Truthful Tuesday

 

Okay, so I love summer. I love when it's hot. I love the endless sunny days. All of it! And I hate winter so, SO much. Like SO MUCH. Due to these opinions, I do not feel I have any right to complain about things like heat waves. That said... I must confess... That I'm going to be a little bit happier tomorrow when it's in the 80's. To be clear, I'm not complaining about the heat wave. I'm just saying, it will be nice when it's a little bit less like riding in an oven tomorrow. 

The horses have been enjoying VERY short rides in the heat and humidity, and I am excited to get back to some real workouts for everyone. Especially Eros. He in particular is taking advantage of the easy days. (Of course he is though right?!)

So that's today's confession. I am looking forward to some (slightly) cooler days ahead.

What's Up Wednesday

 

Oops... I nearly forgot to post today! It hasn't been terribly exciting around here really. We've been trying to survive the heat wave, which I think we managed. We were waiting anxiously for some rain that was supposed to come on Monday, but it was a big teaser. We had all the warnings for severe weather. We could hear the thunder clapping in all directions around us. But here? Nothing. We had MAYBE 60 seconds of rain. That was it. Supposedly some tonight though, so if you're so inclined... maybe throw a rain dance this way? On the bright side, the humidity did let up some and the temps dropped back down to the low/mid 80's. So at least we got some relief! (Sorry for those of you still melting.) I'm not complaining about the heat, just to clarify. I LOVE summer. And the level of hate I feel for cold weather means I can't be unhappy about hot weather. But I can hate the humidity. I think that's fair. 

The horses all basically did the same things last week. No one jumped, but we did pop over a few raised cavalletti. Our rides were short, which I think we all appreciated. I will say, despite how hot it was out in the sun (feels like temps over 100), the barn was pretty comfy and none of the horses were sweating in their stalls. So that made me feel good at least. I hate to see them uncomfortable when I can't do much to help. So glad I got to avoid that feeling!

During the week, I can't really ride early to avoid the heat because my worker comes between 6 and 6:30. I could probably get one done, but that just seems kind of pointless when there are three more. Since we use the ring as one of the paddocks, I can't ride while horses are turning out. But on the weekend, my helper comes between 7 and 7:30 usually. This week she came a little early, but still late enough for me to ride two.

It was still dark out when I headed out to the barn in the morning.

No responsible deed goes unpunished though... My first horse, who shall remain nameless as I shame this one plenty, managed to trip at the canter and fall right down. 

Thankfully we were both fine. My only injury was a little elbow road rash. 

If you look carefully, you can see both of our imprints. 
I literally rode all the way to the ground, so I was basically still 
mounted when we hit the ground. Nice soft landing other than the
horse on my foot.

Fortunately, the rest of the rides were uneventful. I did the first two, helped out with chores, then did the second two. I was done by 1 completely with horse stuff (until dinner anyway) which was lovely. The rest of the day was spent in the pool, near the pool, or taking a nap in the a/c.

In the pool, on my Tootsie Roll hammock

Near the pool with Rita. I left the door open 
so she could come and go as she pleased. 
I didn't really want her outside baking in the heat, 
but she wanted to snuggle a little. She was good about 
going inside when she got hot. 

This dragonfly randomly landed on my thumb. 
We're best friends now. His name is Dave.

Napping in the A/C with Rita.

Sunday went pretty much the same way, but thankfully, everyone stayed up right for our rides. I was pretty happy to get back in the pool once chores and riding were done for the day.

Okay, next to the pool. Drying off post floating. 

I was disappointed to miss lessons last week, but I think it was good for Al to have a little more time with his new shoes. He had a very short lesson today working over a cross rail with takeoff and landing rails. He's still not quite 100% so we worked through there a few times each direction and called it a day. He seemed happy to do something fun though, so I don't think he was too uncomfortable. We'll try again Friday and might also lesson one of the others that day. So I'm excited for that! There aren't really any local shows happening this weekend, but again, with Al not quite 100% we wouldn't go anyway. Trainer might be skipping the first week of her next show, so there's a small chance we could get to something that weekend. We'll see how it plays out!

That's really about it from here. The weather should be nice through the weekend (with hopefully some rain tonight) so I plan to get some good work out of the tall kids the next few days. 

How was your week? Did you make it through the weather? Or is it nice where you are?

Truthful Tuesday

I have another lobster based confession today. This one is particularly heart breaking if you're a lobster lover like me...
So this past weekend was my family's annual lobster fest. My dad buys 75 lobsters and invites over 30 of his closest friends (and kids) and we all stuff our faces into oblivion. It's one of my top ten days of the year for sure.

This year's lobsters were quite a bit larger than normal. This is both exciting and mildly problematic. I can normally eat at least two, and this year because they were large I only made it through one and a half. I'm pretty disappointed in myself. I wasn't the only one, meaning we had a lot of leftovers. So that there is fab news, because who doesn't want lobster rolls for days?!

Behold: The Lobster Pyramid

I got to take home one of these to go containers stuffed to the brim with lobster meat. And here's where it all goes bad. I hung around chatting for a bit before heading home with my stash o'lobster. I got home at the same time as my friend who rents the apartment on my property. We got to chatting, and next thing I know, my tub of heaven has been sitting in my car for over an hour.
You guys. You DON'T eat lobster that's been out for that long. I really considered it for awhile. But decided it really wasn't worth the risk. I still have PTSD from the stomach bug I had last winter. No reason to bring on that misery... not even for a giant tub of lobster.
And so, today's confession: I threw out probably $60 worth of lobster meat. Sad day my friends.

Have you ever ruined something fabulous like that? Didn't get to finish some leftovers you were super excited for? Anyone else get this attached to food, or is that just me?

Ahhh Unofficially Summer. FINALLY!

According to the weathermen this long weekend was NOT looking promising. Not at all. They had all kinds of rain in the forecast. ALL KINDS! Thankfully, they were all sorts of wrong! At least where I live. Not far from me, people were hit with some pretty bad storms, hail and everything!

I really didn't make many plans for the weekend other than a pizza dinner on Sunday with some friends and dinner with the family on Monday. That left my days wide open for fun with ponies, fun with pugs, and fun in the sun. Wise move on my part!

Earlier in the week, when I was driving by the lake on my way home, I noticed this sign at the snack shack:

Now if you don't live on the CT Shoreline, this likely means nothing to you. But these donuts are AMAZING. They make Dunkin Donuts taste like a prepackaged cookie. (As in not even a pastry.) This snack shack is ohhh maybe 1/10 of a mile from my house. BAD NEWS for my pants ever fitting. Sigh. So I realized drastic steps needed to be taken, as we all know about my sweet tooth (see here).

Yep that's right. I had to start running again. No way around it. I put on this adorable little running skirt and matching tank and headed out the door. I chose the flattest route available near my house since it's been so long. The one next to Cedar Lake:

I'm not going to lie, I walked up the hills. I paused my watch during my breaks though to make sure I got 3 miles of running done. End result:

Not bad right?! I didn't think so either. Next I tended to the equine. Jamp and Ducky worked and had grass, while Rio (enjoying his retirement) skipped the working part.

Not a bad Saturday at all! Ducky even acted like a real horse doing everything I asked of him on the first try. Miracles do happen!

Sunday was much of the same, minus the run since I could barely walk. Holey out-of-shapeness! Check out what a gorgeous day we had:

Those skies! Am I right?! You may notice there is not a photo of a certain little gray horse eating grass from Sunday... That's because he reverted back to Spiteful Duck and refused to work again. REFUSED. I sat on him for over an hour being able to only move backwards. Clearly he's well aware that I am not a horse trainer. When I finally did get him to move, I decided to take him outside the ring instead, wondering if he was just begging for a change in venue. I walked all around the yard, and then right into the barn. Figured he could carry my tired legs inside. He seemed too surprised to argue.

 I had promised the pugs they could go for a walk on Sunday, so despite my sore legs, we went out for a one mile walk. There is a cul-de-sac just up the road from me, and it's about a mile there and back. It's a nice quiet street which is perfect since it can be a bit of a juggle with the two of them. I dare you to watch this without smiling:

They crack me up. All the time.

Monday I gave all of my barn helpers the day off so I had barn chores to do in the morning. It was raining at 7 when I got up, so after feeding, I lazed around with the pugs for awhile and got some reading time in. (We're reading The Goldfinch for wine book club. Excellent read so far, though a bit long.) Once the rain stopped, the horses went outside to play while I did barn chores. Being annoyed with Ducky still, I decided to ride Jamp, spoil Rio, and call it a day.  Artie, Pia, and I spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine outside.

What a great weekend! So much pony and pug time! What did you do this weekend? Any big plans or barbeques? Did you have nice weather?