to see the sea

a recent visit to friends in Dumfriesshire. we are looking over to Auchenlaire Caravan Park, but I forget the name of the viewpoint we are on. the car was parked close to the sea on a rocky beach, I thought briefly about dipping my toes in but too chilly.
there's a couple of little islands there, sure that I have kayaked this area in the past.

sleepy bees

a sleepy bumble bee on a  fencepost at the farm. the sun was shining and they are appearing here and there. there is a frost forecast for this weekend, I hope its not too cold for them.
the farm has a hive and honey bees look quite different. I haven't seen any of them yet.

snow to mud, cold

lots of snow. halted Scotland for four days... its all turned to mud now which Quince says is a much better thing...
I had booked a week off work, just as well as there would have been no getting there. I was meant to travel to visit friends but cancelled with the weather reports... we've re-arranged for a couple of days at  the end of the month.
the horses were out in the big field for the snow storm, with big round bales of hay and extra bins filled with water. there was no traveling to them either so they were left to the farm owner to check .
feelings are generally that winter is too long, too cold, and everyone is fed up.
the nights are getting lighter and hopefully it will warm up soon.

the dumbing down and poisoning

I read labels of food when I shop. sometimes having to choose between affordability and nutrition...
large conglomerates of shops leading the market with their products... not food... non food?
lemon curd as an example. homemade is eggs, lemons, sugar. butter.
Asda... a Walmart shop... er... none of those are in it....
and everything, it seems everything, has palm oil in it. bread, biscuits, peanut butter. like biting into blood....
shop local, shop health food stores... better for you but I can't afford it.
very grumpy about this.

to lighten my mood up a bit, the sun is shining and  I'm having a lazy day, watching Star Trek Voyager.

sunny but cold

the sun is shining on me and Luna the dog so we're snoozing.... the cats have not come back after the screeching over the laptop..
I've a bad cold so I'm slouching on the sofa with dogs and cats for company... and Sam, the cuddliest one, he nudges you just as you drink your coffee...  today he spilled it right over my laptop... oh my.
its taken a lot of drying and 20 minutes of system restore to get it back on... all seems to be working and files are calling up as usual,,, I'm going to leave it on now so that it keeps good and warm and hopefully any residual damp will be heated off. and I will back up files to a store later on too.. just a reminder of how easily things can be lost.
the weather is just winter yuck horrible, snow, that melts into muddy sludge, nice sunshine but freezing temperatures. I'm glad the nights are now showing a noticable difference in lightness.
photograph is of coffee in the bottom of my keepcup that was left in the car.. frozen solid !!

Christmas is coming....

decorating the pony. bless her she's such a good girly.

realised its Winter Solstice today.. wishing happiness and peace to  everyone. x

marching marching

we're getting out and about, marching down the road.

https://plus.google.com/+TourismsaskatchewanCanada
http://www.tourismsaskatchewan.com/

I just watched a tourist video for this town. looks lovely... but in my grumpiness I have this to say,,,
-they do tourist adverts like this for Scotland too, quite different from actually living here, in the cold and the wet. difficult to find decent decent jobs and affordable housing. the violence, not even hidden anymore, the drugs, people seem proud to be involved... children left to fend for themselves... overcrowded prisons.. is there anywhere in the world actually ''nice'' ??-

retirement with a view

Abbey has settled nicely into her retirement and is looking lovely and relaxed. 

Abbey and Quince

 it was always my dream to have these two girlies... this was the morning Abbey was leaving to go to her retirement. hope to visit her in a week or two. this is the one decent photo  from a series of about 20 where they wouldn't stand, moved around, made faces at each other, i had my eyes closed etc... lol
Quince is convinced she can't have her front feet lifted to be picked out... we're working on it... the hoof trimmer is due this weekend so she might not have much done this time. her fronts look like they've been cut too short anyway so they need to recover. Abbeys feet are perfect.

ooops... bought a pony....

I have decided to retire Abbey from riding, she is 17 but has spooked violently all her life and its getting worse, I sometimes think she can't see properly but vets cannot give me any clue.
she is returning to the people I bought her from and they are retiring another welsh cob called Glen, 22, so she will be his companion.

and .... ooops... bought another one...
a horse I know from a few years ago, another welsh cob.. I do like them... Quince, she is 12 and we've been out a couple of walks together now so hope to start  getting out for some longer rides soon.
Abbey on the left and Quince on the right , picture from a few years ago. 

no objection to men in dresses....

 quite clearly a man in the background wearing a dress.... lol

this episode .... wondering if there is a special club somewhere for trek bloopers.

hmmm, blogging as a daily goal..

there might be something in it... but could I commit...
https://medium.com/higher-thoughts/how-one-year-of-daily-blogging-changed-my-life-fc20fb79d1d1

a humorous article?

well its tongue in cheek humour, about how a woman feels about her life now she has given up drinking alcohol ..... and I see echoes of my own thoughts in there... here is the link if you would like to read it https://qz.com/762868

good girls

 Ellie and Abbey,

a rosette each for Horse Agility



the cats whiskers

somewhere in the reflection in those feral welsh eyes is a small sparrow, chirping merrily from the top of the roof.

this is reposted from June 2006. I was just thinking of wee Daisy today. my sweetheart kitty. I miss her very much. 

homemade skin nourisher... video makes it look simple

https://www.youngliving.com/blog/diy-lotion-bar-recipe/?utm_source=oso&utm_medium=fb&utm_campaign=DIYlotionbarvideo&utm_content=05817

road trip

myself, my daughter Rosie and her wee dog Luna, road trip today to visit friend Sandra who I've not seen for a few years.

set a goal of visiting two people a month to keep friend connections alive.

March..... like time marches on and on.

a warmish day in Januarys where I let Abbey out without her waterproof rug on, she got good and muddy, stayed in overnight to dry off, she was groomed clean and rug back on to go outside again. I think they like to get good and dirty and its because I like her clean and ridable that I keep the rug on.
Abbey is my little Welsh Cob, we're not up to doing much in bad weather.... Endomondo has us at 16 miles for February and that's more than I would have guessed so not too shabby. even at age 17 she needs to be kept in regular work to behave, we rode out with company on Sunday, then by ourselves yesterday, there was a warmth in the air and she was very chilled after some initial ''monsters'' that we have to pass to leave the yard.



I  got a FREE ticket to go to the Parelli Masterclass next weekend to watch!!
er...free ticket... my hotel is costing £140 and petrol costs sharing the drive with someone already going will come to about £60....
so that's my excitement. I put a load of stuff up for sale and have raised £35 towards it , anything helps really.

all my angels

 think all my angels were having a meeting?? there were more on the gravel leading up to the car too. I have a lot of angels, miss all of them

 moved some of the snowdrops from my garden to the farm for 'in memory of', this fat leaved snowdrop I think is 'cats whiskers', nice big flower with lots of green inside, they are for Eric, the farm's old dog.

and a wild type snowdrop with narrow silvery leaves, a gift early on in the garden from my friends dad, who has now passed on, so this brings him to  memory too. these are over Daisy and Smokey. I am a bit sad Tansy is not near them... but its only a body.. and she'll be remembered with them always, many blessings xx