Cold.

Bitterly cold again today. The front garden stayed frosty all day and so too did part of the beach.

Down at the stables I found that I was riding Margaret again. I was originally down for Cadno but there was an extra person at the last minute and she got him instead. Having only ridden Margaret once before I was keen to ride her again and to see how we got on together. As usual there was a lot of instruction about getting the horses onto the bit and then, because we had both of the girl instructors also riding in the lesson we were asked to comment on how the other horses were doing. It was my good fortune to be on Margaret as she was going very nicely for me and I was able to ride her with very light contact on the bit and still have her arching her neck well. All that resulted in her being pointed out as going the best in the group. Not quite so good when it came to the canter work. Margaret is very young and has only been ridden since October last year. She gets over enthusiastic in canter especially if other horses are also cantering. I had one really nice steady canter on her and the other was a bit rushed though I stayed in control and she slowed down when I asked. After that she was less settled and kept trying to go sideways down the long side. I hope I get to ride her again soon so that I can work on this.

After riding it was the usual run in to town via the industrial estate to pick up a few bits for the mirror frame and wardrobe. Although the traffic was heavy it was nothing like yesterday as the road/railway works had finished. I called in at Charlie's for nails and I might just have had a browse of the riding gear. I also found one more plant in the sad corner. 

As I came through the village on my way home I saw that the beach was looking interestingly frosty so as soon as I'd put the shopping away down to the beach I went.

This is the spot where once the cold spell has gone on for a while, we get some spectacular icicles.

At this time of the year we can't see the sunsets from the terrace but have to go down to the beach to catch the setting sun.

I post this most years but this Funny Jingle Bells video makes me laugh every time. Enjoy.