necklaces. The yellow and black one is made of components from a necklace I loved in university and broke probably back in grad school. I kept meaning to put it together, but never did; I suspect many pieces have been lost over the years as I remember this being quite a bit longer. The rose quartz was purchased back when I was going to ( Read more... )

Today at swimming, I was given 50 yard drills to do in one minute even. I don't think I have ever succeeded in doing them in under 1:05, and then it was basically touch the wall and start again. This time, I got 5-10 seconds rest at the end of each 50. In my first hour swim, I have graduated by one lane (thanks to many new members) so I am now ( Read more... )

Got up at 5:30 this morning so I could be at my favourite volunteer activity of the year ( Read more... )

Today I had an excellent riding lesson on Monty. I managed to multitask by making each arm and leg move independently (push his bum out onto the track with the left leg, while pushing him forward with the right leg, keeping steady pressure with the right hand while giving and taking with the left hand to get him to relax and bend), at the same time ( Read more... )

My teacher left out the saddle and bridle, and told me to just get ready on my own today, as she had another appointment until just before class time. When I got to the stable, the door was closed, so I closed it behind me and was in a space I have never enjoyed before. There were nine horses and me ( Read more... )

Biked to swimming in the rain, practised sprints for an hour, then did an hour of drills and biked home. Promptly had a nap that went on far too long. Did a bit of cleaning and a few minutes of gardening, started a load of laundry and bought groceries. By then, it was time to pick up S. She must have been even tired than me, as she has been asleep ( Read more... )

ShuLing and I worked the fall horse trials today. I got to scribe with a new judge, Anne Galt. I would love to take lessons from her, but it appears she just does freelance judging work ( Read more... )

I got a few pictures I was rather pleased with.

I liked the range of blues and whites in this:


( Read more... )

Today I learned that if I want a really good circle with a bendy horse, I need to put my outside leg on like I'm about to canter. Once I was told, I magically made Mercedes bend every time. It feels wonderful, and I have occasionally gotten it in the past, but I didn't know what I had done to make it happen consistently. When cantering, I needed to ( Read more... )

I can't hold enough instructions in my brain when trying to jump. Nothing is sufficiently internalized to be automatic, and when I try to remember too much at once, I tense up and it all falls apart. For the last four months, my friend Rowan and I have been asking for one take-away from each lesson - the thing we need to think about all week so ( Read more... )