Sunny.

There were a few clouds around first thing this morning but the strong westerly wind blew most of them away giving a fine sunny day for everyone to enjoy.

When I got to the stables I found that for a change I was riding Cadno. He's an experienced horse and it wasn't hard to get him going with his neck nicely rounded. The next exercise really confused me, something it's not that hard to do. We had to trot a 20m circle and instead of simply making sure the horse's body was following the curve of the circle we had to maintain the curve in the back but ask the horse to bend in the opposite direction in the neck. At first I thought the instructor had mixed up left and right but eventually I understood and even managed to get Cadno to do it. The purpose of the exercise is to create suppleness in the horse but it was the first time I'd ever had to do it. The last exercise played to Cadno's nature which as a mature horse is to slow down whenever he can get away with it. We had to keep them on the bit but slow down the trot as much as possible without falling back into walk. Cadno managed this brilliantly and I got a few nice comments which always boosts the ego. 

Afterwards it was off to the shops as usual and in Charlie's I bought a Senecio Angel Wings that I had been thinking since I saw it last week. At £10 it was a bit more than I usually spend but should it survive the winter rains it will make a lovely addition to the shingle garden. And because it was on the reduced rail I bought myself the long sleeved version of my blue riding top to wear when it gets colder.

While I was planting the Senecio I heard the familiar piping of young seagulls. The next door fledgling has been gone for a few days but this pair of younger birds was walking around on next door's terrace. One of the families that comes down is obviously here but must have gone to the beach so I left a note on their drive warning them they might get attacked by the parent birds.

Before settling to enjoy the sun on our terrace I gave the carnival cardboard pieces a coat of paint on the back. I wasn't going to do this but as the paint on the 'good' sides dried it made the cardboard bend. Hopefully it will now bend back the other way and straighten itself up.