Turning Chaos into Order?

Well, that's the intention.  The rain has stopped now, and the sun's come out.  I liked lying listening to the rain last night, but admit to feeling better that it has stopped, because I'm at that phase were it's possible for things to feel much worse than they actually are.  So I'm snapping myself out of it by doing a big clean up and throw out.  We have to start getting far more ruthless, and I'm trying to be fairly arbitrary about this.  What's that they say, about getting rid of the things that aren't working, or aren't of any use, in your life?  I guess I'm up to that stage.  The kids are actually tidying their own rooms, and I've just gotten more matter of fact about it, and am expecting them to do more.  Apart from the odd melt down, they are largely rising to the occasion. 

These are a few scans from last night.  You have to remember that they are taken almost 20 years, in the pouring rain, and film wasn't brilliant at the high speeds.  I didn't have my Flagship Nikon camera then, the brilliant, wonderful and trustworthy F5.  I was using a lesser camera.  But I still think, for my first Melbourne Cup, and with only a couple of years experienced, that I held my own.  Particularly when I went back through the box of newspaper clippings, as I saw many out of focus images reproduced in the paper by seasoned and fabulous photographers.  There's more culling from those boxes to be done too.  Can't keep everything....

The kids and I are going iceskating again in a couple of hours, and the rain stopping means my riding lesson should be going ahead as planned in the morning, so that's a very good thing.

Jeune and Wayne Harris ran away with the Melbourne Cup in 1994.
 



Add caption

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Legacy of Eight Carat: From the Vault Volume I

Image
We have been back in lockdown here in Victoria. Lockdown 5.0 to be precise and as a result it made us go back to feeling like sad sacks.  After having seen off Lockdown 4.0 a teeny tiny bit triumphantly, where we saw off both Delta and Kappa variants (evil beasts that they are - curse you stinky COVID - curse you), we had literally only just gotten back to work before being very suddenly plunged back into Lockdown 5.0 after the visit of those very nice removalists.   'Thanks very much!!!!' we all shouted indignantly!!!!  A key difference with Lockdown 5.0 was that half the country also into lockdown at the same time which made us feel slightly less sad.  The Victorian Government doesn't muck about anymore when it comes to outbreaks.  Their reaction is swift and severe and not at all namby pamby.  I just wish the same logic would be applied to Sydney which continues to deteriorate, much to my dismay.  This week we took our first tentative steps out of Lockdown 5.0, hurrah f
Read more

Vale Sadler's Wells - champion stallion dies in Ireland.

Image
One of the most important racehorses, and later stallions of our time, the great Sadler's Wells died in Ireland on the evening of Tuesday 26 April 2011.  He died at Coolmore's Tipperary Stud in Ireland, his home since his retirement in 1984.  The stallion was retired from breeding in 2008. His legacy worldwide is immense.  He has left sons and daughters,  and three of his stallion sons, in Galileo, Montjeu and High Chaparral, are leading stallions in the Northern Hemisphere.  In Australia, Galileo and Montjeu had less success, however the impact of High Chaparral was immediate, and immense.  While the horse still has to repeat the success he achieved with his New Zealand bred runners, from which the Group 1 winners, and champion So You Think, were conceived, High Chaparral is still leading the Australian General Sires Title with only a couple of months of racing left. In Europe, Montjeu and Galileo have both sired Epsom Derby winners, in Authorized and New Approach respective
Read more

The physical drain of riding horses

Image
Most people agree that the life of a jockey is a difficult one.  There are a handful that rise to the top, and do extremely well out of the Sport of Kings.  The vast majority however struggle with their weights, and do their best to avoid and/or overcome injury.  Anyone who has ever been pelted off a horse would know that it doesn't tickle!  And of course the older you get, the more it hurts!  We used to fang around on our ponies, bareback, in headstalls and leadropes, never wearing a riding hat.  Completely fearless, and I am sure that on the odd occasion I parted company with my horse, I used to bounce.  In fact I rarely used to fall off, unless the horse came down as well, I guess all those years of galloping around bareback meant my balance and ability to swing my body with the horse was pretty good.  I'd like to say that I could still ride the same, but age and the maturing mind catches up, and you start thinking of the consequences of 'what if I come off', which
Read more