Wet.

Last night's Super moon.

It was dry first thing this morning with just a moment of pink which correctly foretold of a rainy day. For me the showers began around midday but with a south-westerly wind it hasn't felt too cold.

For my riding lesson this morning I was on Margaret again. After riding with a crop last week this week I was allowed to have my schooling whip which I'm more used to. I had been quite happy bobbing around in a slow collected trot with Margaret nicely on the bit but now that I'm being encouraged to create more energy a gentle touch with the end of the long whip saves my poor old legs. There were only four of us and we had to ride two in one direction and two in the other. That meant that as well as doing the exercises we also had to be aware of the other horses the same as if we had been warming up before a competition. Not that I plan to do any competitions. Today we did some extension in trot and leg yielding before moving on to turn on the forehand (front legs stay on the same spot while the back ones turn the horse to face the opposite direction). Then we went on to cantering whenever we felt like it, yay, and I had improved since the last time.

On the way to town I called in at Screwfix and bought a joining piece for the drain pipe for just over £2. To be certain I got the correct size I had a short section of pipe with me. The bloke at the counter laughed when I admitted that I might possibly have cut the pipe in the wrong place.

Then it was Morrisons where at last I found some Glengettie tea which is the brand Peter prefers. They haven't had any at all for a while and last week there card was there but the shelf was bare. Needless to say I bought several boxes. Ever since we left the EU supply chains seem to be not working and it's not uncommon to see empty spaces on supermarket shelves something I never remember from before.

In town I had planned to walk to the framers to check if the replacement mount for a painting was ready but once the rain started apart from me not getting wet, no coat of course, I wasn't sure how well protected the mount would be.

At home I picked over 3lbs of tomatoes and put the frozen blackberries and more sugar in the gin. All I need to do now is stir once a week and make some fancy labels. The rest of the afternoon was spent giving my feet a nice long soak and generally resting. There's no getting away from the fact that I need to take more breaks during the day when I've been busy.