Just a Quickie!

Hello all!
Just to say I can't write much because I'm too ill, and getting gradually worse.  I haven't ridden all week, but have had the energy to make cards, although today I haven't even had the brainpower to do that!  I'm just reading blogs and craft magazines and dripping everywhere (too much information?)
Hasn't it been a frustrating week with Blogger?  I can't comment on anyone's posts and my followers have disappeared off my actual blog page, although I can see from my dashboard that you're all still there.  I've had comments on my blog, so I don't understand why I can't comment on yours, I'm so sorry.  (Especially you, Edward, your new horse looks lovely!)
Mr O rode Barnaby for me today.  I was a bit upset, but I'm just grateful someone can keep him ticking over for me as we have a 14 mile ride next weekend, so I can't just leave him.
Nearly forgot to mention.  Mr O rang yesterday evening to say he'd be late home as the factory was on fire.  I was worried sick.  He did say everyone was out and safe, but some years ago, there was a fire at a factory where he worked and he went back in to get people out and his shoes melted, so I was worried he'd do something like that again.  They have a lot of plastic at this factory and some of it melted and stuck to him, but he is fine, thank the Lord. 
He was in shock when he got home and went to have a shower to get the smell of smoke off him, poor man.  I am just glad he and everyone else is safe.  It turns out the actual building wasn't on fire, the lads had had a fire on the yard and left it, and the wind whipped it up until it was out of control.  Scarey stuff.
And finally, it's only fair to say that I was well enough to go to the cinema today to see the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film.  I sat there with piles of tissues, making little snuffling noises like a happy hedgehog, and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Let's just say, you get a lot of Johnny Depp for your money!  I have spent the past week watching the first three films at night, so I was ready.  I think it lacked a little Orlando Bloom, but apart from that I can't fault it.  If it wasn't for films like that I'd never be able to spell 'Caribbean'. 
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Mrs O.

Eat Pray Love

Hello all, I am not at all well, with a cough, cold and sore throat.  Not much riding going on as a result.  The last thing Barnaby needs at the moment is time off, with two distance rides coming up, but still.

So instead I've decided this is an ideal time to review the book I've just finished, 'Eat Pray Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert.  I thought, 'Julia Roberts is in the film, the book must be good!'  It just goes to show how wrong you can be!
I should have heard alarm bells ringing when I read the line, '...I can't swallow that one fixed rule of Christianity insisting that Christ is the only path to God...' I probably should have put the book down there and then, but no, I struggled on.  It has been some years since I've actually thrown a book at a wall in sheer frustration, and it's only due to the development of a certain amount of self-control that I didn't hurl this one.
The book is split into three sections.  The first part, the 'eat' part, takes place in Italy, and I did like it, as her love for Italy is very similar to my love for all things german.
But the second part, the 'love' part, takes place at an ashram in India, where amongst other things, she learns to mediatate.  She describes this like this  '...it's so mighty now that I actually can't deal with it anymore.  It scares me so much that I say to it, "I'm not ready yet!"  but then she has another go!  To me that's like smoking a cigarette, realising it's disgusting, then doing it again the next day.  
In another place she says she meets with God 'and is God.'  For goodness sake woman, are you claiming to be God then?  I read a book years ago called 'Shopping for a God,' and that's exactly what Elizabeth Gilbert reminds me of, going along some supermarket shelves, shopping for a religion.  You know, "I like meditation, so I'll throw some of that in, but I don't like fasting, so I won't bother with that."  Grrr!
The third part of the book, the 'love' part, takes place in Bali, where she goes back to re-aquaint herself with her medicine man, who predicts that she will return, then when she does he can't even remember her.  It's as though she instantly believes everything he says without question, even though she is clearly an intelligent woman with a good career. 
Check this out:
'...Ketut (the medicine man) went on to explain that the Balinese believe we are each accompanied at birth by four invisible brothers, who come into the world with us and protect us throughout our lives.  When the child is in the womb, her four siblings are even there with her - they are represented by the placenta, the amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord and the yellow waxy substance that protects an unborn baby's skin. 
When the baby is born, the parents collect as much of these extraneous birthing materials as possible, placing them in a coconut shell and burying it by the front door of the family's house.  According to the Balinese, this buried coconut is the holy resting place of the four unborn brothers, and that spot is tended to forever, like a shrine.
The child is taught from earliest consciousness that she has these four brothers with her in the world wherever she goes...'
Just a minute, didn't you say they were buried in a coconut shell by the front door?  Hmmm.  But of course, this is enough for the author to suddenly start recognising her own four spiritual brothers.  Amazing.  As if she didn't have enough baggage already.
The medicine man also tells her that heaven and hell are the same thing.  Well that's all right then.

I think you've probably gathered that this is not my favourite book of all time.  I really wish I hadn't bothered to read it through to the end as it didn't exactly bless me.  The Bible says to 'look on what is noble, what is true, what is pure and what is right,' and that's what I tend to stick to.  Mr O says he watches certain television programmes, 'because the lads at work will watch it and all be discussing it tomorrow and will ask me what I think,' which I understand, but you could watch pornography on that basis, couldn't you? 
So I think I'll be consigning this book to the bin.  2/10  Mrs Gilbert, sorry.

And Then There Were Five...

Some sad news.  As the title of my blog suggests, there are an awful lot of chickens wandering about out there, but you may not know we also have six ducks.  They are Indian Runner Ducks and we have raised them from eggs into tiny youngsters into fully fledged ducks, who are sweet and innocent and we adore them. 
We put all the animals away at night, ducks in one pen and chickens in another.  The chickens arrive in dribs and drabs, for a bit of tea and then  find their favourite slot on a perch or in a nesting box, but the ducks stick together like glue and go everywhere together.
So when Mr O came in from work on Tuesday night and announced he'd put the ducks away for the night but that there were only five, alarm bells started ringing instantly.  We went straight back out and began to search.  I expected to find her floundering about near the pond, with some sort of injury, but what we eventually stumbled upon was much, much worse. 
The fox spotted us just before we spotted him and rapidly abandoned his meal.  Tessa chased him as far as the boundary wall and then I yelled at her to come back.  The last thing I needed was for her to go running into the road.  What we had to deal with was plenty.  I'll spare you the gory detail, but suffice it to say, the fox had no intention of taking the duck anywhere with him, but she was thoroughly dead. 
We just stood there dumb with shock.  Now, I have always had it in mind that this would be a swearword free blog, so a lot of the conversation that took place after the discovery is pretty unprintable.  Let's just say that if the fox comes back I won't be responsible for my actions. 
I have always been pro hunting and never liked foxes, but part of me can't help admiring their beauty, but when you see the extent of their capabilities at close hand, suddenly you understand how vile they actually are. 
I was in such shock and a state of anger that I didn't actually cry until the next day as I was putting them away.  They are such sweet, innocent animals, and they trust us implicitly, I feel I've really let them down.  Maybe if I'd put them away earlier this wouldn't have happened, but it probably can't be helped. 
Goodbye little duck, we loved you...

Chatsworth Again

Just for Jean, I fished around and found a lovely picture of the bride and groom, showing the bride's dress a bit better,

That's me on the far left, by the way, in the spotty dress.

Anyway, I arrived back on Saturday afternoon and Mr O met me at the station.  'Er Indoors came too and made it very clear she wasn't speaking to me.  She actually ignored me until bedtime, just to let me know she hadn't forgiven me for going away.

I rushed out to see Barnaby to make sure he was okay, and then it was time to get ready for Pongo's 40th birthday party.  We dashed off and realised we'd forgotten the present, then realised we didn't really know where the social club was (it's not in our village) so we dashed back, picked up the presents and the Satnav and set off again. 

We had a really good time, the highlight of which was listening to Pongo singing on the karaoke, and got back around 11pm.  My third late night.

Then we were up at the crack of dawn on Sunday to go to Chatsworth Horse Trials.  This is one of my favourite places to go - where else do you get to rub shoulders with the top riders?  There was a bonus this year that we'd arranged to get together with a bunch of friends.  We've all 'met' on the Your Horse forum, then all switched over to facebook last year, so we've known each other for ages.  As Derbyshire is quite a central county, it was suggested that Chatsworth might be the ideal place to meet, so we decided to rendezvous outside the Joules (clothing company) tent at 1pm. 

It was great to meet up with people, some who'd travelled down from Yorkshire and up from Birmingham.  I could have talked for hours. 

But of course, there was also so much show jumping  to watch

and a really thrilling

(Lucinda Fredericks)

cross country course

(William Fox-Pitt)

It was great to see so many fabulous riders, especially Pippa Funnell (my heroine), but there was no sign of Mary King and although Zara Phillips' name was on the schedule, we didn't see her at all.

But there was an amazing display by Jean Francois Pignon, who worked with his five horses loose in the showjumping ring.  It was absolutely amazing, not so much what he got them to do, but that they were so willing to work for him.

And then, the show stopping moment... Mr O said, "That's Oliver Townend over there." I looked across and sure enough, there he was.  I had a piece of paper on me and rummaged around in my bag and found a pen, so I plucked up the courage to sidle up to him and ask him for his autograph.  We had a good chat actually.  He said he'd won one class but had fallen in the second (we missed that then!) I had to resist the urge to say, "You don't need a secretary/groom/housekeeper, do you?"  and managed to keep my mouth shut.  He was really nice actually, very tall and quite dishy, which I'd never noticed before! 

So that was the icing on the cake really, and it was time to wend our way home.  No more of this

until next year.  Just a very slow drive home because of these

I hope everyone behind us realised why we were driving so slowly. 
I think I enjoyed Chatsworth more than ever this year.  And amazingly I managed to go into the Joules tent and come out empty-handed.  I hope it doesn't mean I'm coming down with something!
Have a great day everyone,
Mrs O.

Southern Belle

Finally, the most exhausting weekend of my entire life has come to an end and I can relax a bit today and try to get some energy back.  I have so much to tell you I think I'll have to spread it over a couple of posts.

So, rewinding back to Thursday, which seems a very long time ago now, I waited and waited for Mr O to finish work, so that he could drive me to the station, where I would catch the train to London.  From there I jumped onto  the train down to Worthing where my sister picked me up.  It was 11.30 pm by then, the first of several late nights to come.

Son 2, Daughter 2 and hubby were already there, and the Flower Fairy was in bed.  It was so sweet when she woke up on Friday morning and realised I was there.  I decided I had to see the sea, so we walked the dog around the corner from the house and onto the beach.  Fabulous. 

But the real reason I had gone was to celebrate my niece's wedding.  The whole day took place in the Highdown Towers Hotel, a beautiful venue.  Cathy had chosen the colour purple to go with off-white for her colour scheme, and it worked beautifully.  Each chair was covered in white fabric with a big purple bow tied round the back.  The flowers were stunning, with glitter on the roses and little silver flower heads that really caught the light. 

Here's the cake, which sums up the colour scheme perfectly.  The bridesmaids had the same flowers round the waistband of their dresses, which is what had given Cathy the idea for the cake.

The reception was held downstairs, and it felt a bit like stepping into the dining room of the Titanic, it was amazing.  You can see the enormous champagne glasses on each table, which were filled with purple water and had candles floating on the top.  My granddaughter was speechless for once!

I managed to keep my cool and not cry at all, until it came to the speeches, and Cathy's dad just about nailed it.  He was very funny, but his love for Catherine was obvious, as he declared what a special daughter she is and how lucky Lewis was to have won her heart.  I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. 

And here are the bride and groom. 

To my surprise, I found myself dancing until midnight, then it was time for the bride and groom to leave, and finally we could wend our way home, exhausted but happy. 

The next day I woke up and groggily packed my bags (travel light they said, huh, have you ever tried it?) and my sister drove me back to the station.  Soon I reached London Victoria.  I ought to explain that I lived in London for six years in my younger days and absolutely loved it.  I was wondering if I'd remember how to do the tube, and actually it was a doddle, I just stayed on the Victoria Line all the way to King's Cross station then legged it to St Pancras, and out the other side. 

 I have to say, though, it's a good job I had a fixed ticked otherwise I would have been off shopping, I can tell you.  The buzz of London hasn't altered at all.  On the tube, we got to Green Park station and the announcer said, "Alight here for Buckingham Palace," and I thought, 'I could just go for a little look...'  I dread to think what time I'd have got home if I had done! 

And so I was home, from a wonderful time away, but things didn't stop there.  I'll tell you the next installment tomorrow.  For now, let's just say I'm extremely grateful I don't have to go to work and can sit on the sofa for a while and recuperate today.

Back soon

Mrs O.

The Simple Woman's Daybook - May

Outside my window: the wind is blowing, but it has rained again in the night.  We've been a bit desperate as it hasn't rained since before Easter and if it carries on like this the horses will have nothing to eat!

I am thinking: about the mega busy weekend coming up, wedding on Friday, 40th birthday party on Saturday night, then all day Sunday at Chatsworth Horse Trials, finally getting to meet a bunch of facebook friends for the first time, so exciting.

I am thankful for: my relationship deepening with Barnaby despite the fiasco on Saturday!

I am wearing: a grey jumper that used to be my daughter's.  It's still in perfect condition and must be at least 10 years old.

I am reading:  Actually I've just finished reading 'Eat Pray Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert and have so much to say about it I'm going to save it for another post.

I am hoping: that my train tickets for the wedding trip arrive in the post today.

On my mind: all the cards I need to make this month, plus I need to buy some brown wrapping paper so that I can decorate it myself.

From the kitchen: we've been on a bit of a diet and I've managed to lose a few pounds, but it's more about eating healthily, drinking more water and cutting out chocolate, cake and biscuits, which is nearly killing me!  I've started eating more things like lentils, too.

I am creating: my first ever more overtly Christian card and it's quite a nerve wracking experience. 

I am hearing: Radio 2.  I love it.

Noticing that: this computer is so much faster than the old one.  No wonder people play Farmville on facebook, if it's that quick!

Around the house: things got untidy again pretty quickly after my blitzing session last week for Priscilla coming to dinner.

One of my favourite things:  these two feeling safe enough to relax like this:

A scripture thought: 'Love is patient, love is kind,' 1 Corinthians 13.

TREC Trauma

To say I am fed up today would be an understatement. Have you ever 'bitten off more than you can chew'? Let me explain...
Yesterday I took Barnaby to a TREC competition at a place called Frickley, which is an hour and a half's journey in the lorry. We got slightly lost on the way there, but still found the venue in time.
Then the strangeness began. There were lots of people milling about, as most of them arrived on Friday and camped over night, but there was no one to welcome us and no one to sign in with so in the end I tacked Barnaby up and asked a passerby what to do. She said people were just taking their number bibs and going down to the field where the Control of Gaits took place, followed by the obstacle course, so I rode down there (Mr O was my groom, and this was the first time I'd decided to have a go as an individual) but the guy on the gate said, "Don't come down here please, wait for us to call you!" I thought, 'how can you call me if you don't know I'm here?' Maybe it's just me.
The thing is, you could go there on Friday evening and walk the course, but it's miles away from where we live, which meant Mr O would have to come home from work, come down to pick me up then drive all the way up there, and drive all the way home, which we couldn't feasibly do.
So I asked the man on the gate what I had to do, and he launched into this great long lecture, having asked, "Didn't you walk the course? If you were doing a hunter trials, wouldn't you walk the course first?" as if I had some strange disease. Then he said we could have come an hour earlier and walked the course. It doesn't say that anywhere on the paperwork, it says the course is available for walking on Friday night.
Anyway, I did the gate obstacle, then did the control of paces, where I had to canter down (slowly) and walk back up (quickly) which went quite well considering Barnaby had decided he really ought to stay in the lorry park with the other horses. Why does this always happen to me?
So I followed the field round to the next obstacle and did it, then came to the 'low branches' obstacle. They ask the height of your horse and adjust the 'branches' accordingly, to make it fair for everyone. You have to lay right down on your horse and go underneath them. You can do it in walk, trot or canter and get more points for the faster gait. I did it in trot, closed my eyes and went for it and got through, so I was quite pleased. The next obstacle was two cross country steps down. You had to ride down the first step, dismount and lead your horse down the second step. Barnaby wouldn't go down with me on him, so I got off and tried to lead him down, and we both thought it was ridiculous. How can you stand below a horse like that trying to lead it down? I could see him thinking, 'but if I jump down I'm going to land on you, what on earth do you want me to do that for?' and as I totally agreed with him, I decided to move on to the next obstacle.
I politely asked the obstacle judge if she would kindly explain what I had to do as we were unable to walk the course, and she shouted, "Haven't you got a rule book?" and I'm afraid I flipped. Remember, I have a horse who keeps rearing because he wants to go back to the lorry park, I am nervous about the orienteering section later on and now I've got this woman having a go at me. I just said that the competition was advertised as a good introduction to beginners, why would I have a rule book, but if that's how she felt, I'd call it a day there and go home. She didn't apologise, but suddenly started explaining how to do the obstacle. I felt like crying by then, to be honest.
Anyway, we carried on round, but didn't do very well at the rest of the obstacles. Barnaby didn't stand still in the holding pen, he didn't do the rein back straight, which I knew he wouldn't, but didn't walk straight over the bridge either, which he is more than capable of doing.
Eventually I finished the obstacles, met Mr O and burst into tears because the woman had been so rude to me. I had to pull myself together and go to the map room and copy the route down from the main map onto the copy I would take with me, take my route check card and go and set off on the orienteering phase.
I can't tell you how difficult this bit was. I did the first bit okay, then caught up with a couple who had set off before me. They were arguing about whether they'd gone wrong or not (they had, as it turns out). Barnaby was brilliant actually, because he didn't try to stay with their horses. The man had blood pouring down his face where he'd cut himself on some trees.
Then it began to sink in that I couldn't do this map reading lark whilst sitting on a horse. I had to make Barnaby stand still while I held the map and fiddled about with the compass and tried to think where I was, and carried on and found out I'd come out onto a road too far up from where I should be, but carried on and eventually came to a check point, which was good. The next section was easy, but then I made my way into Howell Wood and it rapidly turned into some sort of nightmare.
There were paths criss-crossing everywhere, so although the map showed you followed a path in a straight line, the reality wasn't like that at all. It was horrendous. I went deeper and deeper into the woods, not going in circles, but much further west than I should have been. I crossed these great deep ravines but in the end came to a river that was a sheer drop into the water below.
By now I was so desperate I was crying and trying not to panic. I'm telling you now I was begging for God to help me. Then I just gave up and said, "Go on, Barn," and he turned round and started taking me a different way through the wood, taking me home. I was desperate to find a road. I didn't even have my mobile phone on me, so I couldn't even ring Mr O and tell him what was going on. I started crying again, but Barnaby strode purposefully on.
And then, a man appeared in front of me and had a backpack on, so I thought he looked like he might know what he was doing. I stopped him and asked if he'd seen any other horse riders coming through the woods. He said, "Yes, they've all been going that way," and pointed further up the track I was on. He said I had to continue that way until the top of the hill and then turn left. I said, "I'm sorry I don't know what you mean, would you mind coming with me a little way?" and so he did, all along the track. I thought, 'I must thank him for coming so far out of his way.' Then he pointed to some people and said, "You need to go up there where those people are, and then turn left." I looked to where he pointed, looked back to thank him and he wasn't there. All there was behind me was the long track I'd walked up and there was no one to be seen. At the time I was baffled, but stressed that I had so much further to go, so couldn't really dwell on it, but you can imagine I've given it a great deal of thought since. I wouldn't be the first person to see a guardian angel, would I? And I won't be the last. I'll leave you to make of it what you will.
Anyway, I continued along the track and came to another checkpoint. I've never been so relieved. To be honest I just wanted to pack it in at this point and go home, but I got my bearings on the map and made it gradually the rest of the way. The amazing thing was, I let Barnaby direct us and he took me straight back to the place I'd got lost originally. It was surreal. I managed to make my way home from there and have never been so relieved to see my lovely husband. He'd been worried sick apparently and they were just about to send out the search parties.
Poor Barnaby was so tired, and of course I have no way of knowing how much extra distance I put on, but I was out for over three hours. I really, really don't understand it.
And the stress and the fright have really made me question whether I should do it again. It's not fair on Barnaby, Mr O or the people who organise the event, is it?
However, while waiting for me, Mr O was chatting to the organizers about how they ride the route themselves, and what the overall distance was, and they wouldn't tell him! It was very, very peculiar and they were quite a strange bunch of people. Apparently it's about knowing how many of your horses paces cover a certain distance, so you can work out how far you've gone in a certain time, and to be honest, if all that's involved, I'm not sure I want to take it up anyway, I had enough trouble just trying to make Barnaby stand still so I could look at the map!
So, to be honest, I was quite traumatised by the whole experience, and don't want to do it again, but I've booked in for a TREC training day on June 5th, so hopefully I'll learn a lot then and be able to decide if it's something I want to have another go at.
I want to say thankyou to all the people who gave me directions, to Barnaby who's internal compass is clearly a force to be reckoned with and to Mr O just for being there really. I never want to get into a stressful situation like that again, thankyou very much!

Greetings!

Hello all, it's been a strange week, as my computer finally bit the dust on Tuesday morning. I pressed the 'on' button and it promptly sank into the computer, never to be seen again. Fortunately, Mr O was on the case and ordered us a new one. I think he realises what a lifeline my laptop is, as I hardly see any real life human beings from one day to the next, and this reallly is my means of communication with the outside world.
We had a few frustrations over the Easter holidays. Mr O should have gone showjumping at Marchington, but it was cancelled 'due to lack of entries.' As you don't have to pre-enter the showjumping, we found this rather odd, but decided to look on the bright side as it would give Zak's wound time to heal up completely before he goes in the lorry again. Then, on the same day, the organiser of a TREC competition I was going to rang up to say that that was also cancelled due to lack of entries. I felt like saying, "Yes, but I wanted to do it!" Grrr!
So I felt totally deflated, as once you know a competition is imminent, the adrenaline starts to stir. I put a comment on facebook about my disappointment, and Leigh, who now owns Max (my old horse) said to come over with Barnaby and go for a ride. I was absolutely thrilled, and immediately accepted, so on the bank holiday that's what we did. I got Barnaby in, gave his tail a wash to spruce him up a bit, and off we went.
Their farm has a long driveway, but as we trundled along, we could hear Max whinnying from his stable, as he clearly recognised the sound of the lorry, even though he hasn't heard it for a year. Isn't that amazing?
I unloaded Barnaby and took him over to meet Max. They knew each other instantly. Barnaby looked as if to say, "Where've you been, you scruff?" But actually Max looked stunning. All the mane that Barnaby chewed off last year has grown back and he has these flowing locks and looked immaculate.
We tacked up and set off, going through a woods, then onto what I can only call 'some land.' It wasn't fields, it was just land with tracks all over it. I was in front (of course!) and Leigh kept giving me directions and we just kept going. It looked as though it went on for miles. If I'd been on my own I'd have got totally lost.
As we continued there was a little tiny log on the floor so I asked Barnaby to go over it. It was so small it wasn't worth the effort of cantering and he just trotted over it, but I was really pleased. Then a bit further on there was another one, slightly bigger, so I asked him to go over it and he cantered this time. Then came another even bigger one which we jumped cleanly. It was fantastic. I knew I'd have the nerve to jump him outside, because it's straight lines. He was beautiful though, his neck stayed straight up in front of me and he felt rock solid, not like when we show jump in the arena and he puts his head between his knees and tanks round. I was so pleased with him, I was quite high when I got back.
We got back to the yard and Leigh asked if I'd like to ride Max so I agreed. Last time I was quite nervous about doing it and think I just watched her, but this time I had no nerves at all and got straight on (leaving Leigh to hold Barnaby, who kept trying to get down and roll in the lovely sand!)
It felt very strange riding this horse who I owned for six years and felt such kinship with. Firstly he felt very small compared to Barnaby. This was quite a shock, as I never felt underhorsed when I owned him. Then I thought the saddle was too small, even though it was my own saddle. I've obviously spread out to accommodate Barnaby's bulk! In the end I rode with no stirrups and he was fine. He just seemed such a sweetheart, a compact ball of muscle, and he does have the sweetest face, he hasn't changed at all really. I do think he's totally happy there though, and Leigh has done a fantastic job on him, as in some of her photos from a recent show he is totally on the bit and looks amazing.
Of course, eventually we had to load Barnaby in the lorry, and it was a bit of a tear-jerker as the two horses didn't want to leave each other. They were such brothers, you see. Although Zak and Barnaby are now an item, they aren't as faithful as Max and Barnaby were, they were such loyal boys. If anyone picked on Max in the field, he used to go to Barnaby and tell him, and Barnaby used to go and sort them out, both at Lorna's and here. This is why I've waited so long to let them see each other again.
Mr O did take some photos, but I can't put them on until we've loaded the camera software on this new computer.
I just want to say, it's great to be back, even though it's only been a week, I've really missed my little blogworld. I'm off now to catch up on all your news...
and getting ready for a TREC competition tomorrow, the first one I'll be doing on my own. Am I nervous? You better believe it!
Back soon,
Mrs O.