Mexico - Part 2

On our second day there we went fishing for Mahi-Mahi, Sailfish, Tuna and I can't remember what else. It was a bust of a day for fishing though, we didn't catch a thing. Not even a bite.

But we did see HUNDREDS of dolphins and a pod of whales! It was the neatest thing I've ever seen. I sat on the front of the boat and took pictures of them.




We went waaaay out and then came back along the coast. This is one of the beaches that's apparently quite good for surfing.

One of the fancy resorts.


And back in town I found a Plumeria tree that was blooming. I think these have to be my new favorite flowers, they smell sooooo good!


Even the parking lot is pretty! haha

Our trip to Mexico...Part 1

We went to the far south part of Mexico in a region called "Huatulco". I've never been anywhere warm before so this was a nice treat! The humidity was something I was definitely not used to!

Thankfully there was a pool to cool off in.


The bougenvilla grows everywhere down there, very pretty!


We went to a little beach that was fantastic for snorkling and we had the beach almost entirely to ourselves.


My camera said it was waterproof, so I decided to test it out! There was so many brightly colored fish on the coral reef. I could have sat in the water all day and watched them. I've only ever seen fish like that in the pet stores.

Sandwich case, here it is!

I finally have one! Since I started acquiring my sidesaddle collection I've always drooled over sandwich cases, they're just so interesting. But my cheap side has always prevented me from buying one. My boyfriend found an antique one that matches the color of my saddle in England and had it sent over for Christmas. As soon as I pulled back the wrapping paper I knew it had to be something sidesaddle related because it was in the box it had been shipped from and it was posted from England.

I was really suprised at how heavy it is! It's lined in doeskin and appears to have brass fittings.




The sandwich box folds and I believe it's silver. It's in very good condition. What a tiny sandwich that would have been! And the flask, just enough for a few sips of sherry.



It is definitely something that I will treasure, I'm almost afraid to use it for fear that it might get damaged. It will have to be saved for special occassions.

Sidesaddle goodies for Christmas!

I suppose I should tell you about a few new additions to my sidesaddle collection! I definitely got spoiled this Christmas. We opened our presents on the 20th before we went away on holidays and I got some wonderful sidesaddle items. My mother ordered me the ISSO's fundraiser calendar, it's got some very neat old pictures in it.

Here's the one for January....


And I got a reprint of an antique sidesaddle book called "Modern Sidesaddle Riding" written in 1907 by Eva Christy. It's really fascinating to read. There are lots of "do's" and "don'ts" and I think the most interesting part are the ads in the back, including one for "Champion & Wilton".








I loooooove old books!

She also ordered my "The Encyclopedia of the Sidesaddle" which is very interesting too! Everything you could imagine related to sidesaddles is in there.

To save the best for last... my boyfriend found an antique sandwich case and had it sent from England. It's got the silver sandwich box & bayonet top flask. I'll have to save pictures of that for another day though!

Sorry for the long absence...again!

I was so busy with getting ready for Christmas and work I just didn't have time to write anything. Not to mention, I didn't really have much to write about.

But I'm back! And I've got lots to share! I'm going to do some posts on my trip to England & Scotland in the summer, Mexico and some horsey stuff of course!

First off, I was looking through a photo gallery in the local paper and saw my picture from the Bar U clinic this summer! Kind of exciting to be considered one of the "Best Photos of Alberta 2010"



Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a great start to the new year!

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!