We had some rain in the morning but eventually things brightened up with hints of blue later on and a golden sunset.
Today is Vytas' birthday. 38 years old, how time flies. The biggest change for him and Sally this year has been homing a rescue kitten as a companion for their older rescue cat. (I'm not sure how thrilled she was about that.) Vytas came up to see us in the summer and they both came to visit for several days after Christmas. As usual they have a busy and active life either outdoors or going to heavy metal gigs.
They went to northern Spain last September which included hiking up mountains and snorkelling in the sea. They did more of both on a holiday in Lanzarote this year.
Celebrating the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge.
At the stables I rode Margaret again. All the horses were a bit feisty after going out on a 2 1/2 hour hack yesterday. As we were trotting round Margaret suddenly started messing about and going sideways instead of straight. I even wondered if there was something awry with her tack. I checked with Katy who was teaching us and it turned out this is something Margaret does when she gets over excited or thinks she is about to canter. Each time she started doing it I rode her in a small circle and for a while I rode further away from the wall so that she had to concentrate on where I was asking her to go. Got it sorted in the end and she went nicely on the bit as well.
After doing the food shopping at Morrison's I called in at Charlie's. Initially to buy some mirror screws which didn't even come to a pound but then I had a wander over to the equestrian section. There amongst the few remaining sale items were the very jodhpurs that had been the ones I had been contemplating buying after Christmas. Only two pairs on the rail, one pair in my size and almost half price after a second mark down. How could I not buy them? It's good to have a second pair in case the others haven't dried after washing (that's my excuse anyway). It was a bit disconcerting to see on the receipt that they are called riding tights. They are like heavy duty leggings, petrol blue in colour with a grippy pattern across the seat and inside of the legs. And that wasn't the end of my shopping spree. I spotted some necktubes at a silly price of just under £2 and as they are something I wear most of the time to hold my hair back and keep my head warm I bought one in a random blue pattern.
Things were just brightening up when I got home so I used the pressure washer to clean the terrace and the steps down to the garden. The hardest part of the job was hauling the pressure washer from the garage. It wouldn't fit past the boiler at the side of the house so I had to wheel it through the drive, down the pavement to the gate at the bottom of the garden and then bump it back up over the stepping stone path. I'm glad I was able to clean the terrace before the balustrade is fitted as I hadn't realised how grubby the stones were. I could see a sheen of green but it was only as the concrete joints turned from black to pale grey that I could see the extent of the winter grime. Since it had been difficult getting the pressure washer in place I went on to clean the original paving and steps down to the garden. Washed the concrete slabs turned a very bright terracotta, almost red but I expect they will tone down as they dry.
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