Making me happy today...

Darling Zanny! Hello! Thank you for the ride today. 

 I headed out early for my third ever ride on my sweet girl. She's my best horse girlfriend until she gets too plump to ride anymore. Look at this tummy. Not too big yet, but I think she has expanded a little since I saw her last.

 We are going to have plenty of rides over the holidays and we've got plenty to work on. She has a head shaking habit that we disagree on. I think it is a bad idea for a girl with only one eye that works to vigorously flick her head up and down frequently. How on earth does she see where she's going? She thinks it is a fun habit, and has no intention of stopping. Emily told me to hold onto the saddle when she flicks so she can't pull my hands with the flick. We'll work on that, plus speed control, over the next two weeks. She is very forward moving and loves speed! I want to get cantering as soon as possible, but I need to be sure I've got plenty of control first. Actually I'm sure she'll only do what I ask her to do, but I need to be confident in my slow down aids before giving her free rein to go faster. Tomorrow I have a date with Chief White Cloud. Another speedster! Then on Sunday I'm judging at the Scarlett Oak Derby Day, which I am counting on to be highly entertaining.

These gorgeous pelargoniums are catching my eye currently. I love them so much and must remember to plant lots more. They are so easy-care for the colourful show. It takes only the most brutal conditions to kill them.

 Miss Dog is making me super happy too. So cute!

 The outdoor tomatoes are delicious this year. These yellow ones came up from seed all by themselves.

 The feijoas are fattening up. Slowly, I might add. I like feijoas. Hurry up!

 The reason for my absence for a couple of weeks has been the loss of our dear Nanny. 89 years old and  she quietly slipped away snuggled up in her bed overnight. We had a lovely funeral for her, if you can call a funeral lovely. We've got these bunches of flowers in the house at the moment- a reminder of Nanny. She loved flowers.

 Aren't sunflowers the happiest of blooms?

I've got no grandparents left now. Another stage in life, I guess. 

Do you know what makes me happiest of all? Even more than dearest Zanny? Today is the first day of two weeks of holidays. Time to unload all of the stress that inevitably builds up over the term. I'm super proud of myself because I won an acting senior teacher position for next term. So I'm going to make the most of every day of these holiday weeks.