Thursday's Threads: Thanksgiving edition

 

The fun thing about Thanksgiving is that it always falls on Thursday's Threads day (aside from the other fun thing which is that it's a holiday based almost entirely on eating).  I think you've already seen my outfits today as they are repeats, but whatever still fun. Maybe next year I'll update that Thanksgiving garb. Anyway, I have two outfits to share. First up is what I rode in today:

It's been pretty cold here lately, but today it was 60. Weather is weird, but I was happy to ditch all the layers and feature my Thanksgiving hoodie.

Helmet:

Still reusing photos...

Still loving this helmet. 

Sweatshirt: No idea where this came from...

Heh... I think it's pretty funny. And appropriate since I ate so much I definitely have developed a wobble. Might be the wine... Hard to say for sure.

Belt: Boy O' Boy Bridleworks

I wore my BabingtonStrong belt since it's partially orange. Does it match? Not really. What can you do?

Breeches: Ralph Lauren

These aren't really riding breeches. I found them years ago at the Ralph Lauren outlet on sale for $40. Figured I'd try riding in them. Totally do the job! 

Socks: Dreamers and Schemers

MAYBE I fell victim to the VIP pre-black Friday sale at D&S. Might have happened. Aren't these cute though?

Boots: Celeris

Yep. Recycling this photo too

Guys. I'm having some snap problems with these boots. Not the typical problem in which the snaps don't stay shut. Oh no. The opposite. I can't get them off! Anyone ever run into this? How do I fix it?

So that's what I wore riding today, but I also have a comfy Thanksgiving at home alone outfit. 

Indeed, that is a Taco Turkey. I don't recall the circumstances in which I purchased the outfit... so I don't fully remember what the deal was with the tacos... But it's still Thanksgiving-y. 

Sweater: Tipsy Elves

Okay, well it's actually a Friendsgiving sweater. But close enough. 

Leggings: Tipsy Elves

Drummies and Tacos! What more could you want?

Socks: Not sure of brand

I didn't actually have thanksgiving socks. But I DID have taco socks. And they're a perfect match.

And that's it for today! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

What's Up Wednesday

 

Another busy week! All this horsing is super fun, and I'm loving actually having stuff to write about finally. 

I got to have another lesson on Bellino this past weekend. You guys. We must have had some kind of breakthrough because I didn't get left at all. Not even once! We connected better during the flat portion of the lesson which I think for sure carried over to jumping. The fences stayed small (thankfully!) and I actually felt like I remembered how to ride. I'm a little sad he leaves this weekend. But nice to finish up on a good note anyway.  Short video below from our lesson.

Shiny had a busy weekend too! Saturday she also did a lesson. I signed up for a time with one of the short stirrup kids so we could ease into lessons. We did the flat portion outside. I was just a little not sure what to expect since I haven't actually ridden her in that enormous outdoor since last spring. But in true Shiny fashion she was the same pony I ride everyday. (She really is a reliable pony.) Then we moved inside to jump. She was fantastic! We just did some crossrails and a few small verticals. Unfortunately, no media to share though. The most fun part though was Sunday. We joined a few other girls on a trail ride around the property. I don't trail ride really ever, but have always wanted to check out the trails on the barn property. But I didn't want to go by myself (fear of getting lost in the woods all alone...). Anyway, you guys! Shiny is fabulous on the trails! She much prefers to bring up the rear, but as long as we stay in the back she just plugs along. She likes to look around and see the sights, but she's not at all spooky or rude. (Um... unless there's a grassy patch. Then she's very rude, grabs the reins out of my hands, and has a snack. Hey. She is who she is.) We were out there for almost an hour and were kind of frozen when we got back. But it was super fun!

Shiny in her happy place: bringing up the rear

Eros and I have been doing a Tuesday evening flat lesson which is a real ass kicker. There is way too much spent without stirrups. Way. Too. Much. Time. But I'm sure that will pay off eventually. Ugh. Worst. He's been great though. He did have his recheck last week with the vet and unfortunately, we did not get clearance for jumping yet. Next step is a neck injection and hopefully that will get us back there. And if not, so be it. I love this horse whether or not he can jump. There was a little bit of a horse cold going around in the barn, so doc didn't want to inject that day. Thankfully, I think it has run its course so hopefully we can get that done in the next few weeks.

Pammon is going about the same. I do think the chiro appointment helped, but I think he needs another visit or two. I did today FINALLY feel some of the old oomph in his trot, so that's positive at least. We'll just keep plugging along. 

Got to see all the ears both days this weekend!

In non horse stuff, I baked a pumpkin pie and pumpkin cookies on Monday:

Cookies are almost gone... might have to make more. Good thing I have pumpkin left over! Hahahaha! 

And lastly, in the old house problems category I found this guy in my bathtub the other day at lunch time:

Clearly Ssseth isn't doing his job. Fortunately, when they're little teenage mice like this guy they're easy enough to catch and dump outside. I'm sure he's moved back in already though. Effing mice.

That's about it from here. Did you all have a good week/weekend? Big plans tomorrow? I'm celebrating alone this year, but do plan to Facetime with my mom during dinner. I'm honestly not at all bothered to be spending the holiday on my own. I mean. I have an entire pie to myself! 

Truthful Tuesday: I did it again... sorta

 

Okay... I admit. I did place an order with Celeris about a month ago. And while it was for boots... it wasn't boots for me. It was boots for the ponies! And they surprised me this morning by arriving a day early. 

I already have horse boots that match the less crazy Celeris boots I own so I just decided to order brushing boots to go with the wildest pairs I have: The Cow Print and the Unicorn boots. Obvious choices. Cleary.  I ordered just fronts since I don't use hind boots often. And since Shiny is little, I had to get two different sizes. I am a little worried the Shiny boots will be too tall. But Pammon has short cannons so he can wear them if they don't work for her. Hopefully we can pull them off though. That's the smallest they make right now.

But anyway... how amazing are they?!

I can't wait to make outfits with them... I'm not sure the boarding barn can handle them though. Ha!!!! Never stopped me before, don't worry. 

In other news, I made pumpkin cookies AND pie last night, and still have this much pumpkin left. 

Good thing I ordered more flour with this week's groceries... Maybe I'll do some pumpkin bread Friday.

Anything you all need to confess? Buy anything, um... unnecessary this week? Or any plans for the big sales this weekend? I'm about half done with my holiday shopping, but I'm stumped on a few gifts. Hoping there will be some kind of sale that awakens my imagination for those.

Thursday's Threads

 

Oh man. Guys. I half failed with the outfit photos yesterday. I remembered to take pics of Eros. But not a full body shot. And then got home and realized I forgot to take photos of my outfit. But I was at least still wearing most of it so I do have something to share. It's just a bit... more casual? Anyway... Here's what I wore:

It got cold here. Like. Really cold. Temps in the 20's cold. Miserable. Fortunately, it will warm up again later today. But in the meantime, I've been wearing the thickest, warmest, fluffiest things I could I could find.

Helmet: One K Mips

Recycled photo...

Haven't ordered the blue pieces for the helmet yet. Gotta get on that!

Sweatshirt: American Eagle

It's basically a fluffy teddy bear you can wear. It's cozy and comfy and warm. BUT. Only wear this around horses if you know you won't be removing your jacket (like last night) because EVERYTHING will get stuck in it and never come off. It's basically velcro for hay and shavings.

Belt: C4

I think this is adorable. And I hadn't even noticed the bit background until last night when I was taking this photo. So cute!

Breeches: Dover

I stocked up on the corduroy breeches when Dover had them last year. I got all three colors and keep hoping they come out with new ones this year... It's not looking good though. I'd think they'd have been out by now for the holidays.

Socks: Noble Outfitters

I wear Dreamers & Schemers or nylon socks most of the time, but when it gets really cold I switch to something warmer. I like these Noble Outfitters socks for the winter, because it has a pretty thick foot but the leg is still thin so my boots don't get tight.

Boots: Celeris UK

Another recycled photo...

I'm still wearing these, but I really need to bring the warm winter boots over. My toes will thank me. 

I don't have a full pony shot of Eros, so we'll just skip ahead to individual photos.

Bridle: Camelot RCS Gold

Browband: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks

All three horses have this same bridle/browband combo at the boarding barn. So you'll be seeing it a lot. A LOT. Sorry to be redundant. 

Boots: HKM

I like that these boots are pretty soft and pliable (the Punk Ponies ones are a little stiff) but they really don't hold up well over time. The color is wearing off, and there are tears in them too. Hoping they make it through the winter. I do like the fun metallic color though!

Saddle: Butet (this is the trial saddle!)

Baby Pad: Smartpak (with my cricut design)

Half Pad: Kavalkade

Quarter Sheet: B. Vertigo

For this pad decoration, I took the boarding barn's logo, and instead of the L that's usually in the shield, I stuck in Eros' name. A little personal touch but still on brand for the barn. Pammon has one also, but since Shiny wears the combo pads I didn't want to deface hers. Pretty sure I'm keeping this saddle. I don't love it as much as Pammon's but I think the difference really is just the lack of knee blocks. That's easy enough to fix.

And that's it for today! Any favorites?

What's Up Wednesday

 

We're still plugging away over here getting used to our new schedule. But I have started signing up for lessons so that's some added "fun". And by fun, I mean angst and exhaustion. But like... the good kind of course. I have very little media this week. I take a lot fewer photos at the boarding barn. I think because it's more pressing I stay on schedule. But I'll try and do better next week. Let's go horse by horse for this week's recap.

Bellino
I just flatted Baby B on my own on Saturday. He got a little annoyed with me when I really asked him to lift his belly and move through his shoulder. But once he decided to try it he was happy again. Sunday I did a lesson with him. The flat went fine, though we were riding outside where it was COLD and WINDY. Instructor had us open up the canter for a little gallop and I maybe got a little run away with... Lol! Nothing terrible though, he was just excited. We started jumping outdoors which began just as terribly as last week. I got very left behind over the first one. It's like I just have no idea where this horse should leave the ground. It's pretty embarrassing. Fortunately, Baby B gives zero shits about my idiocy so we carried on and it eventually got better. We wound up moving inside to jump which went an awful lot better for us. Below is a little clip from our last mini course. Not sure what happened to the quality, but you can see him being a VGB. 

Pammon
Pammony pony is working as usual. I think chiro is finally coming out tomorrow. So I'm hoping she'll find something (preferably something she can fix) and we can get moving along a little more. He's been a good boy. Our rides have improved significantly since adding Mr Tappy to our rides.

Shiny
Shiny pants has been pretty great! We haven't lessoned yet, but I'm going to find her one for the weekend to join. Probably one with some little kids so we can just pop a few crossrails for the first time. We haven't really jumped much in awhile. I rode her bareback on Sunday though and barn owner let me break the no jumping outside of lessons rule and we jumped a teeny tiny x bareback. It was adorable. She's just the best pony.

Eros
Of COURSE Eros has been his perfect self. That's what he does. We joined a flat lesson last night and let me tell you.... It was a lot. Definitely more work than either of us has been doing, but I don't think it was too much. Well. Maybe the no stirrup portion. That was a bit much for me... At one point I wasn't even holding on with my legs anymore. They were just numb. All finished. Checked out. No legs for me. Eros was hilarious you guys. I swear that horse has a timer in his head. After 25 minutes he just starts pulling me out of the tack. He's like times up lady! Time to stretch and go back inside for snacks. But we worked through that and finished the lesson. Phew. So out of shape. Both of us.

In other news, I took a saddle on trial for Eros. It's nearly perfect except it is lacking knee and calf blocks. Those are easy to add though (it does have padded flaps). In a rare instance of good timing, there is a saddle fitter/repair person coming out to the boarding barn next week so I can get that done right away. I'm going to ride in it one more time to make sure I like it and double check the fit. If that goes well, I'll get the blocks put on next week. And then I'll ship the temporary saddle off to Redwood Tack. She offered me just $100 less than I paid for it so that's practically breaking even if you ask me! And then this whole saddle shopping adventure will be OVER! Phew!

That's about it from here. Did you all have a good week? Getting lots of horsing done? Or are you tapering off for winter?

Truthful Tuesday: The one with the baking fail

 

Now that my tall kids have moved out for the winter, Monday evenings are free for me. I cleaned most of the house over the weekend, so I decided to make some cookies this week. I had seen a video on Facebook of these super cute snow globe cookies and I was dying to make them. Guys. I was a little ambitious. Here's what I wanted to make:

Only I was doing mine with a blue theme for winter rather than Xmas. They really aren't that difficult to make other than needing some patience with decor. Plus I took the easy way out with dough mix and store bought icing. Things started out okay, although I did experiment some with the size of the cutout in the middle.

The bigger ones were better. Noted for next time. (If there is a next time.) The only part I wasn't so sure about was the Isomalt. Isomalt is this sugar stuff that you buy in hard candy form, then melt and pour where you need it. For these cookies it made the "glass" part for the cut out. 

Isomelt is in the glass measuring cup pre-melting.

This is where things went badly. I thought I could use wax paper underneath and it would peel right off. It did not. Epic fail. Fortunately, I had only poured it into these 8 cookies so I just cut out the Isomelt/wax paper and still had edible cookies. I do want to try again, I just need to do my homework as to what won't remain stuck to that stuff.

Not one to get too defeated, I still decorated a few of the cookies. Though my effort was pretty weak...

Lol. Definitely a fail on the snow globe cookies. But they still taste delicious! Next Monday I'll finally crack open that enormous can of pumpkin. I bought a frozen pie crust, so for sure making a pumpkin pie and probably some pumpkin bread and/or pumpkin cookies. We shall see!

You guys have any epic baking fails? Honestly, I think the fails are more entertaining than perfection anyway.

Thursday's Threads

 

I decided for our first outfit day at the boarding barn I should go all in with their colors and swag. And also decided to feature Pammon since he's rarely a fixture on the blog these days. Let's start with his outfit.

Notice in this photo he's already walking toward me. He's so hard to photograph because he feels that his personal space bubble should include any and all humans anywhere near him.

Bridle: Camelot RCS Gold
Browband: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks

I enlisted Mr. Tappy's assistance in getting bridle photos. Pammon keeps trying to disarm me by grabbing at Mr. Tappy. 

Boots: Premier Equine

I really like PEI's fluffy boots. The fluff is really plush. Pammon has a little rub on his leg from his standing wraps, so these are great to keep that protected.

Saddle: Butet
Pad: Not sure
Half Pad: Ippico

You guys haven't seen "the saddle" much, but let me tell you! I'm in love with it. It fits us both great. I love how grippy the leather is too. I may have found one for Eros too so hopefully the great saddle hunt of 2020 will be coming to a close. I'm not sure what brand pad this is. It isn't mine. I think our pad was in the wash. But I appreciate that our groom made sure we had a matching pad! They know me so well! Haha!

Okay, my turn. Here's what I wore to ride:

All the blues! Except the helmet... I'll have to look into some blue parts for the helmet.

Helmet: One K with MIPS

Definitely loving this helmet. Highly recommend. 

Sweatshirt: Unknown brand

The color of this is what's portrayed in the helmet photo... I forgot how challenging florescent lighting is. Anyway, it has the barn logo there on the front and says the barn name down one of the arms.

Belt: Mane Jane

This is the navy croc strap with the rose gold buckle. 

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman

So... this is embarrassing. Remember when I went through my breeches a few weeks ago? I found these buried with the tags still on. Geeze.

Boots: Celeris UK

I chose these as my everyday boots for this winter. At least until it gets cold. Then I'll bring the winter boots over. So I guess you'll be seeing a lot of these! The blue boots from De Niro that I kept at the barn last year have gotten too big. I need to see about getting them taken in.

That's it for today! I forgot to put an arm party together. Any favorites?