Saddle Love

So, not to overstate the obvious, but when it comes to riding, there are *tons* of options out there for what sort of saddle to ride in. I've been riding Solana in a leather Western reining saddle. It's a very comfortable saddle for me...but weighs a lot, and I recently realized it just wasn't fitting her properly. Many people are turning to synthetic saddles these days. They're lightweight, easy to clean, and it doesn't matter if you get caught out in the rain. I was getting ready to order a synthetic Western saddle, but then started considering...

...and settled on a Wintec synthetic Aussie stock saddle. I LOVE IT!

Lightweight. Comfortable. Looks good. Fits good.

Wintec uses some nice technology to make their saddles comfortable for the horse as well as the rider and to make these saddles easily adjustable. The Aussie stock saddle combines some nice features from both English and Western....designed for Aussies to ride and work cattle all day in the outback, they knew a few things about what they were doing!

We went on a trail ride yesterday. I would have taken pictures, but I was having too much fun! :D

Love this

 LoML spoils me. Not that I'm complaining! These are a few of the wonderful things he got me for Christmas:

Wonderfully warm hoody...is a pretty blue...flash setting made the color look funny here.

White short-sleeved tee

Long-sleeved grey tee...a little hard to see the full detail here...picture shows racer going from race, doing a back-flip, and ending up on the couch!

short-sleeved tee

Of course part of the purchase price of these goes to benefit greyhound rescue groups.so that makes it even better! He also got me this beautiful necklace that he found online:

It's lovely. I was in a hurry and this picture doesn't do it justice. I've never seen anything quite like it. He found it at Gryffin Designs on Café Press...I must have lucked out, 'coz I don't see any necklaces still on there. She does have lots of other wonderful stuff.

My Inner Anglophile Rejoices

I've told you before that I'm a hopeless anglophile. My condition is helped some (fed some?) by the fact that I have relatives in the UK. I've always loved accents and it makes me happy to listen to British voices...saying anything...I have the  BBC World News channel programmed as a favorite on my car's XM. It's not unusual for me to switch over to it just to hear the announcers even though I'm not really interested in the news. You also need to know that my brother worked for a period of time at a university in Manchester and would tell me about the "Man U" vs. "Man City" rivalry. Imagine my delight when ESPN (my current favorite TV channel) aired a commercial about the rivalry. I considered it a challenge to listen enough times without the translation to get most of the words down...but the translation was useful for the slang :D Enjoy!

First, without the translation (don't worry--at the end it tells you to click for translation but then goes away too fast, I have it as a separate video):

And now, the "huh?":

I'd never heard this until my SiL told me about it this past weekend:

legend of the tabby cat

Author Unknown

And so it came to pass that a husband and wife journeyed to a small town called Bethlehem, as the king had decreed that all the people stand to be counted in the small towns and teeming cities from whence they came. The journey was long and hard for both, but especially for the young wife, who was very near to bringing her firstborn son into the world.

When they at last reached the crowded and noisy town, the expectant father searched hurriedly for a place for them to rest and where the child could safely be born. But at every door, he was told there was no available room. Finally, an old inkeeper, though having no space left in his inn, took pity on them and offered them shelter in the small stable used by his animals.

It was there that the child was born, surrounded by beasts of the field. As the night's cold grew, the baby fretted and cried while his parents pondered how to make him comfortable. His father tried stuffing straw into the open places in the walls, and his mother tried warming him with her meager wrappings. But still, the baby cried on.

All the while, a tiny kitten watched from the corner. "Of course the little baby is cold," she thought. "It has no fur to keep it warm! I will give it mine, and I will lullaby-purr it to sleep."

A little jump brought the kitten into the manger where the baby lay. There, she quietly gave her humble gift of warmth and love, gently stretching out her thin, fragile little body over the baby's, careful to cover all but the infant's face. The crying was soon replaced by soft purrs and coos, and slowly, the infant smiled.

As Mary, the new mother, witnessed this gift to her child, she touched the little cat's forehead.

"Thank you, Little Tabby, for your gift of love and warmth. As a sign of my grateful blessing, you and all your descendents will forevermore carry my initial on your forehead."

And to this day, tabby cats are known by the remarkable "M" on their foreheads, and by their extraordinary gifts of love, so gently given.

 Xander does have the "M"...but sometimes his love is more gently given than others. And Willow needs to be nominated for sainthood!

More Cuteness & More Pageantry

One of Xander's favorite falling asleep poses:

One of the angles that show he still has to grow into those ears!

Some more of the pageantry of Medieval Times. I'm ready to go back there today!

The king riding in to greet his people

Precision riding

The king and the princess up on the balcony (btw, this is a shot from all the way across the arena)

We were cheering the yellow knight

The king's horseman enters with his steeds (it's hard to see definition with a black horse, but he is rared up on hind legs)

Random Natterings

Admittedly, my blogging is still sporadic. Some day I may fully come to terms with the crazy, frenetic pace of my life and the fact that I can't possibly cram everything in that I want to...or think I can...At any rate, since I've been neglecting you (the two of you out there that I know check this thing!) I figured I'd bombard you with all sorts of random shots...

The fascination with the Purple Martins continues:

They gathered on the roof at Sammy's house

Love the tail shape!

A coup! Capturing stationary and in flight!

LoML & I went over to Cape Lookout Saturday...I can't resist taking pictures of seagulls...this guy was very interested in whether or not I had any food to share:

Flight

On the way over there we always slow down at this particular buoy to check on the osprey family. These birds are truly magnificent! I'm pretty sure they mate for life. I know they like to return to the same nest each year to raise their offspring. They had two babies this year...the babies are now almost as big as mom & dad! One of them is in between here...lying down and looking directly at my camera..the other is behind the parent bird on the right...if you look at his (?) breast you can just see it behind...

Some day soon I'll tell you all about Buster. He's the beautiful English Pointer that my parents rescued...He & Gwyn got to meet up on a walk on Sunday and we had a marvelous time. He's still underweight, but they're working on that and he's getting stronger by the day!

Finally, one of my dearest friends shared a recipe with me for chilled cucumber avocado soup. Made it Sunday night and ate it last night. It was fabulous! Here's the recipe: Chilled Cucumber Avocado Soup

Love This

I don't wear perfume very much...so many people are sensitive to it and so many people lather it on...but occasionally I like to indulge. When LoML and I went shopping to celebrate out anniversary I found this great scent at the surf shop where we were buying him some clothes. It's called "Stoked" and comes in a bottle that looks like a surfboard :D It's a very beach-ey scent put out by Bethany Hamilton - the professional surfer who lost her left arm in a shark attack but returned to professional surfing.

And you already know I love taking sunset pix...

Easter Treats from the UK

Delusion

Not really sure why, despite clear & cogent evidence to the contrary, I persist in the delusion that some day my crazy day job and my oh-so-wonderful but very, very full life in the real world will allow me to regularly post on my blog. Maybe some of it is rooted in the fact that I persist in believing that once I start a post I must filter through every wild thought that rushes through my brain and distill it into some coherent story. :::sigh::: Maybe some day....(I often find myself musing).

Some day I may even tell you about the pictures I posted *two* *weeks* ago and promised to tell you about. But not today. Today my crazy day job beckons and I will settle for sharing more random photos:

Lovely cream & sugar set my sis' & bro'-in-law gave me...love this!

Crazy beautiful flowers some co-workers gave me

Kitty toes. Love 'em!

Oz drinking from one of his favorite glasses :D

Love This - Glass Photo Coasters

Received as a Christmas present from my Mom & Dad...I love 'em! These particular ones are made by Sarah Peyton home...

The photos I used are some taken at our shoot with J. Frazz Photography. (Thanks again, Joe...you rock!)

Been sick most of the week...will catch up & post more soon, including answers to the questions that What Remains Now tagged me with.