Au revoir

Up early this morning to take Mum, Dad and Thomas to the airport.  I returned home with a heavy heart. The house is empty and I miss them already.
I feel I should return to doing something with the horses, but I'm very reluctant to do so. It's a worry - I can't seem to find any fun in it these days. When did it stop being fun?
Horses fill my life, I love them, but it has to be fun.  Perhaps it really is time to stop.

Chistmas day

Spent in the usual way, eating, drinking and playing games, but we also managed to get a little walk out with the dogs.

Knitting , X Box - what's that all about ?

We've got my parents and nephew here for christmas.It was a bit touch and go with the weather being so bad in the Uk,but the gods smiled on us and kept the airports open! It's great to have them here, but difficult to find things to keep them occupied, it's a little quiet here for townies. My mum's a little bored and has already knitted one scarf. She's started on another, doesn't like the wool so the job's now fallen to me to finish it. It's a very long time since I knitted anything, but I think I can manage a scarf!
Jim's decided he wants an X Box (Why?????)  so we're waiting for that to arrive along with several games. I suppose it'll keep his mind active. Thomas (nephew) is 'well pleased' and we're having to track it's every movement online.
The horses are taking a back seat, but they seem to be enjoying themselves out 24/7

New chooks

We went for some new chooks today. Our happy little band has been depleted and they're a little lost in their huge pen so we felt it was time to give them some playmates.
We thought we'd get 3 point of lay hens (3-4 months old) to start laying in the spring -  but, best laid plans and all that, we came away with 4 young hens and a young cockerel heading for the abattoir that we just couldn't leave!
So we have Jill, black and white Light Sussex, Brin, a beautiful brindle colour, Golden Wyandotte, Buffy, Buff Orpington, Sindy, a lovely cinnamon coloured Buff Orpington x Indian Game Bird and finally Ginger, a beautiful 6 month old pure bred Buff Orpington cockerel.
Here they are settling into their new home

 and our chooks keeping their distance

 They're all in the hut together tonight and I hope they're all intact tomorrow!!

Di and Rem, feeling the cold!!!

The weather here is grim at the moment. Over the last couple of days we've had glimpses of the sun, but it's lost its warmth and it's very COLD!!
Some pics  of our last session in the school continuing with the in-hand work. Notice Di sporting her snazzy winter wardrobe! LOL  We're just at the basics but we're making progress and I'm reliably informed :-) that we're at a good place to build from.

Be positive...

I was that person today. Our in-hand session was positive with lots of energy. Very simple work in the headcollar, moving first the shoulders and then the quarters, putting it together for a good giravolta on each rein, keeping the shoulders up, good crossing over. Jim called it 'taking charge', it felt a little bit like that too! LOL
Remy thanks his Aunty Trudi for providing the stimulus for some semblance of order!!!!

Venturing out from the gloom

We've been doing this over the last few days. The snow has gone, but we've had days of rain. Now we're getting drier, colder weather, with brief but very welcome sunny spells.
I had a short in-hand session with both Remy and Bonbon today, working with a cavesson on a small circle asking for relaxation, slight inside bend and lowering of the head and neck. They were both focussed and well behaved. After the in-hand with Remy, we had a mat session which he seemed to enjoy.

Wintry walks....

...with Obi.
Over the last week or so I've been taking Obi for walks around the tracks. I'm not much of a walker, but I thought it may help to get me fit and Obi needs controlled exercise to strengthen his back legs - he's a heavy dog and not getting any younger  (like the rest of us). It's lovely countryside around our place and I find that I really enjoy it (whatever happened to the girl who used to drive to the corner shop!). This is our walk today.
Down the track through our fields

 towards the lakes

 I don't think our neighbour is going to freeze this winter

 the largest of the three lakes

heading back towards home, a place to rest

 and another

 nearly home

 time for a hot brew

  A lovely morning, nice lunch with a couple of 'winter warmers' (hot cherry liqueur and red wine), just the way to tackle the weather.