Giddy Up.

It has been raining all day long which put paid to my morning plan of going out to work on the raised bed.

Instead I did some admin and got myself organised for my riding lesson. I can still get into my johdpurs which I think says more about the strtech of the fabric than my ability to keep my weight steady. My feet have widened over the years but I can just about squeeze them into my long riding boots. They are lined but an awful lot of brown dust came out when I took them off. I had kept my hat but it no longer conforms to the latest safety standards so instead I wore one of the school's hats. I think it was a bit big because it kept sliding forward and threatening to cover my eyes.

This is the horse I rode, a sturdy cob called Alice. She was a bit ploddy but I think simply holding the schooling whip kept her focussed. My instructor was a very sweet girl, probably in her twenties, who was very positive and professional. I really enjoyed the lesson but as I suspected sitting trot was hard. That's because you absorb the horse's bouncing in your lower spine which is my weakest point. And in lessons you always go into canter from a sitting trot. (Back in the day my horse would do walk to canter.) I kept on doing short bursts of sitting trot which gradually got easier and had one canter which was much better. I'll keep on with the lessons for a while to see how things go. I'm justifying the expenditure as not only does riding give me a lot of pleasure but it's also good for strengthening my back and core muscles.

On the way home I called in at the one and only garden centre in the area to look for plants for the new raised beds. Unfortunately they seem to have cut back the stock again and they didn't have a lot of choice. They do have pond plants so I had a look at those for when the pond is done. Nothing really appealed, I liked the papyrus but as it can grow 2.5m high it would be a bit out of proportion with my little water feature.

While preparing to order the bathroom tiles I had another look at the patterned tiles we had chosen to go under the toilet. I had many samples arrive through the post but most of them had far too grey a background. We settled on one but when I checked the website they are no longer available. I took that as a sign to look again and we decided that we will go for the same tiles that we have in the 'blue loo'. The tiles themselves are not expensive, less than £4 each 45 cm tile but the delivery charge on any order is £39.  I only need four tiles but have ordered eight as we might be able to use them elsewhere in the bathroom. I kind of would have liked them for the whole of the bathroom floor rather than the grey safety lino but the white background does make them hard to keep clean and falling on tiles would not be good.

Fingers crossed that tomorrow stays dry enough for me to get out into the garden.