a very happy christmas 2011 from all of us!

 

 

christmas 2011 was a beautiful three days despite my shoulder still not functioning and therefore most work done by deac and rike, and me just fussing around the edges. as always we opened some (but not all) christmas presents on christmas eve (so does the royal family, we've been told - ha!) and were just overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things. for rike's list just check her facebook, i got books to keep me busy for months, and little deac sits around the house now in a rather majestic yukata and read and reads and reads...the cats got an extra portion of tuna and the horse an apple-veggi-string that disappeared in seconds. so all very happy and content, with a very nice midnight service in southwark cathedral with the added extra of doorkins magnificat, the church cat, making a stately appearance, much to our joy right in front of us in the middle of the prayers. as all good cats he is so famous that he features on several internet pages, check him out here:

christmas day was filled with more presents to open, a visit to the horse (of course!) and a delicious dinner that deac prepared while we were out: coq au vin (le vrai coq au vin, that is) and boy did we like it. boxing day the kramers came around and we had a great time, relaxed and easy, as always, with so much more food that i swore i would not eat for days.

 

 

 

 

how cute is that?

unbeatable - thanx, niki!

merry christmas, my dear nephews

this i have been told is the absolutely latest for savvy young men in london. hope you like it!!!

a few more highlights from last summer

we still haven’t really given credit to all the lovely people and places we saw last summer and the german leg of our trip has been shamefully neglected, so here are a few more entries, not quite in time but still worth mentioning.

after frankfurt we took a turn to the east and saw andy and his family in halle and were at the mercy of this cultural maniac who had searched long and hard to present us with the most compelling sights and stories from his chosen heimat and after showing us halle and the magnificent himmelsscheibe he dragged the kids (we adults followed voluntarily) to naumburg, where we saw the absolutely splendid exhibition “der naumburger meister”.

that and a few more castles, namely burg saaleck and rudelsburg, were real highlights in an interesting part of the country that i still know way too little. and after finding turnvater jahn's home in freyburg even little deac was happy....

only fools and horses

not sure who the fool is here, the horse because she spooked out of nowhere or me for riding her again although i should have known better. or maybe my husband who managed to take the pic? but it wasn't very funny as i was going rather fast when the *@*& horse ducked away right under me and my back is still painful three weeks after the fall and i have a broken shoulder. sob...

first ever dressage competition

 

rike rode her first dressage competition at mount mascal's unaffiliated indoor winter dressage series in october and came out 15th which we all think is a very promising start. half of this is down to the fantastic mo of course as this horse is extremely well trained and responsive. the two of them made a beautiful pair while the ever so excited parents and some friends watched.

la monitrice d'équitation

another stop over on our big long summer trip and not far from frankfurt where she works we saw katrin, this time not in the big city but in the lovely little village just outside of mainhatten and of course the smart girl has picked a place that is literally around the corner from the horses. now also working as a riding instructor we watched her giving a lesson, all very calm and super relaxed, as you would expect from her. lucky the horses she cares for, and london's loss, of course, and despite our nagging she's not coming back, yet. rumours though have it that we see her for a few days later in the week so we can work a little harder on our repatriation programme...

more mo

quickly while i'm at it here's another one of rike and mo, taken just yesterday and you can see that it is still very sunny and warm for the last days of november (13 degrees celsius after all) and so we had yet another beautiful afternoon with the black fluffy. the two of them will ride another dressage competition on saturday, so there was some training involved, too.

also great to see was the strikingly unreal tree in the middle of the field at mount mascal, often occupied by a large parakete population, and yesterday in the low light truly bewitched....

Motown!

finally and after increased pressure from friends and family here are some pics of the latest addition to our circus: ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you the magnificent motown!!!

rike started riding this black beauty (if i got it right he is a welsh c cob 15hh, but i'm sure i'll get corrected on this one) back in september when an all day saturday engagement at the centre for young musicians meant she couldn't go riding with her mates in willowtree any longer. after we had cruised the near and far livery yards in kent, essex, sussex and dorset, it was by sheer luck that on the last day of holidays we saw taylor's yard and bumped into mo's owner who was just looking for a rider. rike disappeared for half an hour or so and came back with glowing cheeks. and, yes, the rest is history...

look at the picasa pics on the top right for more on mo.