Introducing a new feature to the blog... weather stats. I love weather...
We got a barometer for Christmas that has a barometric gauge, a thermometer and a hygrometer - which measures humidity. And yesterday Ellie gave me an early birthday present of a rain gauge. I have been meaning to buy one for, ooh two years now, so am quite excited about that. Just need to work out where to install it.
So today's weather (as at 4pm):
Humidity: 71%
Barometric pressure: 1005hP
Temperature: 28.5 degrees
Rainfall: Nil
Monday, January 26, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
This little piggie went to market....
Well the pigs are booked in for their one way trip on Wednesday - my birthday of all days! The homekill man is coming then to, well, homekill them plus one of the cattle who grazes here, and then we will soon have a freezer full of bacon, yum! We'll get some more soon, after we've been on holiday in March.
Some pics of the pigs modelling their new feed troughs that Ben made - a 200l barrel cut in half lengthwise with wooden skids attached. Works really well! Gives you an idea of the size of the piggies now too.
Had a group ride this morning at the arena with Sarah on Em and Rachel riding Bert. Ellie came down too and took pics and had a quick ride on Oscar (who was going very sluggish but then it was blinkin sweltering down there). We had a bash at left canter but didn't get it and it probably didn't help that he was being a sloth. Did get the odd moment of some lengthening in trot so that was something! And we rode all the way home from the arena (first time) and then carried on for a wander up the road past home. The boys were all great and I think Em liked his outing too.
Some pics of the pigs modelling their new feed troughs that Ben made - a 200l barrel cut in half lengthwise with wooden skids attached. Works really well! Gives you an idea of the size of the piggies now too.
Ben's pig troughs (TM) (Patent pending)
Do you have food for us?
Just in case there is something still in there from before... (as you can see they are both most definitely boys!)
Had a group ride this morning at the arena with Sarah on Em and Rachel riding Bert. Ellie came down too and took pics and had a quick ride on Oscar (who was going very sluggish but then it was blinkin sweltering down there). We had a bash at left canter but didn't get it and it probably didn't help that he was being a sloth. Did get the odd moment of some lengthening in trot so that was something! And we rode all the way home from the arena (first time) and then carried on for a wander up the road past home. The boys were all great and I think Em liked his outing too.
Our free walk attempt
Lengthening the trot
Cantering - that arena gets dustier than a dust bowl... Canter was not too bad though!
Having a breather
Offering a nice outline for Ellie
Lengthening the trot
Cantering - that arena gets dustier than a dust bowl... Canter was not too bad though!
Having a breather
Offering a nice outline for Ellie
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sheryl, Sunny and super-sized zuchini
Went out this morning to pick the zuchini and thought there'd be a couple there plus some peas so took a bowl out with me. Hmmm well I under-estimated the zuchini a wee bit...
The biggest one is 35cm long, getting pretty marrow-like! Have started freezing some of them for winter, apparently you can freeze them if they are chopped up so hopefully that means we'll have some for winter casseroles etc. Only got a few peas too - the last off the first vine, and the peas on the second batch are still a good few days away.
Sheryl and Sunny are getting on really well, and having regular play time fun - although Sheryl has heaps more energy than Sunny! Some action shots:
Sheryl had a weigh-in this morning - 1.3kg. She was 1kg when we got her but lost 100gm when she was off colour so good to see she is heading in the right direction now. Such a smooch too!! Her favourite things to do are play with Sunny, sleep and cuddle/crawl all over us. She loves to snuggle up under your chin when you're on the couch and lick your neck (can't say I love that last bit!).
Had a great time with Oscar yesterday, me and Sarah took the boys down to Ellie's and had a play with trotting poles and some small jumps. Sarah and Ellie (and Ellie's mate Jill who rode Spyke a bit) went over the half barrel height ones but we stuck to the x-bar height. Although having said that at a couple of points when we popped over them I had urges to do bigger jumps... hmmmm what is happening to me?!
Jill hopped on Oscar after me and it was good to see him jumping. Realised that he is jumping quite deep into the jumps so we put up a ground pole and his jumping improved heaps. One of those things that seems obvious once you've done it but didn't think of it before yesterday! Ellie videoed a lot of it so will hopefully have some video snippets later. Also shortened my stirrups one hole which did a world of good for my lower leg. Felt almost glued in place!
He has lost a shoe though so was feeling the hard ground a bit yesterday. Have had to cancel tomorrow's lesson as I think he'll just be too sore on the sand arena. Bit of a bugger as on Wednesday night (drum roll) we found the left canter button!! Had a lesson with a dressage rider at adult ride and discovered that he likes a different aid to ask for left canter than right. Now that I know it that's fine by me! Meant to have another play yesterday but ran out of time, and won't be able to have a go until this Wednesday now probably. But he just popped straight into the left lead, was fantastic! Steering was rubbish but it was rubbish on the right rein to start with as well. Fantastic progress! Yay!!
The biggest one is 35cm long, getting pretty marrow-like! Have started freezing some of them for winter, apparently you can freeze them if they are chopped up so hopefully that means we'll have some for winter casseroles etc. Only got a few peas too - the last off the first vine, and the peas on the second batch are still a good few days away.
Sheryl and Sunny are getting on really well, and having regular play time fun - although Sheryl has heaps more energy than Sunny! Some action shots:
Where's Sheryl?
Sunny playing mummy and cleaning Sheryl
Tails are fun to play with!
Sheryl had a weigh-in this morning - 1.3kg. She was 1kg when we got her but lost 100gm when she was off colour so good to see she is heading in the right direction now. Such a smooch too!! Her favourite things to do are play with Sunny, sleep and cuddle/crawl all over us. She loves to snuggle up under your chin when you're on the couch and lick your neck (can't say I love that last bit!).
Had a great time with Oscar yesterday, me and Sarah took the boys down to Ellie's and had a play with trotting poles and some small jumps. Sarah and Ellie (and Ellie's mate Jill who rode Spyke a bit) went over the half barrel height ones but we stuck to the x-bar height. Although having said that at a couple of points when we popped over them I had urges to do bigger jumps... hmmmm what is happening to me?!
Jill hopped on Oscar after me and it was good to see him jumping. Realised that he is jumping quite deep into the jumps so we put up a ground pole and his jumping improved heaps. One of those things that seems obvious once you've done it but didn't think of it before yesterday! Ellie videoed a lot of it so will hopefully have some video snippets later. Also shortened my stirrups one hole which did a world of good for my lower leg. Felt almost glued in place!
He has lost a shoe though so was feeling the hard ground a bit yesterday. Have had to cancel tomorrow's lesson as I think he'll just be too sore on the sand arena. Bit of a bugger as on Wednesday night (drum roll) we found the left canter button!! Had a lesson with a dressage rider at adult ride and discovered that he likes a different aid to ask for left canter than right. Now that I know it that's fine by me! Meant to have another play yesterday but ran out of time, and won't be able to have a go until this Wednesday now probably. But he just popped straight into the left lead, was fantastic! Steering was rubbish but it was rubbish on the right rein to start with as well. Fantastic progress! Yay!!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Sheryl visits the vet
Poor wee Sheryl has already had her first vet visit. I took her in last week as she was lame on her left front leg, although couldn't see anything or feel anything going on. She is also due for her first lot of vaccinations, so thought we may be able to get those if the vet was ok with her leg.
Took her temp however and it was 40 degrees. Not the ideal temp! So instead of a vaccination she went home with some antibiotics. She was pretty quiet and sleepy for the next couple of days and not that interested in food. But by the weekend she was acting much more like a kitten and her and Sunny have been having a bit of rough and tumble. Poor Sunny doesn't always make the corners that she scoots around easily though, and he has spun out a few times.
Oscar had his first Ribbon Day on Sunday, and was not too bad although after the first group canter he lost the plot a little. The first group canter was in the 'most obedient horse' class and he actually won that class, probably because it was the first group canter and he was still pretty calm and also because the canter was on the right rein - bit lucky really!
A good experience for him anyway. And we had a good lesson on Monday, worked on getting his butt underneath him with some trot-rein back on the ground and then trot-halt-trot ridden transitions. He did some great trot work too - not sure you would call it lengthening but I was really able to adjust his stride and gosh it felt nice when I pushed him forward. We even got an accidental (but lovely) canter when I was riding him forward in trot. So it proves that he can do an easy and very nice canter transition.
Also had a lovely left canter (even though we were asking for right canter!), and managed a full 20m egg-ish circle on the left lead. Felt a lot more balanced too.
The garden is going nuts, with loads of green tomatoes on the plants, ready to ripen up. Got heaps of zucchini too, and the second batch of peas are coming through really well.
The hay is still standing, hopefully that will be cut in a week, I don't think we are going to get anymore growth of any worth out of it. It's a bit thinner than we hoped but should still get hopefully 1000 bales.
Took her temp however and it was 40 degrees. Not the ideal temp! So instead of a vaccination she went home with some antibiotics. She was pretty quiet and sleepy for the next couple of days and not that interested in food. But by the weekend she was acting much more like a kitten and her and Sunny have been having a bit of rough and tumble. Poor Sunny doesn't always make the corners that she scoots around easily though, and he has spun out a few times.
The two of them cuddling up
Oscar had his first Ribbon Day on Sunday, and was not too bad although after the first group canter he lost the plot a little. The first group canter was in the 'most obedient horse' class and he actually won that class, probably because it was the first group canter and he was still pretty calm and also because the canter was on the right rein - bit lucky really!
At home with our ribbon, Oscar with his new blingy browband
A good experience for him anyway. And we had a good lesson on Monday, worked on getting his butt underneath him with some trot-rein back on the ground and then trot-halt-trot ridden transitions. He did some great trot work too - not sure you would call it lengthening but I was really able to adjust his stride and gosh it felt nice when I pushed him forward. We even got an accidental (but lovely) canter when I was riding him forward in trot. So it proves that he can do an easy and very nice canter transition.
Also had a lovely left canter (even though we were asking for right canter!), and managed a full 20m egg-ish circle on the left lead. Felt a lot more balanced too.
The garden is going nuts, with loads of green tomatoes on the plants, ready to ripen up. Got heaps of zucchini too, and the second batch of peas are coming through really well.
The hay is still standing, hopefully that will be cut in a week, I don't think we are going to get anymore growth of any worth out of it. It's a bit thinner than we hoped but should still get hopefully 1000 bales.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Oscar goes jumping
Well we got really brave on Sunday and decided to have a play in the paddock at home with some jumps. We have done a wee bit of jumping already, only tiny jumps and mostly to help Oscar with his left canter lead. He does a few crazy jumps in the video below, the first is waaaay over jumped and I am completely left behind but there are some nice bits from him (and lots of crap bits from me, lol).
And even a bit that shows how I fall off - at least it's the start of tumble. Really shouldn't have fallen off, what a wally! But I had my new back protector on - Christmas present from Ben - so clearly I felt a need to test it out. It worked great although doesn't cover my butt so I have a sore right buttock but my back is fine :-)
Anyway here's a video (thanks to Ellie for filming and my darling husband Ben for editing it all) of our first bash of jumping at home - try not to laugh tooooo much:
We went to the forest today, was a hoot. Had a mini race with Ellie and her horse Spyke, was really fun and then the boys just went back into plod mode straight after. So much for crazy thoroughbreds. And we even popped over a log (twice!) in the forest. I always thought jumping wasn't for me, however I am really quite enjoying popping over small obstacles. And having fun hooning around in the forest - is this a mid-life crisis?!
Sheryl is getting on famously with Sunny, they are really playing well together now. She flops and rolls in front of him, he jumps around, and they generally have a ball. I heard from Sheryl's foster mum today, and Sheryl's feline mum is now looking after a few other baby kittens, looks like she has taken to feeding them really well. They look so tiny compared with Sheryl (who is still tiny herself at just over 1kg in weight). She is off to get her first vaccinations this week, feel bad when she is so little! But I think they need them when they are so wee.
There is an Open Ribbon Day at the pony club this weekend so we are going to have a bash at that - more for the outing than anything and we'll just do the flat classes in the morning. Oscar hates baths and all the palaver that goes with turning a horse out for a show, poor boy won't love the preparation for it all!
Apart from that the only other plans are to carry on extending the yard paddock (we have moved a fence that was right down the middle of the only flat part of the property) so we have a nice flat area to ride in, and keep an eye on the hay, plus we'll plant another batch of veges this week. Looking at doing more lettuce, capsicum, zuchinni, and carrots.
And even a bit that shows how I fall off - at least it's the start of tumble. Really shouldn't have fallen off, what a wally! But I had my new back protector on - Christmas present from Ben - so clearly I felt a need to test it out. It worked great although doesn't cover my butt so I have a sore right buttock but my back is fine :-)
Anyway here's a video (thanks to Ellie for filming and my darling husband Ben for editing it all) of our first bash of jumping at home - try not to laugh tooooo much:
We went to the forest today, was a hoot. Had a mini race with Ellie and her horse Spyke, was really fun and then the boys just went back into plod mode straight after. So much for crazy thoroughbreds. And we even popped over a log (twice!) in the forest. I always thought jumping wasn't for me, however I am really quite enjoying popping over small obstacles. And having fun hooning around in the forest - is this a mid-life crisis?!
Sheryl is getting on famously with Sunny, they are really playing well together now. She flops and rolls in front of him, he jumps around, and they generally have a ball. I heard from Sheryl's foster mum today, and Sheryl's feline mum is now looking after a few other baby kittens, looks like she has taken to feeding them really well. They look so tiny compared with Sheryl (who is still tiny herself at just over 1kg in weight). She is off to get her first vaccinations this week, feel bad when she is so little! But I think they need them when they are so wee.
There is an Open Ribbon Day at the pony club this weekend so we are going to have a bash at that - more for the outing than anything and we'll just do the flat classes in the morning. Oscar hates baths and all the palaver that goes with turning a horse out for a show, poor boy won't love the preparation for it all!
Apart from that the only other plans are to carry on extending the yard paddock (we have moved a fence that was right down the middle of the only flat part of the property) so we have a nice flat area to ride in, and keep an eye on the hay, plus we'll plant another batch of veges this week. Looking at doing more lettuce, capsicum, zuchinni, and carrots.
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