Did John just want to get rid of all of us??? Maybe he did so it could run more efficiently or something. Some remain and continue posting. So I'll give it a go again, as well.

The storms and earthquakes have jolted us all out of our summer slumbers. I had some fun exploring in England this summer. I celebrated my husband's birthday in June in Henley on Thames. I enjoyed staying at the Hotel du Vin. I took some walks on off the beat trails and discovered that agate rock is prevalent in many parts of England and maybe this is why it was used to build defensive walls in the 12th and 13th centuries, besides the obvious, that it is very hard rock and wouldn't crumble. I also enjoyed exploring some antique shops and the Cancer Research Charity shops. I bought an old Henley brewery bottle because this was what my hotel was originally. Discovering a new author that I have never read is also fun, her name is Nancy Mitford and she wrote The Pursuit of Love in 1945. The New York Times review was, "The deliriously foolish story of and inane but charming girl and her outrageously eccentric family."

Henley on Thames is well known for hosting the most prestigious boat rowing event and I had the privilege of watching my son row there too. His team from college quallified to row. It was exciting to be there and some dear friends were ironically there too. I met so many new friends because other parents of the rowers were there too.

Well, that's about all for now. I have to go tend to my horse who has an absess on her hoof and she needs her hoof wrapped. So off I go to barn chores. Hope some of you still are receiving notice when I blog and we can catch up!

I was living in Singapore about 15 years ago with my whole family, dogs included. We even crated up our own furniture and had it shipped, experienced expats told us bringing the familiar along, made the experience feel more like home. We found a house to lease in an area called Bukit Timah which was all very drivable to all parts of the city. I learned to drive the family's Volvo wagon with the steering wheel on the right side of the car and the car on the left side of the road...trying at first but you get the hang of it quite quickly. My husband said, "Honey, just think left", well this really helped, God knows why. The children were all happy in their brand newly built school The Singapore American School, and doing quite well adjusting and having to wear cute little uniforms. I am an advocate of these uniforms, dressing was a no brainer each morning. The new school was way out in the country and I learned to drive the expressway there with ease, passing all the lories filled to the brim with workers being driven off to work. The slow lane on these fast roads was on the left, as well, so you passed on the right.

Singapore is a melting pot of cultures, Indian, Malay, Chinese and the hawker centers were where the best foods could be found at all hours of the day. Being Expats we were able to have a live-in maid, Vergie was her name and she could cook beautifully, and a master on the grill. We still miss her. We lived walking distance to a park, so the kids were thrilled, being age eight, seven and five. When Dad was home on weekends, we spent our days at several different pools and clubs and during the week the children had riding lessons at the Singapore Polo Club, which we all loved. We enjoyed watching some world class polo matches from players all over the world there. This is where I had my first lessons on a horse and fell head over heels with horses. It was pretty hysterical to see me the first time up there, begging to get off and swearing to never get back on. But, my teacher said, "Mum, you must first get your seat, we will lunge you, next lesson". Well, it worked and my third lesson they had me jumping a horse and they had forgotten to tell me how to even stop a horse yet. Some of my trainers were Indian and some were tough as nails Aussie women. But is was all worth it. My favorite rides were hacks behind the club in a still wild jungle setting, it was not unsual to see a monkey or two in the trees.

One time we were in the park near our home and some police had asked us to leave so that they could capture a group of monkeys that wandered to close to a residential area. They captured them and brought them back to the Bukit Timah Nature Preserve, a favorite outing for the kids and me. I had made a good friend who lived in a condo, right on the edge of the preserve and the monkeys would brazenly climb in her windows and steal anything she had left out on the counters.

Well, after all, Singapore was actually a jungle, before it was developed by the British and it became quite a shipping trading port.
Sir Raffles, was one of the most famous Britts there and you can actually visit the Raffles Hotel in the heart of the city, which is really quite beautiful and has a touch of romance from a time long ago. But, the kids and I always preferred the more primitive aspects of the beautiful Island, with it's amazing passing thunderstorms, amazing animals, massive snakes and bugs the size of your fist! Aargh Matie, after all it's a jungle out there!

Yup, I really do have cold feet. The weather outside is frightful this winter 2010/11. The southern states are not equipped for ice/snow conditions and so they must shut down everything. How do businesses survive with everyone at home? With todays technologies, meetings can still be held, memos sent, reports done, etc. It's the small businesses that are really hurting. If their customers can't get out, even if they can, shops suffer.

I also have "cold feet" now about attending any political gathering, and flying in commercial planes. This kind of cold feet never leaves, but it is conquerable. We can never allow terrorists to win, so we have to conquer our cold feet.

Have to pull on my Sorel winter boots and go muck the barn, that will take care of my cold feet, at least for now.

Take care one and all and have a healthy, happy new year!

I haven't been around much on the stream because I have been struggling with life's challenges and didn't much want to write about it. Death of a loved one is by far one of the most challenging things to deal with in life. Once we are gone from this planet it is those we leave behind that face the sadness of loss. I dealt with the death of one of my closest friends, Cynthia. Every year for Christmas, we exchanged gifts. I went around the house and gathered around as many of her lovely gifts as I could find and sat quietly surrounded by them. I was wrapped in a warm throw that she sent one year and realized her passing made me less scared of dying.

My beautiful Golden Retriever Reilly also died. He had a torqued spleen, I was told. I did some research and discovered what may have caused this. He was once hit by a car and broke his back, the doctor said there was nothing he could do and sent him home and told me to keep him quiet. He healed miraculously, but he was never the same. I read that any organ directly below the spinal injury could be negatively affected. He also always flinched when his spine was touched, even gently.

Then one night I got up to go to bed and I slipped on a dog toy and fell, side first into the coffee table. I cracked my ribs. This took a good two months to heal, painful and annoying, but I still got around, just couldn't ride my horse. When I finally healed, my horse hurt his hock and it was swollen, so he couldn't be ridden. Wait, this tragic couple of months doesn't end on a bright spot. Sorry, but this is therapeutic to write or talk about, so thanks for reading.
Just two weeks ago, I found my horse standing alone up by the barn, something was amiss when he neighed at my annoying barking Boston Beagle. I locked annoying dog up and rushed back to him. I found cuts all over his body, and realized he must have had a fall. He was resting his back right leg, which he always did, so I didn't think much of it. I cleaned up his cuts, got him water and he took some treats. I tried to lead him to his stall he couldn't move. Then he did something physically amazing, on three legs he completely pivoted his body from north to south, showing me that was all he was capable of doing.

When the doctor came she confirmed my worst fear, that he had broken his femur in that back right leg. I hugged my big, stoic and still vitally strong horse and he rubbed his itchy face all over my shoulder. I know he is still with us, his heard has become quite atttached to me of late, and I am enjoying it. Today, I have a big bag of apples to bring down to share with them. Rummy was burried out in our pasture that evening and my daughter noticed that there was a magnificent sunset that night.

After feeding the horses out in the barn, I had to shed my coat, I was so hot...and no, it wasn't a hot flash. I had no trouble taking the coats off, they all stood like statues, knowing I was unburdening them of their heavy winter coats. After all, the horses already have their own furry coats. I just had to leave the computer to get something warmer to wear, I think it's colder in here than outside.
Yes, spring is just around the corner, all the signs are popping up around me.

The dogs stay outside longer now that it's warmer. During the coldest times this winter...with negative windchills, I found myself praying for 30 degrees again. I took a trip to FL last month, and we were just praying it wouldn't snow there! They have experienced one of the coldest winters on record. We must have been pittied by the weather gods because we not only sunbathed, we went swimming because we were hot!

Our snow drifts are taking quite a long time to melt, which means I can't run my manure spreader, it gets stuck in drifts. So, it means having to haul muck buckets to what is now Mount Manure. Now, you probably think, so what, but the Mount can't stay there outside the barn. It is not only smelly but it is not very pretty. So, the pile has to be John Deered by my husband, yup you got it, into the spreader...and spread out in the field a couple of hundred times.

I haven't seen a single flower pop out of the ground yet, wait, I'm going outside to check again... Well, I found buds and green leaves, when I moved all the dead leaves away. And, I looked over at the horses who were playing and acting kind of free. I guess it is really a great burden to bear for all of us, but it's nice to finally feel free.