Murraymakes

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Friday, 21 September 2012

A quick gallop through the week

Posted on 08:11 by Unknown

In the end, I’m not doing my HorseBack UK story today; I’m doing it tomorrow. I’ve already written 1588 words today and my brain is starting to crack and fizzle like an electrical circuit about to short.

I’m doing random portrait of the week instead.

Here it is:

Thought a lot about my dad.

Made chicken soup.

Had one perfect ride, one rather wild and spooky ride, one proper schooling ride, and one gentle cowboy mooch. Did groundwork, and felt happy that I returned the mare from a rather unsettled state in the windy middle of the week to a state of blissful calm by the end. As always, she expanded my heart, with her sweetness and goodness.

My dog, my stepfather, my mother and my horse all made me laugh.

Was the recipient of a random act of kindness so kind that it made me quite teary.

Saw people doing things very, very well.

Read four books.

Wrote part of one book.

Started a new secret secret project.

Dreamed of the stable I shall one day build.

Spoke to the Younger Brother all the way out in Bali, where he lives. Wished that he lived in Scotland.

Watched the racing. Had one very, very nice treble. Pushed very quickly from my mind the accumulator that was, perfectly plausibly, going to in win me £34,679. (I quite often do one of these for a pound, and every time, I am perfectly convinced that it is money for old rope, and I can buy Red a nice new winter rug, and then am slightly astonished and affronted when all six good things get stuffed.)

Renewed my interest in the American election. Mitt Romney! Mitt Romney. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND.

Thought: must write that damn Mitt Romney post I keep promising, but wondered if it would make any sense. The man does not. Everyone who knows him says he is a good, honourable, family man; loves his wife, loves his sons, gives to charity, helps friends in need. And there he is, out on the stump, saying wrong and untrue and disobliging and hypocritical and idiotic things. (There is the weird thing about the dog though. Everyone says Who is the real Mitt Romney? If poor Seamus the Dog is a reflection of the real Mitt Romney, then the Republicans are in a world of trouble.)

Thought about poetry.

Wondered if it could really be true that the Chief Whip just said ‘fuck’ to a policeman. (Surely not?)

Felt mildly furious that my horrible mobile telephone which I hate went and died on me.

Sent a very long, catching up email to my dear friend The Expatriate, in California. Missed her, a lot.

Wondered if anyone will ever agree on how to sort out the economy.

Said goodbye to the swallows, who flew south to Africa for the winter.

Said hello to the geese, who starting migrating over from the north, in great, honking V-shapes in the sky.

Felt stupidly lucky that I have mountains to look at.

Maintained my absolute lack of interest in the iPhone 5.

Met some ravishing new horses.

 

My quote of the week, because there must be a quote of the week, comes from yesterday. A retired soldier who fought in Afghanistan was giving a fascinating talk, and in amongst all the interesting things and pearls of wisdom he said this: ‘It’s not weakness to ask advice from someone; it’s weakness to think you know everything and carry on regardless.’

I thought: those really are words to live by.

 

Today’s pictures are what the auctioneers would call a mixed lot.

Have been going through my endless photograph files, trying to prune the excess, and pulled out a selection of pictures from the last few months:

21 Sept 2

21 Sept 5

21 Sept 6

21 Sept 6-001

21 Sept 7

21 Sept 8

21 September 1

21 Sept 8-001

21 Sept 8-002

21 Sept 12

21 Sept 12-001

21 Sept 19

21 Sept 10

21 Sept 20

21 Sept 22

I LOVE that last face. What is she thinking?

Have a very happy Friday.

PS. Feeling very goofy indeed, and have a horrible feeling this post is filled with spelling mistakes and typographical errors and grammatical howlers. I squint and squint at the screen and cannot see what is right and what is wrong. So please forgive.

Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in family, horses, life, love, my father, my mother, racing, randomness, Red the Mare, riding | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • The brain stutters and stalls. But dear Estimate is back with a bang.
    Work. Other work. Other work. One more piece of vital work. The last of these has the potential to translate into actual game-changing cash ...
  • Sunday. Horses, dogs, family, weather.
    The weather stopped for a moment today; there was even a ray of sunshine. We are surrounded by floods, though; one local town about eight mi...
  • Two sweet things; or, a horse story and a dog story
    Warning for length, horsiness, and dogginess.   The snow came again quite seriously, falling with intent all morning. I defy weather, and I ...
  • I relive the Derby and Red the Mare imitates her more famous cousin. Or, a shaggy horse story for a Sunday afternoon.
    It’s been a wild 24 hours. The Derby was one of the most dramatic I can remember. All the talk was of the mighty Dawn Approach, and my love ...
  • Saturday pictures
    The sweetest and happiest and calmest bit of my day – morning in the field: And random leaves, sheep, playing around with camera setti...
  • Pith. And pictures.
    And back to normal we go, the old routine swinging out on a Monday dawning with skies as black as pitch. Up to HorseBack, back to the comput...
  • All about Dawn Approach
    It is Sussex Day. My heart beats like a big brass drum. Even as I run around, down to ride the mare (our best one yet, leaving me smiling so...
  • Still ill
    Continuing unspeakable. I always think I am rather stoical and brave when I get a bug, and then I get one and am absolutely pathetic. I fant...
  • Out of whack
    I love the internet. I love most of the people on it. I love that its great power is often used for good instead of evil. But sometimes it k...
  • Not exactly a eureka moment.
    As is so often the way, the blog in my head was an absolute stormer. I was going to do a whole thing on manners. There was a piece on them o...

Categories

  • 12.12.12. (5)
  • 2000 Guineas (1)
  • a good day (44)
  • a productive day (1)
  • absurdity (2)
  • ad hominem (1)
  • admiration (1)
  • Afghanistan (2)
  • Aintree (3)
  • Al Kazeem (1)
  • ambition (1)
  • America (2)
  • American politics (2)
  • an education (2)
  • an ordinary day (19)
  • Andy Murray (3)
  • angst (3)
  • animals (2)
  • Anthony Knott (1)
  • AP McCoy (1)
  • arguments (1)
  • art (1)
  • Ascot (10)
  • assumptions (1)
  • authenticity (1)
  • autumn (2)
  • Autumn the Filly (9)
  • bankers (1)
  • Barack Obama (3)
  • Beacon Lady (1)
  • beauty (8)
  • Beckermet (1)
  • Beloveds (1)
  • betting (15)
  • Big Buck's (3)
  • birds (1)
  • birthday (3)
  • Black Caviar (1)
  • blogging (18)
  • blogosphere (3)
  • blossom (1)
  • books (1)
  • bookshops (1)
  • Boris Johnson (1)
  • breeding (1)
  • Brindisi Breeze (2)
  • Britain (6)
  • Britishness (4)
  • Britons (4)
  • brutality (1)
  • butching up (1)
  • calm (1)
  • Camelot (2)
  • cameras (1)
  • Campbell Gillies (1)
  • Captain Conan (1)
  • Carrickbeg (1)
  • carrying on (1)
  • Certify (1)
  • challenges (1)
  • chance (1)
  • Channel Four Racing (4)
  • character flaws (1)
  • Charlotte Dujardin (1)
  • Cheltenham festival (18)
  • children (1)
  • Christian Nock (1)
  • Christmas (8)
  • Clare Balding (2)
  • class (1)
  • cleverness (1)
  • Clive Brittain (1)
  • collective rejoicing (1)
  • computers (1)
  • confidence (1)
  • country life (1)
  • countryside (2)
  • Countrywide Flame (1)
  • courage (1)
  • cousin (1)
  • cricket (1)
  • critics (1)
  • Cumbria (1)
  • cynicism (1)
  • Danny Boyle (1)
  • David Cameron (2)
  • Dawn Approach (5)
  • death (11)
  • Desert Orchid (1)
  • dog pictures (4)
  • dogs (35)
  • domestic life (5)
  • Doris Day (2)
  • drama (2)
  • dreams (1)
  • dressage (3)
  • Dudley the Guide Dog (1)
  • Dynaste (1)
  • each to each (1)
  • Easter (1)
  • Edward the Puppy (2)
  • Emma Hutchison (1)
  • Epsom (1)
  • equal marriage (2)
  • Estimate (3)
  • etiquette (1)
  • Eton (1)
  • Evan Davis (1)
  • exhaustion (1)
  • extremism (1)
  • Facebook (2)
  • failure (1)
  • fairness (1)
  • family (68)
  • fear (3)
  • fillies (1)
  • flat racing (4)
  • Flemenstar (1)
  • flowers (2)
  • food (3)
  • force for good (1)
  • Frankel (13)
  • Frankie Dettori (1)
  • frenzy (1)
  • friendship (9)
  • garden (1)
  • gay marriage (2)
  • George Baker (1)
  • getting on with it (1)
  • glory (4)
  • going home (1)
  • Going south (1)
  • Gold Cup (1)
  • Gold medals (1)
  • good manners (4)
  • good news (4)
  • good things (2)
  • Goodwood (3)
  • grammar (2)
  • grand national (1)
  • gratitude (3)
  • greatness (1)
  • grief (21)
  • groundwork (1)
  • grumpiness (6)
  • guests (2)
  • Guide Dogs for the Blind (1)
  • hair (2)
  • happiness (4)
  • hats (4)
  • heart over head (1)
  • heartbreak (1)
  • Hello Bud (1)
  • help (1)
  • Henry Blofeld (1)
  • Henry Cecil (3)
  • highland games (1)
  • highs and lows (1)
  • hills (1)
  • history (1)
  • holiday (1)
  • home (4)
  • hope (11)
  • hopelessness (1)
  • HorseBack UK (40)
  • horsemanship (34)
  • horses (207)
  • Hot Snap (1)
  • housekeeping (1)
  • hubris (3)
  • human condition (1)
  • human flaws (4)
  • humility (4)
  • Hunt Ball (4)
  • Hurricane Fly (4)
  • idiocy (1)
  • illness (3)
  • Imperial Cavalier (1)
  • Imperial Commander (1)
  • incivility (2)
  • insomnia (1)
  • interesting people (2)
  • internet etiquette (2)
  • James Doyle (1)
  • James Fanshawe (3)
  • James Naughtie (1)
  • Jim Bolger (1)
  • Jock Hutchison (1)
  • John Donne (1)
  • John Gosden (3)
  • John Oaksey (1)
  • Johnny Murtagh (1)
  • journalism (1)
  • Joy (2)
  • jumping (4)
  • Jura the puppy (1)
  • Kauto Star (7)
  • Keith Douglas (1)
  • Kevin Manning (1)
  • kindness (7)
  • Lady Cecil (1)
  • language (3)
  • laughter (1)
  • Laytown Races (1)
  • leadership (2)
  • leaving (2)
  • Leviticus (1)
  • lichen (1)
  • life (78)
  • life goes on (1)
  • life lessons (34)
  • light (2)
  • light and shade (6)
  • lists (2)
  • logistics (1)
  • London (1)
  • Lord Leveson (1)
  • loss (21)
  • Lou Boos and Shoes (1)
  • love (186)
  • loveliness (131)
  • Lucinda Russell (2)
  • luck (3)
  • Mad Moose (1)
  • madness (1)
  • man of letters (1)
  • mares (1)
  • mares and fillies (1)
  • Mark Johnston (1)
  • marriage (1)
  • Martha Payne (1)
  • Mary King (1)
  • Michael Moore (1)
  • Miss Dashwood (1)
  • Miss Whistle (1)
  • missing (1)
  • Mitt Romney (3)
  • Mo Farah (1)
  • Monkerhostin (1)
  • Monty Roberts (1)
  • moods (12)
  • Mothers (1)
  • Mr William Hill (1)
  • musing (1)
  • my father (32)
  • My Godfather (1)
  • my idiot heart (1)
  • my mother (13)
  • My sister (8)
  • my village (3)
  • Myfanwy the pony (23)
  • mysteries of the heart (2)
  • Nathaniel (2)
  • national character (1)
  • national hunt racing (10)
  • natural disaster (1)
  • natural horsemanship (1)
  • nature (1)
  • new life (2)
  • New Year (1)
  • Newmarket (1)
  • Newtown (1)
  • Nicky Henderson (1)
  • Nicola Wilson (1)
  • Nigel Twiston-Davies (1)
  • Nijinsky (3)
  • Nina Carberry (1)
  • No time (1)
  • normality (1)
  • not a blog (1)
  • not answering the question (1)
  • obsessions (1)
  • Oklahoma (1)
  • Olympics (12)
  • Olympus PEN (1)
  • on the train (1)
  • One Good Thing (1)
  • one true thing (1)
  • Opposition Buzz (1)
  • Ortensia (1)
  • otherness (1)
  • Overturn (3)
  • pain and pleasure (1)
  • passion (1)
  • patience (1)
  • Patrick Mullins (2)
  • patriotism (1)
  • Paul Burns (1)
  • Paul Nicholls (2)
  • pedantry (1)
  • perfection (1)
  • perspective (4)
  • Photographs (6)
  • pictures (1)
  • Pigeon (18)
  • Plato (1)
  • poetry (1)
  • politeness (1)
  • politics (12)
  • polo (1)
  • pony (2)
  • possibility (1)
  • prejudice (1)
  • Prussian (1)
  • PTSD (1)
  • Quevega (5)
  • racing (78)
  • rain (1)
  • random thoughts (4)
  • randomness (3)
  • really quite dull (1)
  • Rebecca Curtis (1)
  • recipe (2)
  • Red Letter Day (3)
  • Red the Mare (192)
  • regret (1)
  • remembrance (1)
  • Remembrance Sunday (1)
  • Richard Hughes (1)
  • riding (51)
  • Riposte (1)
  • Ruby Walsh (6)
  • Ruler of the World (1)
  • Ryan Moore (2)
  • sadness (3)
  • Sam Twiston-Davies (2)
  • Sanctuaire (1)
  • saying the thing (1)
  • Scotland (22)
  • Scott Meenagh (1)
  • Seamus Heaney (1)
  • Secret Gesture (1)
  • Secretary of State for Scotland (1)
  • setbacks (1)
  • shame (2)
  • sheep (5)
  • sheer beauty (25)
  • Shirley Teasdale (4)
  • shopping (1)
  • show-jumping (1)
  • Simonsig (1)
  • singing (1)
  • Sir Graham Wade (1)
  • Sir Henry Cecil (5)
  • Sir Prancealot (1)
  • Sky Lantern (2)
  • slight oddness (1)
  • small life lessons (1)
  • small things (2)
  • snow (12)
  • snow dogs (3)
  • Snow Fairy (1)
  • social life (2)
  • social media (2)
  • Society Rock (1)
  • solipsism (1)
  • Somerset (1)
  • sorrow (8)
  • soup (2)
  • special green soup (1)
  • spring (5)
  • Sprinter Sacre (6)
  • Stanley the Lurcher (36)
  • sunshine (2)
  • support your local business (1)
  • swallows (2)
  • sweetness (7)
  • Syria (2)
  • tangents (1)
  • Teaforthree (2)
  • Team GB (6)
  • tears (1)
  • Tebay (2)
  • terrorism (1)
  • Test Match Special (1)
  • The Agent (1)
  • The Arkle (1)
  • The Ashes (1)
  • the bad news (1)
  • The Barefoot Trimmer (2)
  • The Beloved Cousin (5)
  • The blog (2)
  • the blogosphere (1)
  • The Borders (1)
  • The British (1)
  • The Brother-in-Law (1)
  • The Cousins (23)
  • The Cross People (1)
  • The Dalai Lama (1)
  • The Dear Readers (7)
  • The Derby (3)
  • The Duchess (13)
  • The Ducking Stool (1)
  • the economy (1)
  • The Expatriate (2)
  • The Farmer (2)
  • The Farrier (1)
  • The glen (1)
  • the good old men (1)
  • The Grand National (1)
  • the great mares (1)
  • The Hebrides (2)
  • The herd (15)
  • The Horse Talker (13)
  • The HorseBack foal (1)
  • the human condition (4)
  • the human heart (11)
  • the internet (6)
  • The Jubilee (1)
  • The Lockinge (1)
  • The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock (1)
  • The Man in the Hat (1)
  • The military (1)
  • The National Gallery (1)
  • the new regime (1)
  • the news (3)
  • The Oaks (1)
  • The Old Fella (3)
  • the old people (1)
  • The Older Brother (2)
  • The Older Niece (1)
  • the Olympics (1)
  • The Pankhursts (1)
  • the perspective police (3)
  • The Pigeon (56)
  • The Playwright (3)
  • The Point (1)
  • The Pony Whisperer (2)
  • the press (1)
  • The Queen (7)
  • the real world (1)
  • The Remarkable Trainer (1)
  • The royal family (1)
  • The Royal Meeting (5)
  • the small things (13)
  • The Smallest Cousin (1)
  • The South (1)
  • The Stepfather (1)
  • The Tarland Show (1)
  • the thoroughbred (1)
  • The Today Programme (1)
  • The vet (2)
  • the wisdom of horses (1)
  • The World Traveller (4)
  • The Young Gentleman (1)
  • The Young People (4)
  • The Younger Brother (3)
  • The Younger Niece (1)
  • theories (4)
  • therapy (1)
  • Things I Like (1)
  • things of beauty (1)
  • thinking (1)
  • thoughts (2)
  • three day event (2)
  • time (6)
  • Tina Cook (1)
  • Tom Daley (1)
  • Tom Queally (3)
  • Topham (1)
  • Toronado (2)
  • tragedy (1)
  • training (1)
  • travelling (1)
  • trees (5)
  • tribes (1)
  • triumph and tragedy (1)
  • trust (2)
  • TS Eliot (1)
  • Twitter (8)
  • utility (1)
  • Valentine's Day (1)
  • vanity (1)
  • village life (1)
  • walk (1)
  • weather (23)
  • weddings (1)
  • whim (1)
  • William Buick (2)
  • William Fox-Pitt (1)
  • Willy Twiston-Davies (2)
  • winter quarters (1)
  • wisdom (1)
  • women (2)
  • words (5)
  • words matter (4)
  • work (10)
  • worries (1)
  • writing (23)
  • writing workshop (1)
  • Writing Workshop 2013 (3)
  • York (1)
  • zebras (1)

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (206)
    • ►  September (5)
    • ►  August (20)
    • ►  July (24)
    • ►  June (26)
    • ►  May (22)
    • ►  April (26)
    • ►  March (26)
    • ►  February (27)
    • ►  January (30)
  • ▼  2012 (294)
    • ►  December (34)
    • ►  November (30)
    • ►  October (28)
    • ▼  September (28)
      • No blog today
      • Yet another half-baked theory. Or, too much thinking.
      • HorseBack day
      • Still ill
      • No blog today
      • I cannot be ill
      • A remarkable day
      • A day in pictures
      • A quick gallop through the week
      • Good day, in brief.
      • Work, horses, kindness, news. Or, in which I share...
      • Human frailty. Or, humility is hard.
      • Love. Or, in which riding feels like flying.
      • Sad
      • Of horses and hearts
      • A horse called Camelot
      • A very good day
      • Lost Day
      • Hubris
      • What are words for?
      • Too tired to blog
      • Let’s hear it for the girls
      • All about the love. Or, the good mares make my hea...
      • A little Friday ramble. Or, horses, politics, mort...
      • In which a nice Young Gentleman turns out to have ...
      • Requiem for a good old man
      • In which I do not wade into controversy
      • Return. Home and horses and politics and swallows.
    • ►  August (22)
    • ►  July (31)
    • ►  June (25)
    • ►  May (26)
    • ►  April (30)
    • ►  March (29)
    • ►  February (11)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

Unknown
View my complete profile