Merry Christmas One And All!

Dear Friends,
I am so, so sorry not to have blogged all year (I think). That isn't to say I haven't thought about it and thought of all my Blogland friends.

Things are fine. I haven't been ill and haven't crashed or anything. I just didn't want to blog.

To cut a long year short, I have been busy. In January I invigilated at University exams, in February I can't remember what I did, in March I took part in Ruddigore, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. In April I started a veg garden in a raised bed and grew potatoes, peas, spinach and about one courgette. In May I invigilated again, bought another field for the ponies and spent a few days in Wells, Somerset, with my late husband's auntie. June I went on a great holiday - riding in Iceland on Icelandic ponies. Then I had another week travelling in Iceland on buses, walking in national parks and staying in hostels. I had a couple of days in Reykjavik too. July brought an anxious time because I returned from Iceland and found my 31 year old mare very under the weather. She got better and is fighting fit now.

At some point in the summer I had the stable re-roofed by the most hunky workman you ever saw! I also made a new slate path in the garden and planted a lavender hedge having first dug in sand and gravel to drain the soil and raked in lime to make it more alkaline.

In August I went walking on Exmoor, September again I walked, taking part in the Elan Valley walking festival and the Kington (Herefordshire) walking festival. The builders came in September to start my damp proofing, which they finished in October. I went to Wells again in October, What did I do in November? Cleaned up after builders I think, and had a new loo fitted. I visited Blackpool too and wasn't hugely impressed. Oh, and I made a twig Christmas tree out of beach driftwood (pictured above). December brings me to Devon for Christmas at my sis-in-law's, after having 3 solo singing slots at various Christmas concerts. Oh yes and the painter came to redecorate following the builders and plumber.

I don't let the grass grow.

Now I am having a piece of shortbread and a cup of tea and am about to post this and look at a few other blogs.

The two ponies and the cat are both fine.

Lots of love and good wishes from Foody..

Fauna Friday: Quasar, 30 3/4

I've been asked by a contributor to the Exmoor Pony Society annual newsletter if I would like a little feature on Quasar, so I said Yes and sent a photo. This is the photo, taken 2 days ago. Shame about the fence post coming out of her head but you can't ask a pony to move a few inches to the right or left and I was so surprised that she stood still for it that I didn't take time to check the background.

Something the vet said recently made me very aware that time left with Quasar is limited. Ponies can live a lot longer than 31 but not if their teeth aren't up to chewing. Hers are mostly loose so will drop out over time, and if she can't eat....

However, for now she is looking fantastic and is very lively so I hope she can just enjoy good health and contentment for as long as possible.

A trip out

I've been out to this reservoir three times in the last week, having hardly visited it at all in the last 20 odd years. Why on earth did we so rarely ever come here? A little road snakes in and out along one side and there are little parking and picnic places all along it, but at this time of year they are deserted. Bridleways and paths link different bits of road so you can go off over the hills and return to the road and walk back along the road, which is nice and easy and flat.

This is definitely an area to keep coming back to and to bring visitors to. There is a little town a few miles away. I think one night when the light nights return I will make a flask, pick up some fish and chips then go and eat them in this spot. When the sun gets low it tints everything up red, and the bracken being a reddish brown at this time of year anyway just goes on fire (so to speak). The colours in a photo never come out just as you see them. It was much redder and brighter. Fantastic.

Fauna Friday: A pony at the dentist

Poor Quasar. It was a bit unfair to photograph her having her teeth filed but it was such an interesting happening that I wanted to document it.

The vet is standing on the left. He had to be there to sedate her, or she just would not have tolerated having her head put in a brace and her mouth clamped open. One tooth was growing into her tongue and others were growing out into her gums so no wonder it was painful for her to chew. The dentist took out a loose one and here it is. I sellotaped it down so it would stay in place for the photo.

She has quite a few loose teeth which are bound to work more loose or need to be removed at some point. I'm supposed to book the dentist again in a year.

Poor sleepy girl is still up there in her stable. She should be OK to go out in two or three hours.

The vet thought she was very good for her age, but he kept emphasising the words 'for her age'. Although I have managed to put weight on her, she's still a bit under weight, so I will keep her on the same big rations. I feel very optimistic about the rest of the winter, then when spring comes, well it will all be easier as it always is, and we can take a big sigh of relief.

I haven't mentioned it lately, but I'm still doing the riding course and enjoying it. We did jumping last week!

New Year leftovers

I had roast duck on Hogmanay and here is some of what I did with the leftovers. Left, duck and stuffing pie. Top, duck vindaloo. Right, duck vindaloo pastie!

I have boiled the carcass and made soup stock and frozen some other decent bits too for future meals. I hate food waste and rarely ever throw food in the bin.

Fauna Friday: Christmassy ornament animals

Oh dear, it's Friday again and I hardly noticed. I haven't taken any new animal photos since last week so here are some ornament animals I always decorate at Christmas. Above, the raku goose. I always put a bell on him. (Raku is a kind of pottry. It has been explained to me but I never remember what it involves.)

Then below, the chicken I call the Iron Chicken, after the character in The Clangers. A bell and holly for her.

A sunny walk

It has been a fantastic sunny, frosty day again. I drove a little way eastwards today and tried an area I had never walked in before. I walked gradually up and up and found myself looking back down the valley I had just driven along.

I passed a little enclosure of holly trees bounded by a stone wall. You don't just get benches out in the open country. There was a little gate into the enclosure, announcing that this was a 'Friends' burial ground dating from the 1700's. Each stone had the Quaker sign on it. Some were burials of ashes but cremation only came in officially in the 1800's. Maybe before that they did unofficial cremations. If they buried bodies in this little site they must have hiked coffins up there. My goodness. This was about a mile from any road and though not very steep, it was steep enough and a very rough, muddy path, just on grass.

I stopped for a little drink of tea and picnic lunch on the bench. Definitely a place to come back to.

The path joins a little drive now and you get views of the next valley. I'll come back in the summer when the days are longer and I can spend many, many more hours on a much longer walk.

A buzzard was waiting further on, showing me the way to go.

It was a beautiful walk with fine views but what really let it down was the gates, or lack of them. I was continually coming up against barbed wire fences,and gates with string hinges that fell over as I moved them or swung dangerously as I climbed them instead. There were often pairs of gates with no hint of which way to go. Yes, I had a map and yes I even have GPS but it's still difficult and there was a lot of trial and error and retracing steps. This was the worst 'gate' and do you see the remains of sheep carcass? It wasn't easy without a companion to untwist my trousers from the barbs, but I got over this barrier.