Eye-Balls, Golf-Balls, Equestrian Egg and Spoon Race.

I have had a very satisfactory weekend. I started yesterday by turning off house and cell phone and ignoring an email from a client who hasn't given any sign of life for several weeks and suddenly thought it would be convenient to meet on a Saturday.
I went early to Curves, exercise club for women, that I had put on hold in favor of Foster-dog walking and training for months. I like the variety of working different muscle groups. I like the friendly atmosphere and I liked that my new shoes seemed to help rather than aggravate my gimpy toes.
All pink in the face and a-buzz with blood circulating in temporarily neglected body parts, I stopped in at the best veggie store you could wish for, which is in the same group of businesses. Ultra fresh produce, great bread, cheese and all kinds of hams and sausages to inspire the lunch menu. The Mexican family that took over this shop last year have worked their asses off and seen amazing results. They've just pushed through the wall into the space next door and there is always a line, despite running four cash registers. It's so great to see people do well.
My garden has been calling to me, in desperate need of tidy-up and prepping for the next season. All summer long my front door, garage driveway and entry patio/walkway are in the deep shade of two silk trees. As those leaves begin to fall it transforms into a full-sun area. The afternoon sun is at a long low angle and powers into that otherwise shady space, until it dips behind the hillside.
Most of my plantings there are in pots and containers of different sizes. I have a dolly that I can use to move them around, depending on what is in bloom or what needs more or less light. The nasturtiums are appearing, showing their umbrella leaves and a few bright blooms. The first of the paper-white narcissi are in bud like mini-cousins to the equally fragrant Hawaiian Ginger plants. Geraniums cheer in red, pink and coral and I threw in a few pansies and iceland poppies to fill any gaps and dug out an unhappy fuchsia to plant a wisteria vine in its place. Whew! I hadn't realized how overgrown that had all become. I was able to tame it all in one eight hour session. There was lunch and a short nap somewhere in the middle but I didn't have to stop for any dog-walking so I was more productive and had more energy left to get the job done.
Sunday morning is the highlight of my week. My riding class is small. We are three or four "mature" women in the 9 am class. We get there early enough to bring horses in from the paddock and groom and tack up our own mounts. The class varies from dressage to small jumping courses and I've been getting to know the different horses and my class mates.
Today our teacher showed up in a unicorn hat and wanted us to play games, in honor of Halloween. Bending poles (slalom) with candies to be picked up at one end and then tossed into a bucket at speed at the other before crossing the finish line. I was far enough ahead that I was able to halt my, rather tall, horse and drop the candy vertically so that it actually went into the bucket and then gallop home. An accidental win as there is not a competitive bone in my body where games are concerned. I was trying for good style and balance rather than resembling an elbow-flapping banshee that might inspire a Thelwell cartoon entitled "Mad Old Women on Horseback".
Next we were given plastic spoons and golf balls with eyes painted on them, the goal being to ride around until the last "eye-ball" hit the dirt. The dry-run quickly had us all holding empty spoons. We tried harder at our second attempt. Two of us made it through walk, two-point position, posting trot and even sitting trot. Canter transition foiled both of us simultaneously. It was fun, in a juvenile kind of way. I look forward to resumption of our more mundane curriculum next week.
Lunch was salad, followed by stir-fried zucchinis/courgettes, from my veggie merchant, and an omelette made with free-range eggs we bought at the farm.
No major plans or obligations this afternoon. A little catch-up reading blogs I've missed and an otherwise tranquil (read lazy) afternoon and evening, before being swept away in the Monday Morning Maelstrom.