Monthly Archives: July 2011

A Blog About Horsey Things *Swishes Tail And Eats Apple*

Heya one and all it’s me Jenny blogging today, that’s right me Jenny. It’s been a rather long time I have been blogging isn’t it. Fact it Motoko has been bugging me to do a blog and I really wanted to then she goes and starts typing a blog and so I let her. But today I am blogging and it’s a blog about fun horsey stuff as me and Motoko haven’t blogged about horsey stuff really before have we!

But like always in our blogs it’s a custom to post a little Cumbrian weather forecast for the next few days and so here it is, you can see it below.

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So as you can see from the weather forecast it’s going to be nice tomorrow (Friday) and then Cumbria reverts back to its famous weather we all know and love, that famous Cumbrain weather being rain. But we are not put off by rain and life carries on as normal, just have to grab our waterproofs and wellies and we are all set for the working day or a relaxing dog walk.

Now then horsey stuff time *has a nice rolls and shakes* sorry about that people I had an itch! Our yard at this time last year was busy with our own little events for children and adults a like, horse trailers and lorries rolling in and out. But alas at the moment with all the building work going on we have not held any small events this year or indeed this summer as of yet. For one there are a few builders’ porter cabins in the car park and not to mention a trench in our cross country field, trench is there for new water pipes and so on to go down, which I am glad to say is almost finished.

This didn’t mean that me and Motoko didn’t get out there and event, no far from it, this year me and Motoko despite being busy have done a few day events around England this year. There is nothing like loading up the horses and getting to the vent feeling full of energy and enthusiastic. For both of us we take part not for the winning or to show off like some of the equine world, we take part as we enjoy it and we both find it great fun. After all we don’t call ourselves team vixen for nothing you know!

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When it comes to dressing we always have a cream pair of jodhpurs and a pair of white jodhpurs as you can never go wrong with them. We don’t really have a favourite brand and indeed we tend to go for something that looks semi casual and not to costly. Brand names on the lower end of the well known scale can be fantastic and fairly good price as well, but the more well known brands charge you full price for something that may not be as good.

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We all have feet and feet need boots when riding, we all know this, so me and Motoko wear leather riding boots for when ever we got to an event. They are just more supple and stronger if they are polished and conditioned with leather feeder. Rubber riding boots can really look smart and are great for people who are starting out or not wanting to pay much for boots. But leather ones can last you years and years if you treat them with respect. For normal riding I really got into loving rubber riding boots because I can wear them on the yard for work as well. Motoko wears rubber riding boots but not keen on them. Riding in hunter wellies also something we do rather a lot of, as like rubber riding boots you can wear them for yard work too.

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Motoko and I take personal protection when riding in events, riding in the school or even just for a hack around the local lanes. Horses can always catch you off guard and can get you off, remember now matter how well you know your horse it can be sometimes unpredictable. This is why we have brought the best body protector on the market, we use Woof Wear Exo Body Protector. It has an Exo cage to help you roll when you fall off and helps protect you if the horse may happen to roll on top of you. It is hinged and once in it you close a clasp on either side of the body protector, and once in you get a great feeling that you really are protected. I and Motoko like it so much we have brought our staff members one each for when they will lead treks out when we start back up again. We always use this for when we are doing jumping of any kind and we fully recommend it. Please remember that you need to tell the event runners that you are using this body protector and give them one of the allen keys to get you out of the body protector should they need to remove it from you if you fall off. Remember body protectors are at their best when they are level three, you can tell this by a purple label on the body protector and it has printed that it is level three. A very good friend of ours also has this body protector and he recommends it too.

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Hats are good things, keep your head from being knocked, bumped and cracked. I have never owned a costly hat and nor has my good wife Motoko and they are not something to ride out without. I can’t understand when you see people riding on a hack or even in the school without a hat, its madness. Events will not let you ride without a hat so make sure you got one that fits and is really snug. A loose hat is no good to anyone. Again cheaper lesser brands are just as good as top price ranged brands. When you put your hat on clip it up you know your time is close to the event, that is when you start to get the adrenaline rush and then you get excitable.

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We wear coveralls and hunter wellies and rubber riding boots a lot. Our wardrobe is really full of work uniform and one dress each, if that. Mostly old t-shirts and jeans I must admit, and I and Motoko are not one to really shop for clothing. We live in the deep Cumbrain wilderness so we dress practically! But horsey events *whinnies* is an exception to the rule. We love riding out into the dressage arena or show jumping arena and looking super smart, freshly washed jacket, and jodhpurs. Boots polished so bright you can see the clouds in them. Buttons on jacket sparkling in the sun and the horses tack looking just as fantastic. It’s the only time that we both love looking smart. I know that I am looking my best for the event in question when I come out of horse lorry wearing my smart showing kit and Motoko says “you look stunning”.

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You and your horse are charging around the course, you both see the jump and you and the horses mind become one. Yu focused on the last jump and you know it’s going to decide the outcome whether you win the round or you lose it! The jump is upon and your trusted horse takes the jump, the horse and you in perfect balance. As you land you know you have done it and you give a cry of happiness. We all get moments like this, and as with all these things we all win and lose some. But As I said it’s the taking part that counts, whether it’s first, second or third placing or just happy with what you have done. It’s the riding that is important. But lets face it, winning is a good feeling as well as the joy of taking part.

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Coming to the end of the blog, as I started this before our take-away arrived and resumed after I had ate it all up! So now I shall end the blog as I have a warm mug of tea and a muffin that I want to enjoy while watching a DVD of MacGyver with my wife, daughter and our friend Esumi.

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So we shall blog again very soon, so take care everyone.

Click the banner to learn about our wonderful paradise in England, which Is Cumbria.

As always we are supporting the RNLI, click the banner below to find out what the RNLI is all about and what do can do to help and support them.

Motoko & Jenny Carterr

Our Online Gaming Playstaion 3 ID

Two Identical Neko’s Are Always Better Than One =^.^=

Hello everyone it’s Motoko blogging again this evening, as Me and Jenny try and take it in turns to blog although I do think that I have blogged a lot more than my good wife has! Well since the last blog was typed and posted by my good wife Jenny, many things have happened and so I thought I would blog about some of the highlights. But as ever with our blogs let’s check out the forecast for the best place in England that is Cumbria.

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So as you can see it’s going to be fairly wet here, which comes as no surprise as Cumbria is the wettest place in England. This means rubber boot and rainwear all around again, which working in rainwear all day really wears you out. It’s not that I dislike the rain, in fact I really enjoy it but it can be struggle to work outside in rain all day, rain which always seems to be wind blown as well.

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Well then I and Jenny are finding out the high and low points of being a mother, and I knew it was not going to be a walk in the park. It’s maybe slightly harder taking into account the background story as to why our daughter Amanda was taken into care, and then fostered around and around before landed here with us and me and Jenny adopting her. But she is a strong and brave young woman and I admire her so much for that I really do and I know Jenny does as well. For me I think it’s hard as I don’t want to let her down by ill parenting skills but for the moment she says that we are doing really well.

The topic of conversation of late between me, Jenny, Amanda and my friend Ritsuko, has been about roots and backgrounds of us and where we are all from. Now then my friend Ritsuko is a fantastic and loyal friend and I have known her since our school days. She was the first friend I made on my first day of school in Japan. She is now living in England and working here in Cumbria on mine and Jenny’s yard, she been her now for a few years. All legal and with-in the law I wish to add and she has duel nat. her nickname is Neko and in Japanese Neko means cat, she got this nickname as she can find it so easy just to odd on be it on the top part of the back of a sofa or just crashed out on the floor.

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So why are two nekos better than one I hear you ask? Well for four whole years Ritsuko was been tracking down a twin sister she thought she had. You see she found out from a relative that she was in fact a twin and that her twin sister had been adopted off very soon after birth, so you can understand Ritsuko’s reaction to this news. The moment she heard this news she confronted her parents and they (after a few months of denial) admitted that she did indeed have a twin sister. After four years Ritsuko found her sister, and after a few months of talking, planning they are going to meet up. The place in which they are going to meet is here in Cumbria, England. Needless to say that Ritsuko is now very nervous and worried that she did the right thing and remember that apart form talking online and via letters they have never met (a part from birth lol) in person, so this is a big step for them both. Ritsuko has allowed me to blog this as I did ask her permission.

That is that section of the blog done then and time to move on again. Amanda has been a fan of Chris Cornell and she enjoys his music. She said that she used to find comfort in his early musical solo work, and now she is adopted by us she doesn’t need that comfort his music gives her any more so she plays it for the musical enjoyment that she finds it in. Now I know his early work but his newest solo CD I am just really not keen on at all, not really my thing now. But I do like some of his rock tracks he made of some of his non rock tracks on his newest solo CD. Below is one of his rock versions, and the song is called “long Gone”

Many other things have been going on but that can be blogged another time, and next blog Jenny will most likely be doing. So we shall blog again very soon, so take care everyone.

Click the banner to learn about our wonderful paradise in England, which Is Cumbria.

As always we are supporting the RNLI, click the banner below to find out what the RNLI is all about and what do can do to help and support them.

Motoko & Jenny Carterr

Our Online Gaming Playstaion 3 ID

Cumbria can be sunny too, somtimes

Evening one and all and for once it’s me Jenny posting something! But before we get onto the matter at hard lets check out that important Cumbrian weather forecast.

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Summer really has (for the moment) hit the Cumbrian landscape and bathed everything in a nice warm embracing glow. It’s fantastic but Cumbria is the wettest place in England so in a way the weather is letting the side down a bit really isn’t it. The sunny weather means that we can have a few meals and parties outside and the long summer evenings are perfect for a nice lazy evening and not having to worry about the evenings getting dark.

But this weather has made work a lot harder and for some reason although constant rain floods our home and can play havoc with our yard, working in the sun can really wear you out and working in it all day makes you really dozy. By the time you get in from work all you want to do is shower, have dinner and then get on up to bed.

We have though find time to relax during the week and have had a BBQ, which we all enjoy but Motoko hates cooking on gas BBQs but we had no option to as re ran out of charcoal. Also found that cooking with a hotplate onto of a gas BBQ grill cooks what ever your cooking far better than just having it on the normal grill. To prove this fact below is a film that we filmed, it’s a short random video. Enjoy.

Tomorrow is a momentous day tomorrow as it’s our daughter’s birthday so we have taken the day off work tomorrow in aid of this. Sadly Amanda is unwell at the moment but recovering fast, but we didn’t want to work on her first birthday with us and being ill as well on your birthday is never fun.

That’s about all I am going to blog today, and sorry it’s just a short update but work was a long hot day and I want to get dinner underway and then relax with my family.

Click the banner to learn about our wonderful paradise in England, which Is Cumbria.

As always we are supporting the RNLI, click the banner below to find out what the RNLI is all about and what do can do to help and support them.

Motoko & Jenny Carterr

Our Online Gaming Playstaion 3 ID

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