It's been one of those weeks where I felt that things were shifting, changes that had started were becoming more tangible.  Sometimes change can be minor and running quietly through your life, and then you have a week where you can sit up and really notice it, even though the final increment was not that huge.  

I've got a project going on in my life that I'm not quite ready to write about, but will be able to reveal quite shortly, hopefully after Easter.  That's making progress and is part of what I'm talking about.  

However, the main thing to write about is that this week I went riding, over at Helen's.  Helen is blessed to be the owner of four horses, with a fifth currently residing with her as well.  She has two Lusitanos, and last year took on two black veteran cobs, Brynne and Rudy.  On previous visits we've done stuff with the horses- I've been involved in tack cleaning, feeding, grooming and clipping, but haven't ridden.  Tuesday was our first outing.  Helen was riding Jaitoso, her beautiful Lusitano and I was riding Brynne.   

As you can see from the pics, Brynne is a very hairy boy - he's not clipped at the moment (apart from his feathers) and of course at this time of year, is just starting to lose his teddy bear coat for the summer.  After catching and grooming him, we tacked up and had a comedy moment when it was time to mount.  Fortunately an old oil tin was pressed into service and from there I made my rather inelegant ascent.  However, once I was on, wow! It felt wonderful - and I realised how much I had missed it.  Horses are a bug that are pretty much impossible to cure.  There have been times in my life where horses havent' been a part of it, but it's amazing how often they creep back in, usually because I end up being friends with people who have them or work with them.  

We set off for a rather leisurely hack - Floss the sheepdog came with us, and we set off down the lane, Helen in front and Brynne having to trot every few paces to keep up as his legs are so much shorter.  He hadn't been ridden since arriving on the farm, and it was obvious that he was very interested but also very nervous.  He got spooked by a few things along the way - Floss leaping out of a hedge, dogs barking, a pheasant shooting out of a copse but was clearly also immensely interested.  After some road hacking we turned into a field of Helen's and onto grass, and at this point he nearly took off as it appeared that in his previous life grass was indelibly associated with galloping.  I didn't feel that a flat out gallop was what I wanted on our first ride together so we walked for a bit and then returned to the lane.  An hour was plenty for our first ride and on the way back Jaitoso hurt his hoof on a stone so Helen walked him.  After we returned, I got off (still not very elegant), untacked and then we turned them out.  It was a delight to watch Brynne having a blissful roll and then cantering round the field as they played together.  

Not surprisingly, I was stiff the next day but I am really looking forward to riding again, and forming a partnership with Brynne.  

Another very interesting week.  Last Saturday,  I went over to Busy Bees for their annual fabric sale, an event I've written about before and one I look forward to very much.  Using my experiences from previous years, I delayed my visit till the middle of the afternoon - going earlier in the day means fighting through a rugby scrum to see the fabric and in such a small shop it's really difficult, and much less pleasureable.  My patience was amply rewarded.  I've bought some lovely things - a selection of fat quarters, mostly in lovely autumn shades and some really cheerful zingy 30s feedsack prints in those lovely clear, fresh colours that put you in mind of a summer day.  I also treated myself to another Tilda fat quarter (though they are slightly bigger than that) in gorgeous shades of tan and cerise featuring a pretty design of a bird and foliage, very romantic and shamelessly indulgent.  

While I was there I paid the balance on a course I'm doing in a few weeks on Flying Geese.  Marianne, the tutor had the quilt top she's doing up on display and funnily enough, another lady was in the shop with her quilt top done in the same pattern but in a different colour way, looking for a binding fabric to complete it.  As always, with designs, it's absolutely fascinating to see how one design can look so different using different colour ways.   Marianne had done it using marine prints featuring sea creatures like sea horses on blue with sandy elements - the other lady had used beautiful greens and coral shades with white and grey accents.  She was very fortunate as Sandra in the shop was able to find her a lovely coral fabric that was just right for her backing and another green one for her binding.  As always at Busy Bees, this is one of the chief pleasures of visiting - it's so nice to meet other people picking out fabrics and sharing ideas.  After all this excitement, I was dropped off by Andrew near our house to visit a lady who had recently adopted a lurcher from GRW and had a few questions to discuss.  She was really nice, and her partner too, and they were both absolutely in love with their gorgeous new dog, who was utterly adorable, and incredibly handsome despite being rather badly mutilated and scarred from his previous life.  It was a real pleasure to be able to help in a small way with settling him in and helping his new owners feel supported.  As they only live round the corner, it's likely we'll probably do a few joint dog walks in future.  Andrew then walked round with Booty on the lead to pick me up and we walked home together for a gin and a happy look at my new stash. All week, the fabrics have been sitting on the coffee table and whenever I sit down with a few minutes to spare, I have been looking at them and thinking about ideas for making things with them, and admiring the colours and patterns.  As all sewers know, a bit of stash- stroking is very soothing and good for the soul.  

Andy has been a bit off colour this week.  He has an upset in his digestive system leading to a few problems and he has been very quiet and subdued, not at all his normal self.  He's eating a little bit, and is fortunately drinking normally.  We'll give him a couple more days and if he is not improving will take him to the vet, but at the moment, I am not too worried, though we are all struggling to live with the noxious smells he is producing. 

On Thursday, I attended a long awaited and very interesting meeting at RSPCA offices on the outskirts of Cardiff.  This was to discuss better data sharing between local Councils and the voluntary sector - not at first glance the most exciting of subjects, but one that is essential for campaigning organisations and hugely important for rescues.  As well as the RSPCA, the Dogs Trust were present, reps from local Councils, WG civil servants, a very nice lady from the BHS Welfare dept, and a telephone participant, the head of Animal Welfare at WG.  We covered a huge amount of ground and the meeting was very constructive and positive.  It will take a long time for some of the changes to filter through but I think we laid some good foundations.  By the time I got home I was shattered, and it was so nice just to spend some time on the sofa with Andy giving him a cuddle - he's been quite clingy while he's been ill and just keeps coming up mournfully and looking dejected until a cuddle is applied.  

This weekend has been quiet - nothing very exciting to report.  The weather today has been lovely - I've enjoyed hanging out washing in the garden and the frogs are still going great guns in the pond.  We've got narcissi, crocus and grape hyacinths in flower at the front of the house, with tulips in pots and annual seeds like Californian poppies starting to sprout interestingly.  On our walk today at Tredegar House, it was lovely to see one of the rhododendrons in flower, a beautiful white bloom with the faintest tinge of pink round the edge of the petals.  Also, I didn't need my coat, and all three of the dogs were coat-less - first time this spring as we are usually very cautious with Booty, wanting to keep her warm for her arthritis.  At this rate it will soon be time for the summer wardrobe switchover.  Hurrah!