Just Passing Through!

It's been a hectic week and it's about to get even busier as we are going on holiday next week (can't wait!) I am trying to iron and tidy up and do everything all at once. I get up in the morning and have a plan in my head of how my day is going to be, then something happens to change it and everything goes out of the window. But hey...
Finally, the whole riding thing is coming together. Most instructors can tell you what you're doing wrong, but they can't (or don't!) all tell you how to correct it. I did all the riding this week and was able to explain the things that frustrate me and my instructor sorted them out. She says I worry too much and analyse too much (what me?) But also I am too lax with Barnaby and don't take charge really, which is probably true. Like, halt means halt, not "Why don't you wander over there for a while?" She says I rise too high in trot and I do too much generally, which is also true. She wants me to do a dressage comp at the end of August. It's what's called an Intro test, which is a walk and trot test, they're lower than a Prelim even. We will be dreadful, but I've got to start somewhere.
I rang Mr O to see if he could get the day off work (the competition is on a Friday) but he can't so I've asked Missis if she fancies having a go and she said yes, much to my surprise. I'm going to take a copy of the test on holiday with me so I can have a couple of practises. The comp is on August 27th, so I'll only have two more lessons before it's on.

I have made a couple of cards, to show you:



This one was a freebie on a website, very simple, elegant and effective, but it took ages to get it to print out correctly first. I have a recipient in mind for this one.

This next one was really fun to make:

Quite cute, and really easy to do.

This is the inside:

Good for Father's Day or dad's birthday I think.

And this is my latest scrapbook page...

I really enjoyed making this. The photos are the ones of Barnaby rolling. The writing says, "Why is it that before you were mine, you were always clean?" Then at the bottom it says, 'And now it's just mud, mud, glorious mud!' Which is so true! But underneath the heart it says, 'But I still love you.' As you can see, the base paper is a lilac/purple colour. Of course, I could cover it up completely, but I decided to work with it. The main photo is backed by lilac paper, and the gingham worked really well with it. The whole 'washing line' idea came to me in a dream (no kidding!) and I woke up and did it. Can you see the little pegs clipping the photo onto the washing line? I liked the idea of bathing him and hanging him out to dry! I won't get time to do July's page until after the holiday now.
In fact, I will be lucky to get one more post in before we set off on Monday morning.
I am going to look at a horse with Missis tomorrow (an Andalusian) which is all part of an ongoing saga, which I won't get time to explain until after the holiday either. So much to say, so little time!