Holy COOOOLD Batman!!

It is even colder than yesterday and sounds like it's going to get worse before it gets better! Ick.
Today our high is.... are you ready for it? -28 celcius. And to be honest, I don't think we're even going to make that, it's currently staying pretty steady at -30. Any breeze at all and we'll be well into the -40's. Yuck, yuck & double yuck!

Tonight will be extra fun with a low of -38.

Y'know what's interesting about this cold weather? (here comes the science nerd in me) If you take a container of boiling hot water outside and throw it into the air, it will instantly crystallize and turn into snow. Neat eh?

On another note, poor Brigit was pretty stiff & slow moving yesterday morning when I went out to check on her. I think her age really shows in this weather. So I took pity on her and asked the barn owner if she could stay inside at night until this weather warmed up a bit. Into the heated barn she went. I figured Rain was hairy & young enough that she'd be ok. Tonight I might bring them both in, it'll make me feel less guilty as I sit on the couch, wrapped up in a nice warm blanket! lol

I did make it to the fabric store yesterday and they had some really good sales on, so I've got a few more projects to work on. Some nice lavendar polo's for Rain, a fleece cover for the wee saddle, a wee saddle pad and maybe another vest? That should keep me busy for at least the rest of the week... probably longer.

Can you guess??

Can you guess what I'm making.... (I'll give you a hint, it's fabric!)

It may be freezing cold out there but I'm definitely having a very productive day!

Just for Julie!

Do we ride in the snow up here in the great white north?

Why of course we do!

It makes for some amazing photos...

And sometimes some really silly fun!
A willing/tolerant horse, a "flying saucer", a rope and the appropriate winter gear...check!

Lots of fun! Unless you fall off...

Or end up in the ditch! Ooops!

Winter seems to be here....

We've had our first snow, the ponies have grown their winter coats and it's getting COOOOLD at night! Tonight their predicting somewhere between -14 and -18 degrees celcius. Brrrr!!!

Rain's first blanket. Snug as a bug!

And a cute one of Brigit and her new friend. Brigit hurt her leg last week and has required some cold hosing. One of the little girls at the barn wanted to help me, so I let her do some cold hosing. Brigit is sooooo careful when the little ones are around.

What's white & fluffy and comes to visit in April around Easter???

If you guessed the Easter Bunny..... Well you're right but I was actually referring to THIS........
.....
.....

MORE snow. It's not very cold out but it sure is WET. I'm glad for my muck boots or I'd have wet feet today. All over the province there's flooding and this sure won't help things. It's melting pretty quickly but they're predicting more this weekend.

On a more positive note, look at how well my seedlings are doing!

The watermelon just sprouted (in the foreground) and from front to back in the planting trays you can see broom corn, canteloupe (not very good germ on these, only 50%), summer squash and lots of tomatoes. In the middle are zinnia & spring onion seedlings and at the back is the cabbage that I transplanted yesterday. I can't believe how much it's grown in only a day!! I think adding miracle grow to the water is definitely the key!
I can see I'll be doing more transplanting very soon!!!

I've got mini bell peppers and yellow cherry tomatoes planted too but they haven't germinated yet.... :S

Another snow day.....

We are yet again, the "victims" of another winter storm. Luckily it isn't very cold, only about 0 celcius but we sure are getting a pile of snow. It's starting to feel as if it will never end! We usually get some warm weather in March that melts all the snow and then another good snowstorm or two in April. This year we haven't gotten much warm weather so we still have mounds and mounds of snow. Does anybody from a warmer climate want to adopt me? I'll clean stalls! Dishes! Be a personal groom! Please?

Today I was supposed to head down to have a meeting with the other sidesaddle ladies that will be attending "The Mane Event" horse expo at the end of April. We needed to discuss what we were going to do for our demonstrations, what we all needed to bring and set some dates for practicing. The roads are just too bad today so we're hoping to do it tomorrow instead. It's definitely tricky getting everyone together considering our unpredictable weather and the distance between us.

I also decided, late last night that I was going to going to be brave and enter in the dressage show two weeks from now. EEEEK! They have a couple of flat classes and actual dressage tests. I entered in the "Dressage Pleasure Hack" (no idea what that is...), Road Hack and the Training Level 1 Test. I figured why not, might as well have a goal and something to aim for. I've never done a dressage test at a show before and only ever had a few dressage lessons, so this might be totally nuts but I guess we shall see!
The only part of the test I really have an issue with is "rising trot, 20 m circle at "A", lengthen reins and let your horse stretch down and out". Brigit is a bit too uptight to do that, especially if I'm trying to "post" the trot sidesaddle.... Hmm... Perhaps since I'm not going anywhere today, I'll go to the barn and practice, practice, practice!

Snow, snow & more snow!!!

Ok Mother Nature, it's almost April and it's still snowing and below 0 temps. Really? Please please please can we have spring??? I'm so sick of winter. We haven't even seen the sun in DAYS it's been so foggy and rotten. I'm about ready to go into hibernation....

Went for some therapeutic tack shopping today. A local tack shop was having a big anniversary sale so I stocked up on all kinds of good things! Breeches were 50% off, got a wedge pad to try under my C&W, some hoof polish, shampoo and some other odds and ends. Successful shopping trip!

I'm determined to get a ride in tomorrow, snow or no snow.

One step forward.....Two steps back

When it comes to spring that is. The temperatures were finally "seasonal" this week, which means we'd gone from the -20's (celcius) to somewhere in the 0-10 degrees above range. Things were melting, the birds were singing....

and then last night we get this....

More snow.

At least it's not cold out, which is nice, except the roads are fairly slippery. I'm suuuure glad I've got good waterproof boots because there are some deep puddles hiding under the snow.

Spring? Is that you?

We have FINALLY gotten some decent weather and broke above 0 degrees! Yesterday was a balmy +2!

I figured I shouldn't waste such a nice night, even though I didn't really feel like riding, so I went down and lunged a bunch of the horses. A little bit of exercise for them is better than none and the fresh air sure was nice.

We're definitely having a long winter this year, normally on March 1 the temps are around +8, this year it was -24. Today we may get up to the +8, fingers are crossed!

I couldn't help myself, I ordered a variety of vegetable seeds and brought out the seed starting trays. The seeds should arrive next week and then I'm going to get some things planted! Our growing season is so short that if you don't start things inside good & early or buy them from a greenhouse, they'll never get to maturity.

I'm very excited for the purple brussel sprouts & purple carrots, white splotched pumpkins, yellow watermelon and various different tomatoes! Some of it is a big gamble and likely won't produce any fruit but it's worth a try.

On another fun note! There's a fun horse show next week and I've spoken with the organizers and they're willing to let me ride sidesaddle in the Hunter Under Saddle class! Woo! It's unfortunate that there are only 2 flat classes because I'd LOVE to do more classes sidesaddle but hey I'll take what I can get. There's a whole bunch of jumping classes which might be fun too...astride though NOT aside!

What we do to our bodies for fun

I'm sure some days my body is thinking "WHAT did I do to deserve all of this!". Between riding sidesaddle and snowboarding this weekend, it must think it's being tortured.

Suprisingly though, I feel MUCH better than I did last week when my back was so darn sore. I was determined to figure out this whole snowboarding thing. I can make it down the hill alright but I've never been able to figure out "carving".

This weekend, armed with a helmet and my motocross kneepads under my ski pants, I was ready & determined to experiment and try to figure it out. I fell, a lot. And I was sure glad I had those knee pads on, I think they saved my knees from being black & blue. And I was really really glad that the place we were staying had a hot tub!

It was fun & the weather was gorgeous. In the afternoon it was +2. And by the end of the day I was starting to figure it out a bit. It sure isn't easy though! (Getting off the chairlift on a snowboard is still slightly terrifying!)

Anyways we're back home now and it's -25 here (why did we have to come home? Or right...work to pay for all this fun). Tonight is the first night of lessons at the new barn, wish me/us luck! I'm really excited to get started and hoping that the new school horses behave themselves!! lol

A balmy -15!

Well the temperatures have warmed up a bit. It's -15 today and it actually feels quite nice. The sun is shining & there's no wind. It's a nice day to get out at lunch and go for a walk.

I can't wait for warmer weather. During the summer this whole area is full of color. This is just part of the botanical gardens where I work. The area in the foreground is full of roses. It's stunning in the summertime and kudos to the people that keep them so immaculate.

When it's really cold out, it's always nice to take a trip into the greenhouses to warm up and pretend you're somewhere more tropical.
The flower greenhouse.

And the tropicals.

One of my favorites...The tomatoe greenhouse!

And this is the greenhouse that I keep my stuff in. I don't grow anything exciting like the other greenhouses. I grow weeds for our classes. I bet I'm the only person you know that prides themself in being able to grow a healthy crop of weeds! lol Can't manage to get marigolds to grow but weeds I can! lol

And on another good note, my office fish are still doing well! I'm quite proud that they've survived almost 6 months! I cleaned their tank out yesterday so they're quite happy to be able to clearly see out again.

Holy deep tissue massage batman!

I went for a massage this afternoon and didn't realize I'd gotten an appointment with the deep tissue therapist. WOW was it painful at times but my shoulders and neck sure do feel a lot better. It's all still a bit sore but it's a different kind of sore. Feels looser and much less tense and painful.
Hopefully things will be good for riding in the next few days. If only the weather will smarten up!! It was -37(Celcius) this morning and we're supposed to get more snow tonight/tomorrow. The best day of the week is looking like it will be Thurs with a high of -5 (or so they say!).

In weather like this I don't even like bringing horses in to the barn, it's too much of a shock to the system to come in, get acclimatized to the warmth and then have to go back outside in the cold. They've got lots of hay & blankets to keep them warm. (And I'm quite happy staying inside!)

I did spent some time down at the barn getting my tack room organized last night. It was SOOO nice to enjoy some hot chocolate (and baileys), wearing only a sweater in the barn. I got all of my tack unpacked & organized, feels really good. The little school saddles with the brush boxes underneath with bridles & martingales hung up nearby.

I hope the weather smartens up so I can ride my own horse AND the school horses or the kids will all be lunging before they ride. I may have another school horse coming soon too which is exciting! I hope so!

Upwards & Onwards!

I've kind of kept this quiet until now but I've had a major change in my life. I moved my horse & all of my lessons to a new barn. It's definitely a bit daunting to make such a big move but it's definitely for the better and I'm really looking forward to what this year has in store for me!

Plus it was fun to go shopping for a bunch of new school horse tack, brushes etc. I've got my little tack room all set up with kids saddles, girths, pads & two little brush boxes full of goodies.

The new barn is warm (in floor heating!) & bright and much closer to town. I think it will be ideal for dealing with our cold winters and hopefully will mean less cancelled lessons during the winter.

I'm already so impressed. The horses get fed beautiful, top quality hay 3x a day and LOTS of it. Big pens with shelter that are all accesible out the one barn door. No more trudging to the back 40 to go find horses in the dark.

The arena is smaller & there's no outdoor arena but I think it's a small sacrifice to make. I'm sure we can ride in one of the pens during the summer.
Getting to know some new school horses has been fun. I think they'll provide a good new challenge for my riders and me. The first month will be a learning curve I'm sure but that's ok. Everyone seems to be up to the challenge!

Everyone is friendly and really pulls their weight keeping the barn immaculately clean. I'm going to miss the old barn, I was there for just over 3 years. Lots of good memories but change is good sometimes. I'm ready for a fresh start and a change of scenery. I'm excited to get things really going there and so are my riders. I'm so grateful for all of my good friends & family who've helped me make it happen and supported me. I think it's going to be a great year with lots of fun things on the horizon!!

COLD COLD COLD!!!

It is so bitterly cold here! It's been super cold since last week. How cold you ask?

Well tonight it's -28 celcius and with the wind chill it's -37 and it's still snowing.

I feel really badly for animals that are outside on nights like tonight. Especially my poor pony. She's got a nice thick stable blanket with a thick high neck winter blanket on overtop, so I think she's probably warm enough. I still feel bad though. I sure wouldn't want to be outside tonight. I ran to plug the car in earlier and it sure dosn't feel nice to have any exposed skin.

We had a bit of an unexpected suprise this morning when we woke up and discovered our furnace wasn't working and the house was pretty chilly!!! Luckily it just needed a new thermostat and didn't cost us a fortune! PHEW!! The heat is back on and we're tucked inside staying warm tonight.

Tomorrow it's supposed to hit -34 without the wind chill but thursday it's supposed to warm up thankfully!!! It usually doesn't get this bitterly cold until January/February here.

I have to say, I almost enjoy the cold nights because you can't really go and do much and I don't feel guilty for sitting at home just relaxing. (I guess I *could* fold laundry....but nah!)

Somebody send us some warm weather!

Winter has arrived

Luckily we got home from British Columbia on sunday and the storm didn't move in until last night. Had it moved in a day earlier, our trip home would have been no fun at all!! The storm blew in so fast last night and unfortunately as it did so, I was on the way home from the barn. It was VERY hard to see on the way home. Luckily the storm waiting until lessons were done and everybody had gone home before it started with the snow.
Brigit is bundled up in her new winter blanket and I've got to say, I almost think the blanket was labelled incorrectly. For a size 78 it seems HUUUUGE! She normally wears an 80 too. She's well covered though, so that's good! I feel bad leaving her outside all winter long (she's got a nice shelter) but being in a stall just seems to aggravate her stifle problems. So she stays out.

On our trip to BC we stopped at a really neat tack store and I noticed a fancy hunt whip with thong & lash up on the wall. Unfortunately it was not for sale..... although I did try to convince them to sell it!

Tonight we are supposed to go for our second round of accupuncture, that is, IF the roads aren't too bad. We shall see. I don't have a lot of desire to haul Brigit if the roads are slippery. I've seen really positive results from the first round of accupuncture. I brought Brigit in and let her trot around the indoor arena for a few minutes and I can see that she's actually picking that leg up better and not dragging the toe as much. I hopped on bareback for a few minutes too and she felt really good. YAY!

I'm dying to ride sidesaddle, so I'm hoping we can get things sorted out so we can get back on with it!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.....

Oh wait.... It's almost May 1.

It sure looks like Christmas out there today though. We've had a winter storm blow through and we have quite a bit of snow. The roads are nasty so I'm having a day of working from home. Luckily it's not too cold, it's just wet and white. I'll have to try and get some pictures up later!

All dressed up with nowhere to go!

Today we decided to have some fun and get all dressed up in all our finery and take some pictures. Thanks to a good friend of mine for being my groom/photographer. It was REALLY handy to have someone help me get on and pass my jacket etc up to me. It was a tad muddy outside so it was interesting trying to keep everything clean. lol Now I see why thge ladies always had to have grooms with them!

We started off inside so we could try the pelham out and get warmed up. B went really well in the new bit and stayed very soft. I liked having the curb rein to ask for a bit more flexion when needed. I got a gel pad a few weeks ago and I've been putting that under the saddle and it seems to make a positive difference.

All dressed up and ready to go.....somewhere?
Off we go for a tour down the road. Definitely felt a little overdressed but it was fun!And a trot through the field...

Heading back home, that was fun!

What a weekend!!

We sure had a big storm over the weekend! It started snowing and blowing on Friday morning and didn't stop until sunday. You should have seen some of the huge snow drifts (I know, I know, I should have pictures! lol) that we woke up to on Saturday morning. They were up and over the neighbor's fences! Our road was completely snowed in. We spent most of the morning helping people who tried to get out, get their vehicles unstuck. Only one or two vehicles actually made it through.

We had a great time over at the neighbor's house making breakfast and enjoying some coffee and bailey's, while watching people attempt to get through the snow again and again. Definitely entertaining!


Finally someone with a bobcat came down and plowed a path so we could get out. We got a LOT of snow!



The temperatures dropped on Saturday afternoon and we woke up to a VERY chilly -30C without the wind chill.... Yuck. It's not supposed to let up until later this week. I definitely put the long underwear on to go to work today! Unfortunately the cold weather and snow meant I had to cancel all my lessons for the week. It's just too darned cold for the little guys to be out there.



I did get a fair bit of house cleaning/organizing done though! I just wish I could put some Christmas stuff up. Not until we get back from Las Vegas though! It doesn't make sense to get a tree yet. Ah well!


We did make it up to the local furniture store and we got an early Christmas present from my parents. We'd been kind of looking for a buffet or sideboard for a while and hadn't been able to find one we liked. We had seen this one in a flyer but it was backordered for several months. It finally came in this past week so we could go look at it. I think it'll match our cupboards perfectly!Our kitchen cupboards are totally full and we didn't really have any place to put our nice wine glasses but now we do! It gets delivered on Thursday morning! Very excited!

3 more days till we go to Las Vegas!!!

Brrrr!!! Winter is here!!!

I guess we've been lucky up until the past few days with our weather. The temperatures dropped and we're expecting more snow later tonight. Yuck! I can deal with the snow but the cold makes it tough. This morning when I got up the radio was saying it was -20 (celcius) and with the wind chill it was closer to -27. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

I had a lesson last night and everybody just about froze. I'm glad our barn is heated but I sure wish the arena was too, it's like a deep freeze in there! I figured it was a perfect night for a bareback lesson! I had plans to ride after the lesson but after standing in the arena for an hour I thought better of it. I bundled the ponies up and gave them some extra food and decided to head home where it was warm.


Brigit's nose seems to have gotten better (*knock on wood!!!!*), it hasn't been really runny for a couple of weeks (maybe it's frozen?? LOL). I'm hoping it will stay that way. We've finally gotten lots of weight on her and she looks great! It's nice to be able to ride her regularly again.

This pair of moose come back every winter (to the delight of the horses I'm sure!) and hang out fairly close to the barn. I was able to snap a picture of them last year. This is pretty much how things are looking at the barn right now. Cold & snowy.

I guess it's time to break out the winter boots, insulated coveralls, toques, mittens and quarter sheet! Just because it's winter, doesn't mean we don't ride up here!