Seeing the Light

After a loooong winter off, and a lot of waivering and waffling. And fretting and indecisiveness and basically hiding my head in the sand... I scheduled a lesson with a local trainer. I chose to have a lesson with her because, while she is relatively new to the world of eventing, she is an accomplished adult ammy hunter/jumper rider, and is a "student of the sport" of eventing. She had some very respectable scores at USEA recognized horse trials at BN, and her other students do well. I also had a glimpse into her teaching style at a clinic she hosted at her farm last year when she took me aside when Alfie was having a "TB Moment" and acting up a little. And I liked what she said and how she handled us.

Well the lesson was fantastic. And while we spent a lot of time just walking (I'd say about 60 of the 90 minutes of my ride), we accomplished so, SO much. Alfie's issue with the big scary corner melted away. He ceased cow-kicking when I pushed him towards the corner. He understood that "Yes, I want you to be over there, and no, I won't let that terrible, pony-eating chair/pole/cinderblock/random object hurt you". This new instructor gave me a handful of incredibly useful tools to put in my tool chest to deal with Alfie when he does have his little fits. She also gave me some stretches to do with Alfie before each ride since he is very, very stiff and inflexible. My new accessories shall be a dressage whip and/or little round nubby ball spurs each time I ride. My leg is soooo weak from lack of riding all winter that I can barely push Alfie over, so instructor suggested the new "accessories" to pursuede my noble steed OOOVEERRRRR to where he needs to be. I am master & commander... so, listen up, Alfie!

We also discussed Alfie's overall situation... his feed, his turn out, his history. And my goals. Short term and long term (very... very long term). And I can't really recall having those discussions with a trainer in my "previous life" before my very first lesson with them. I'm so thrilled. Really... so incredibly happy with the way my lesson went and the confidence I gained from it. I will make progress this summer. I will.

In a slightly different, but still related to light, topic... my garden is just chugging along. Spring is such an amazing time of year for me. I love my garden. I love starting it each spring, even if I whine a bit about moving all that dirt every year. I love watching the plants grow--or this year sprout, since I started several things from seed. I admit that I have been giving all the little seedlings a pep talk just about every night. Now, I don't know if it helps or not... but they are looking good! I was thrilled to see a total of 5 green bean seedlings pushing up out of the ground just the other day. I have never, ever grown them before so I'm a little wary (wouldn't you be if the seed packet suggested you "inoculate" your plants?) but encouraged since they seem to be doing just fine at the moment.

I purchased ... well, too much really, but SO CHEAP! About 45 cents a plant from a small, local nursery... Tomatoes (better boy), zucchini, yellow squash (straight neck), egg plant, and I think 4 different kinds of peppers. 3 bell pepper varieties (yellow,orange and an exotic-looking purple!) and banana peppers. 24 plants in all, and I spent less than $12 at the little nursery. They didn't have any unusual varieties of veggies, but I think thats the least we've spent on plants in a long time. I still have to find one of my favorite tomatoes... a variety of grape tomato that looks almost like a cross between a Roma and a grape tomato, they're so big. Its called "Juliet" and its the most delicious little thing. Sweet and a little tangy. I oven-dried some last year and thought I had gone to heaven. We've bought a Juliet for the past three years, so I'll be picking one up soon.

When the plants go in... thats when I know its summer.

Oh, and Lilly Shar Pei is doing GREAT in her new home. Its been... three weeks already I think, and I get an almost daily report from her mom since she works just across the hall from me. Lilly's hair is growing back on her neck where her skin infection was most severe, and she's had all her shots now and tested negative for heartworms. I am without words to express just how happy and grateful I am that Meryl and her husband opened their hearts and home to this little dog. She's a little gem, worthy of a fabulous home.

Don't ask about my gym plans.. since there aren't really any. But happy to report I hover right around 168. I really need to get off my fat behind. That lesson (all 90 minutes of it) really showed me how completely and utterly out of shape I am... and I mostly rode at a walk! Pathetic!

Not much else to report on here... Hank and Gus had their annual today and check out very well overall. Hank was a little... onery... when blood was drawn for his heartworm test, but he tends to get pissy at the vet (he hasn't been the same since his very bad GI issue last summer... when the vet had to... uhm... have a feel in there to make sure everything seemed ok). Gus got different meds for his ear infection that I have been battling on and off for about 3 months. Hopefully the stuff he got today will kick it to the curb!

And that is all... for now. More on gardening, walking your dogs (dammit!) and a really great book next time.

What I do with My Days Off

Without a whole lot of explanation, I am lucky to work for a non-profit organization that is closed for many holidays during the year. Many of my friends hate me because every time they turn around, I have yet another day off. Some years it amounts to maybe 7 or 8 days stretched out over the entire year.... some years it feels like we have too many days off!

But to be fair, having those holidays off means I have a lot of catching up to do when I get back to my office, and often when I have several days off in succession, I barely come up for a gasp of air once our building is open after the holiday. Its a trade off, to be sure. But one I gladly make.

So, as if turns out I had Tuesday and Wednesday off last week, and was also off yesterday and today. You want to know what the heck I did with all that time, don't you? Well.... truth be told I did not stay home and eat bon-bons on my couch. I've been busy!

I'm sure you'll all remember "Sharpie"....

Well, I am glad to say that our little friend found a home! I took her to my vet on Wednesday, and aside from a skin infection she's in generally good health. My vet guesses her to be about 8 months old, and he absolutely loved her personality. Very happy, curious and sweet little dog.

After speaking to a co-worker about "Sharpie", she and her husband came over on Saturday to meet her. They fell in love, and took her home. I am happy to say that "Lilly" is now loving her new home, and even got to go out on the boat with her new mom and dad. YAY LILLY!!!

Speaking of Saturday... we had some dirt delivered for the yard and garden that morning...

A lot of dirt.

In fact... it was 18 cubic yards of dirt.

That's a lot of freaking dirt. Just look at that pile! And there's still some in the truck that the driver has to dump out yet. It was going to be a long Easter weekend.

We needed to fill some holes and depressions that were worsened by the extremely wet winter we had here in Georgia, and of course we needed to prep the vegetable garden for this summer. So we (of course my darling husband helped) filled the wheel barrow, pushed the wheel barrow, dumped the wheel barrow (lather, rinse, repeat!) many times. Until we got to the really big ditch/hole/depression in the yard. Then we hooked the dumper to the riding mower and moved mountains of dirt that way!

Then it was on to tilling and filling the garden.

Yes. We have a garden. And why the heck not when you have an acre of property? I think its a nice small garden... but when I tell people its about 12 ft x 25 ft they gasp and say cute, endearing suburban things like "WOW! You must live out in the country!" or "You take care of that yourself?"

Just to clarify....I do not live "way out in the country"... there is a Starbucks about two miles from my mailbox. And yeah, my husband and I take care of that big, scary garden all by ourselves, no day laborers required. Seriously, can people not figure out how tomatoes work? And that they can be grown in the actual ground in a yard? I digress...

The goal of the dirt mountain moving is to get the beds from looking like this, after a long winter of neglect...

sadly, those are weeds. lots. of. weeds.

To this, with some raking and pulling of weeds....

To THIS! Once the tilling, filling and planting is done.

Currently however, there are no plants. This picture is from last summer. Nevertheless, earth was added and tilled and the beds look great, but no plants yet. We tend to wait until the last week of April, to be sure there is zero chance of frost killing our precious plant progeny (say it three times fast!).

I did manage to get some seeds planted though, for late spring/early summer veggies. This morning I planted two kinds of beans (a French pole bean, and some sort of bush bean) along with carrots, radishes, spinach and a mixed lettuce. I have never grown green beans before, so this should be an adventure. And radishes are new for me, too, but only take 25 days to harvest which was appealing to me. If you want kids to get involved with gardening... radishes and lettuce are your best bet. Super fast-growing so kids stay interested!

Growing lettuce from seed has to be one of my favorite things about having a garden... almost as soon as it's germinated you can eat it. I can literally pick my lunch in the morning, fresh from my own garden... only taking as many leaves of lettuce as I need. The rest is all there waiting for me out in the fresh air when I get home... and not smelly and wilty in the veggie bin of the fridge.

In another couple of weeks we will plant zucchini and yellow squash, peppers and possibly eggplant or a couple other things. The peppers need all summer to grow, and squash start and finish rather early. Once the squash wrap up their season, we'll plant tomatoes. I am counting the days....

Easter Sunday I baked and cooked for the family (husband, sister, and our parents). Beef tenderloin, fanned potatoes, rosemary butter roles and grilled asparagus. Carrot cake for dessert. It was an outstanding meal!

I rode my pony... Alfie was happy enough to see me, but was no so excited to work once we got out to the ring. We worked on his listening skills, which are horribly lacking. Lots of circles, figure 8's, changes of direction, etc. so he was on his toes and paying attention to me and not the pile of poles on the ground outside the ring that week after week after week are the scariest things ever. But Alfie's been off all winter, and with more consistent work I know he'll improve. He's shedding like a mammoth, and is in need of a spa day after a winter outside. And oh... that scraggly mane...

I also (no... not done yet...) worked on some printable materials for an equestrian organization I am volunteering my time to. Its a grass roots organization that takes the donations it receives and passes it along to organizers who run Classic Format Events in the form of grants. Even though I have yet to compete in a USEA recognized event, I dream of someday running a classic... its what I fell in love with when I went to watch the Foxhall Cup about 8 years ago. I'm no where near ready to compete in one now, so I support the organization that helps these events financially so that they will still be around for me and Alfie when we are ready.

The documents I've produced are pretty snazzy, if I do say so myself, but its been tougher to get done than I initially thought it would be. Many revisions later, we seem to be happy with the "flyer", the donation form and a few other pieces I made. The goal is to make sure they are all identifiably "ours"... fonts, colors, logos are all cohesive throughout the materials. More are in the works, too. Even though that feels like a part time job unto itself, I am glad to lend my support in the best way I know how.

So that's what I've done with my time off. And walk the dogs a mile each morning. And made my husband dinner on the days I was off. And started the arduous task of swapping out winter clothes for summer... there is never room for it all in the Wee House. I would have liked to play "Lady Of Leisure"... and once in a while I do on my days off... but not this go 'round. And I find, strangely, that I have really enjoyed this time off more so than days when I lounge around in my pj's until 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I've accomplished a lot, and it feels good!