A short visit from Briony ...

A short visit from Briony and her friend Shanny (spelling?), reinforcing for me the absolutely stunning delight that can be delivered by a gorgeous stepdaughter. GO BRIONY!!

A fetching zombie look ...

Exciting moment as the tables turn on the dominatrix

But not for long, before the zombie is subdued ...

There was a bit of blood spilled, but not too much to mop up.

And here I was, thinking it'd be any ordinary Saturday evening ... :-D

Elara and Ruby update

On Ruby's birthday last Thursday, Cathy E. (Ruby's Mum), Tanya and I went out to see how Elara was going with Cathy Ryan the trainer. Pretty fantastic!

On the long lead, Elara jumps the barrels. Her second ever jump.

Elara's the King of the Castle and everyone else are Dirty Rascals (except Ruby of course)

Stepping neatly up the embankment

In case you're wondering, yes, Ruby's riding Elara. But at the  moment mainly learning horsemanship and handling, so that they develop a safe and respectful relationship.

Trainer with her two pupils, who are listening attentively

That evening Cathy and Ruby kindly invited me over for a yummy curry dinner and we did the birthday cake thing :-)

Blowing out the candles

A lovely lovely day. Thanks so much Ruby and Cathy E!

Best boy friends

Who says horses don't make friends? Rascal and Gandhi love each other ...

Rascal kisses Gandhi :-)

Gandhi kisses Rascal :-)

This went back and forth for a good long while. Then they reared up a few times and scampered off down the paddock.

Loons, the pair of them.

Male bonding on bikes

John's off today on a 2,200 km motorcycle tour ride with his (male) friends, among them Dennis O'Brien who he met at university, and Paul who we met when we went on our bike holiday to Victoria. A 'boy's ride' :-)

I'm not normally keen on gender segregation for it's own sake but John really needed a break, and I cannot get away at the moment (Board of Assessors meeting at the uni on Friday!). Also, my BMW is at the garage having its throttle cable replaced (it was feeling poorly and needed TLC).

Here is John waving goodbye at 7am this morning:

And this is the route they'll be taking (you can click on it for a larger and interactive map. You can also click on the "3D" button and cruise digitally along with them):


View Larger Map

He'll be back by Sunday afternoon. Have fun and come back safe, John!!