I'm sitting on my front steps in the sunshine. It's one of those still sunny days in Canberra. Maxie is outside with me. I often make phone calls out here on a nice day. Maxie scratches at the glass to join me and cried for me when I don't bring him out. He came trotting over to me when he heard the jingle of his harness. And purrs as I put it on.  I brought my laptop out with me, and it just felt natural to write while I sit out here with him, with the sun on me.  Is it a substitute for being able to pick  up the phone and talk to someone?  I don't know..  I'm feeling a little flat though all of a sudden today, and just spending some quiet time outside with Maxie felt like a nice thing to do.  I had bought Maxie one of those extendable leads that people use on those strange creatures masquerading as a real dog, the rug rat.  Yes, I say a touch defiantly, Maxie's extending lead was pink!  Like his harness.  Alas and woe, my $30 rug rat extending lead, which

Because yesterday was stupidly busy I didn't get to ride Freelance.  Last night the kids and I talked about it, and I said I might work her after Heath's soccer game.  Jessica piped up, and asked if she could ride her too..  I thought for a moment and then decided 'why not'.  As we were leaving, I asked Heath if he wanted to ride.  He said 'no' dismissively, and said he'd be too busy playing in the dirt.  I didn't push it.  So he threw on his track pants and runners and off we went. I lunged Freelance (she's not getting much energy feed and was a bit of a slug on the lunge), and then got on her.  She felt lazy and cumbersome to begin with.  But my lessons with Grant are really helping both my riding and that all important confidence.  Freelance and I did a little work on the circle, but she needed to go 'large' to really start moving forward, so off we went, and all of a sudden, I was really riding her, and she started working truly, lik

I always used to be frantically busy at the end of the Financial Year when I worked at CSIRO.  Back t then, I worked in the finance and commercial area, and there were always the end of financial year close offs to do, all the accounting tasks, which were in addition to the usual end of month processing requirements.  Then when I moved into the Deputy Chief Executive's Office, it was more of an approval and monitoring role, but it also meant the next years budgets were needing to be approved and there were always last minute contracts that HAD to be approved and signed before the 1st of July. The horseless desert that was CSIRO is now a thing of the past.  I still have good memories, and believe completely in it's purpose and its philosphy, but my job and section vanished when I was at home with Heath.  When I returned to work my section and team had disbanded, and that those sections that I had once been part of were transferred to Melbourne and Sydney.  But my end of fin