Sunny.

Sunny again and absolutely roasting in town.

I was hoping that I would be riding Hazel again today so that I could see how much I had retained of last week's lesson but instead I had Meg. Meg is slimming down but still has a tendency to be lazy. I did need to use the schooling whip a lot (only little flicks) to get her going forward. I was still able to use what I had learned last week and eventually got Meg going nicely on the bit. Walking in a straight line was another issue. We had to walk between pairs of poles on the ground which sounds like a simple exercise but with Meg was harder than expected as she tends to swing her back end. It was better when we did the same exercise in trot especially in sitting trot which for me is easier than rising trot. I suspect my arthritic knee may have something to do with that or perhaps I can't concentrate on using my legs for impulsion and steering at the same time as going up and down.

 

After the lesson I went to the industrial estate to buy more paint and called in at HAHAV to look for a chest of drawers for Pete as he wants to replace the one he bought which is too high. No luck this time but I shall keep on looking.

What did catch my eye were these large leather bound Welsh bibles printed in the late 1800s. They appealed to me as objects but I just couldn't think what I would do with them.

This was my charity shop haul - silver plated serving spoons, 10p each from HAHAV, a ball of crochet cotton though I may need to look for even finer cotton for my current project, two notebooks 50p each, (I can never pass up a good quality notebook) and a summer top for £1.50.

Usually when I get home on  Friday by the time I unpack the shopping, throw my riding gear in the washing machine, do the second set of squats and have a shower all I'm ready for is a large mug of tea out on the terrace. 

Today however before relaxing I dealt with the cracks in the garage wall which are mainly around the two doors. The constant banging of the sea against the cliffs sets up tiny vibrations in the ground which over a period of time causes damage to walls and render that is either old or wasn't done to the highest standard. As is the case with the garage. Instead of using mortar or filler for the cracks I splashed out on a tube of white adhesive which hopefully will do a better job and won't fall out. I also bought some white gloss today to paint over the ox blood red door frames which look terrible with the dark blue doors.