It seems like forever since I have sat down at my computer (or my iPad) and written on this Blog.  To my regular readers I'm sorry.  To begin with I guess things just seemed to be sailing along so nicely that I almost forgot about writing.  Or at other times I think just keeping up with everything meant that I was wasn't devoting that 30 minutes or so most days to writing.   However in August it became apparent to me that all wasn't well with me.  For someone who's always been well, and the only 2 times I've been in hospital was for the birth of my two children, this came as a bit of a shock.  But then I guess "The Spanish Dancer", or "The Big C", or pure and simply cancer, is always going to be a shock.  I think it's one of life's real cruelties that a girl had to get cancer to get loads and loads of really beautiful and cool flowers. I won't go in to too many details here, but suffice to say that I have been extremely fortunate...

At approximately 9.58pm this evening (because who really thinks about the G1 race being run at 10pm???) I remembered the Group 1 Moir Stakes was about to be run at Moonee Valley.  I'd wrestled with how I could possibly get there to cover the race, but had eventually decided it was too difficult.  So it was with the slightest hint of relief that I saw it was raining quite hard in Melbourne just before the field jumped, which didn't make me feel so bad about missing the race.  As the field swung for home though, and my eyes followed that pretty dark brown mare on the outside of the field round the leader Buffering (poor old dear) up and run away from the field, I felt a pang of regret.  The mare is called Samaready.  She's by "My Boy" More Than Ready, and is owned by my friends at Vinery Stud. I first saw her race, and win, on one of the Blue Diamond Stakes lead up races.  I liked her immediately.  There are things about her that can make me wince f...

Yes.  I am back to that 'on the road' stage of the Spring.  On Thursday I drive out for Scone.  I have been watching the weather forecast/outlook all week.  Is it tempting fate to put it up here?  I'm not sure, but currently, this is what it looks like, and I have to say, that this looks more than ok.  Scone has also had some welcome rain, just like Canberra, over the past couple of days, and so I would hope this would bring out some greenness too. Scone Forecast updated at 9:49 am EST on Tuesday 17 September 2013. Detailed Scone Forecast Tue. 17 Sep Wed. 18 Sep Thu. 19 Sep Fri. 20 Sep Sat. 21 Sep Sun. 22 Sep Mon. 23 Sep Summary   A few showers.  Chance storm.   Mostly sunny.   Sunny.   Mostly sunny.   Sunny.   Partly cloudy.   Mostly sunny. Max. Temperature 21 °C 24 °C 23 °C 23 °C 25 °C 26 °C 27 °C Min. Temperature 8 °C 7 °C 5 °C 5 °C 6 °C 7 °C Without seeing Tuesday yet, which will ...

Maxie has just started his usual 10.15pm attack of the rats.  He's in my tiny kitchen. Playing with a pipe cleaner.  He will sleep contentedly for several hours until about this hour, then gets a burst of energy and begins playing.  And racing wildly around the house.  He's a warty little toad when he does this after we've all gone to bed. I'm dodging sleep slightly tonight.  I popped another nerve in my neck at 4am this morning.  It shot straight down my shoulder and I was in despair.  Clearly jumping yesterday on the jarring horse didn't do me any favours.  My shoulder is sore to the touch, my neck is sore and sorry, and I was back to not being able to move much, so it's been tiring.  By the time I picked the kids up it was so bad that I phoned the clinic I've been seeing, and Andrew fitted me in.  As he figured out what was wrong I ended up in tears when it caught me again.  But it felt a lot better after he'd worked on it f...