Tuesday 25 April 2006

Special Message for those of you in Spain - you know who you are!!!

I have two very special friends who are out in Spain at the moment - doing some VERY important work. I normally see them every day, and they both make my world a better place. They are very kind, thoughtful, generous, supportive and funny people. We have lots of fun together, and when things become difficult or stressful, they are always there to listen and lend a helping hand.

Anyway - they're both not here at the moment and I miss them terribly. The office is much quieter without them and my working day is much less fun.

I hope they read this in Spain (apparently they've got internet access, but they'll probably be too mashed on Sangria to get it working!!!!)

Anyway - I just wanted to say "hello you two, miss you loads and can't wait for you to come home" also - "watch out for the bamboo!"

No names needed as they know who they are!!!!!

Monday 24 April 2006

In the newspaper.....

...the other day there was a story about a man belonging to a questionable religious group having lots of wives. They were all subservient, and quite happy to be one of a number. Apparently he shared his physical "love" equally amongst all of them (individually I think) . I think there were about 12 of them altogether ranging in age from 18 - 48.

Now - I remember thinking as I read this..(and I know that women everywhere would agree with me) ."there is no woman, married or otherwise, on God's earth who would EVER want more than one husband (at a time!)" Am I right girls? or, am I right?

What does that tell you about living with men, as oppose to living with women?

Saturday 22 April 2006

Phoebe is better!!!

My beloved Phoebe (best horse of all time) has been lame for the past 2 weeks with an inflamed tendon. Then the Blacksmith shod her and she got a condition called nail-bind (which basically means that the blacksmith got too close to the sensitive part of her hoof with the nails - ouch)...anyway I'm pleased to report that she's all better now and this afternoon I rode her in the outdoor school for twenty minutes and she was (as always) as good as gold!!! It honestly makes all the early mornings and long hours worthwhile when I ride her - as she's always so co-operative and well behaved. Extra apples and carrots tomorrow...bless!!!

Stephen Drury - Empty your mailbox!!!

This is just a quick personal note for Cousin Stephen In Canada..."Stephen, empty your mailbox!" I keep sending e mails and they're bouncing back to me saying that the mailbox is full!!! He probably won't read this as he'll be busy today. (He's always busy - usually training for marathons - he must be mad!) But anyway here's a message.....Love you xxx

Friday 21 April 2006

So tired I can't **** !!

Someone once said that they were so tired they couldn't sh*t. at the time this comment was made I had absolutely no understanding of what they meant. Not that I lack empathy in any way whatsoever, but I had never experienced that level of fatigue.

Today however, is a different story...I'm knackered...and so knackered in fact that contemplating a number2 is totally beyond my comprehension!!!!

Off to bed then....saturday tomorrow - fantastic!

Wednesday 19 April 2006

Is there only me?

I have just checked (throughBloggers database) to see who else shared my favourite movies. Hundreds of people listed "Schindler's List"as amongst their favourite all time films - but it seems that there is only me in the whole Blogger's world who likes "Oliver"!!!

Enough said!

Tuesday 18 April 2006

Wet Head

Guess what happened to me on the way to work today? It was a lovely sunny morning so I decided to drive to work with the top down on my new car - no finer feeling!!!

AsI drove into Kingston I was behind this lady (?) in a little hatchback, and she started to use her windscreen washer - then she carried on, and on, squirting water - and then it dawned on me as the water hit me on the head and face....oh my god - she's doing that on purpose!!! I found it really funny when I realised what she was doing. I asked my friend - Sharron - (honestly, that's her name!) who also drives a convertible and she said that it happens to her all the time!!!! Aren't people funny?!!!

Monday 17 April 2006

Dan and Joe on Prom Night

Thought you might like to see this picture of Dan and Joe. This was taken as they left for School Prom. That's her Dad's champagne they're drinking (Don't tell him!)


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Originally uploaded by Tracy Wood2006.

Am I REALLY greedy?

Just a quick question - is it really greedy to eat 4 chocolate eclair buns at a time? personally I don't think so - but I do feel a bit sick. Don't tell my Mum.

Early Start




Another early start then - for some reason my body (!) clock - which obviously was purchased from a cheap jewellers many decades ago and is now malfunctioning - has decided that even today - a bank holiday - 5.15am is a good time for me to wake up. Now, anybody with half a brain knows that unless you've got a flight/train to catch, or you're off on an exciting day trip somewhere, or your Mum and Dad are driving you down to Devon for a week in a caravan (childhood issues?) there is absolutely no need whatsoever for ANYBODY to be awake at 5.15am. Could someone please make my body clock aware of that then? I tried to turn over and go back to sleep - but the fairy dust has gone and there is to be no more sleeping for me. On top of that I have the murmurings of a slight headache....hmmmmm.....anadin, coffee and a fag - OR - fresh juice, wholemeal toast and a brisk walk? I'll put the kettle on then.

Bank Holiday Monday.....what shall I do with the whole day stretching out in front of me? Well, at 7am I have to go and see to the horses. There's 2 of them. One boy and one girl. The girl is the older of the two and therefore much better behaved(!) Now for anybody who's never owned or looked after a horse - this is the daily routine.












The one on the left in Bugsy and the one on the right is Phoebe!!!!


Morning (before 8am) - Feed, put up big haynet, check rugs, check water, check overall demeanour/mood of horse. Check legs / feet. If it's a nice day - put them in the field!!!

Evening (before 6pm) - Muck out, bring in from the field, excercise(the horse - not me!!) groom, put rugs on, check feet, check legs etc. Put to bed

Now this may not look like a lot of work - but as I said earlier there are 2 of them - so double up everything. Then bear in mind that to muck out each one takes about half an hour, to exercise them takes about 40 minutes (depending on what you do!). The Girl horse likes a lot of fuss (why am I not surprised) and the boy horse - well - the boy horse just likes loads of attention, and gets very worried about the world if he doesn't get it.

Now I'm not a greedy person, and I realise that having 2 horses when there's lots of people (mainly little girls with purple plastic ponies) would dearly love to have one. That's only because they have no idea what's involved in keeping them - and here's a hint - if you have a daughter who asks you for a pony (usually about the age of 7 or 8) do everything in your power to say No. Lie, cheat. steal, at a push give the child away, because if you don't - and you give in, and buy her a pony (not sexist at all with the "her" bit - but it's usually girls who want them) your life will become like mine, and you too will have to get up at 6am every day (that's 365 days of the year folks - yes even Xmas day) to go an see to them.

It's not like having a hamster , or a cat, or even a dog - because sometimes, as a parent you don't have to get involved (apart from to oversee things) with the smaller animals (goldfish are brilliant - no noise, no walks, and cheap as chips to feed!). Horses usually live at a farm or a livery yard (your back garden probably won't be big enough - unless you're Donald Trump or someone like that with mega bucks and a huge estate) - which means that you have to get your car out at 6am and drive there!!!!

Even if your child is the one in a million who eagerly does all the jobs him/herself (does that child exist?) you still have to be there - because a) they can't be left alone with all those huge dangerous horses and b) it's easier for you to wait - in the car - with a flask of coffee and some fags and a magazine, than to go home and then come back.

Now if you're there already logic tells you that it's quicker if you help too. You can see where I'm going with this..can't you?...so fast forward a few months to the place which for all Mums of kids with horses is normality......what actually happens is that YOU do the mucking out, YOU do the feeding, YOU so the sweeping, YOU do bloody everything and they just ride!!!! Fan - bloody - tastic!!!

Now I took it a stage further (some women really are dead stupid!) In a bid to be more involved with my daughter's life (ha ha ha ha ha) I decided to learn to ride too - I kind of thought it would be something we could do together (yeah right). This was 7 years ago and I can't even blame the menopause, or hormonal challenges for this. So I took lessons (many hours and much money - lots of shreiking, some very strange, non-flattering jodphurs - get the picture?). I faced my fears - and the upshot of all this is that now we have a horse each.

This is fine, this is good, and our mother-daughter relationship is probably better because of this. But now, here we are 7 years on, she is now 16 and a half, and because she has other fish to fry, has gone to Sheffield on the train to see her friends for the easter weekend. As we live in Surrey, there's not much chance of her getting here for 6am to help with the horses!!!!

So now do you you see why I have to get up at stupid O'clock and go and see to 2 horses before I can get on with my day?

Only Kidding - they're actually lovely animals, and when I see them every morning they make me smile, and give me a great deal of happiness. I wouldn't be without them for the world...now where are my jodphurs?

Sunday 16 April 2006

My New Car


This is a picture of my new car - which was delivered only days ago!!!! I am now awaiting the sun and warm weather - so that I can enjoy the benefits of having a soft-top roadster. In a minute I have to go out onto the drive and wash, polish, and vacuum out the new motor. How long that will last I don't know - once the novelty has worn off (in about a week!) it will go the way of all my other cars in the past and become a travelling trash can - but for now it will get a wash and polish!!!!

Today's my First Day as a Blogger

I am very excited, as today, Easter Sunday is my first day as a Blogger. I had to find something to do to fill the huge void left by the fact that I have absolutely no chocolate at all, whatsoever, in any form, to eat. I have a huge family, many friends, and work in an office with about 150 other people, and I didn't even get as much as a mini creme egg!!!

I had an e mail from my very good friend Christian - with his blog site link on it - and I went to have a look at his blog. I was very impressed - especially with all the photographs of delicious Alice (who is every bit as lovely and well behaved as she looks in the pictures!). So I decided to have a go myself!!!!

Anyway - that's all for now, as I'm mentally exhausted after managing to add a link to Chris's Blog (this took nearly 90 minutes!!!)

Beautiful New life