I am going to start with a short apology for being absent for the last many weeks.
I know I have been noticeably away from my blog. Thank you to the friends and family that have comment about such.
I won't go into detailed at this time for my absence…maybe at some point in this journey I will be brave enough to share with my readers what has taken me away. In the mean time, I have been working out some details in my life that have needed more of me present than in the past but I have not forgot about my blog. On the contrary I have thought of blogging often and tried to make mental notes of things I wanted to share here.
Today is boxing day…the last of my family commitments have been completed and I am settling in by the fireplace to try and recap the significant farm events from the last several weeks.
Let's start with Christmas…
We had a house full as we did last year.
Here is our tree this year.
After some deliberation around the Dunbar house neither DH or I wanted to put up the old tree that requires the lights to be put on as step 2 after erection! So we made a household decision that it was a new tree or no tree…the new tree won! This is our new pre-lit tree. It was assembled and lit within 30 minutes of opening the box and figuring it out for the first time. The old tree will likely find a new life in a brush box jump through the trail in the woods at some point in it's not too distant future!
As family traditions go for Christmas I can't say I come from a family that is steeped with grandeur and age old traditions that have been passed down for generations. But now that we live on the farm the newest family tradition is a Christmas day ride with my nieces. Best new family tradition ever!
Marina on Emma, me on Izzy and Bella on Wanda.
Working my way backwards to the my last post at the start of Nov…
I have made a decision to start Izzy into work and stop piddling about. Not saying there has been anything wrong with the last couple of years as part of our training plan. It actually was what the 2 of us both needed. Her; some time away from the rigour of serious dressage training to let her mentally mature and me; some time away from the rigour of serious dressage training to get my life in order on the new farm. But like many things in the last several months, it has been time for a change and time to move out of kindergarden and start to get a tad more serious about making the little horse into a competitive dressage horse.
We have been taking regular lessons again, with Diane Creech and the odd lesson with Joe Thauer when he is well and available. It has felt wonderful to set some riding goals and have a drive again to progress and move forward in our training. Diane has been such a magnificent influence. She has a tremendous work ethic and she imparts just the right amount of empathy combined with a "I'm not taking any excuses" attitude so you feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment at the end of your ride. It has been prefect to end each training session on such high notes every week but knowing you have all the right tools set out for you to use during the week on your homework for next weeks success. Sadly, we have had to bid farewell to Diane as she has left for the sunny south in Florida to show her string of lovely horses on the winter circuit there. We have been left with homework for the winter and I look forward to her return to share our progress and hear here tails of success from the sunny south.
Here is a pic of the Bennville group at the Royal in Nov after Diane won the Grand Prix Freestyle.
And since I am on the topic of the Royal…I must express my disappointment that the pull pork parfait place was not at the Royal this year. :-( The apple dumpling place however was and it's same location as it has been since I can remember going to the Royal. Here we are, (Heather and I) with our delicious treats!
Here is a pic of Joe and I after a recent lesson in early Dec. Hard to believe I have trained with Joe for nearly 20 years now!
The dog days of winter have hit the farm earlier this year than last. We got snow in Nov this year and it has pretty well stayed. It was nice to have a white Christmas this year. The pets have felt the cold and have enjoyed the best spot in the house after a few hours at the barn!
Ironically tho, when DH and I decided to have a few romantic minutes together enjoying sue finger foods by the fire…everyone was wide awake!!
Late in Nov I spent a sunny Sunday morning with my girl friends at the Santa run in Hamilton along the pier. A short 5K in a Santa suit certainly kicks off the Christmas spirit!
A special thanks to my friend Lynn who got me started with this run last year. You can read about our adventure at the 2012 Santa Run here.
So there you have it folks…not a lot of farm news but I will try and be more diligent at updates again moving forward. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to new adventures and continuing your journey in 2014.
