Hazy.

There was more blue sky to be seen early in the morning than for the rest of the day after the haze had settled in. There was a bit of a bite in the air though in town plenty of people were walking around in t-shirts (optimism maybe?) and some even in shorts.

There were six of us in the ride today and of course I rode Tex. I found out that unlike many of the other ponies he is not currently 'on loan' as the girl who had him has grown away from riding. The stables has a scheme where you 'loan' one of the horses or ponies on Sundays when there are no lessons. (All horses get the day off on Mondays.) You can do whatever you like, hack out, use the school or the fields with their permanent jumps and generally look after the horse during the day.  Much as I would love this unless we win the lottery, which we don't do or win on the premium bonds, which we intend to buy, my state pension isn't enough for me to afford it.

I had a good ride today, Katie had asked us to work on getting the ponies going with more energy and Tex certainly went up a few gears even breaking into canter when I asked him to lengthen his stride down the long side. He also comes onto the bit, at least at halt. Now all I need is for him to maintain it when we move off though there were a few moments in trot.

 

Next stop after the stables was the dump where I got rid of a carload of garden waste. And since I was on the industrial estate I called in at Hahav. There I found this nicely engraved tankard with a pewter and zinc lid all for the princely sum of 25p. I thought it would be handy for Peter so that the flies don't get in his beer when we sit outside.

On the way in to Morrison's I cast my eye over the plants and came away with three interesting fruit bushes. Although I don't really have room they are part of my future proofing plan of having fruit bushes in the back garden. Less work in the years to come. It's worth a try at only £6 for all three.

By the time I'd got the shopping put away and the apples stewing I was ready for a sit down with a big mug of tea. Looking out of the windows the sea was almost completely flat and an interesting silvery grey colour. For at least half an hour this dog had a wonderful time racing in and out of the sea. No people swimming today as it was verging on chilly.

Later there was a delicate pink sunset to enjoy.