Opps its been a whole week since i wrote the blog - where has the time gone?!
Im very proud of gaz this week as not only has he been for a run, but he's also won not one, but TWO of the poker tournaments here in port stephens! Well done gaz....he brought home a nice 200AUD the first time and insisted i took half....bless him. He went with Nathan to a poker tournament in a place called raymond terrace on friday night and the were gone till 1am. People must have thought it was a set up as nathan came second and gaz came first! On friday night, whilst gaz was at poker, i went to a works do. We had it at the bowling alley just down the road. I went over to one of the dental assistants flats first where the other girls all met up swell and had dinner. We were a little peeved at the bowling alley because on friday nights they turn the lights off and you bowl in the dark and the pins and balls all glow and theres strobe lighting and they crank the music up...but there was a group of disabled people int here, one of which had epilepsy so we weren't allowed to do it until they all let....and they hung around for AGES afterwards. Anyway, my bowling skills were as expected...pretty shocking...but so were the other girls so it was alright.
My lesson with Ellen on monday went well but it had been raining so the school was a little water logged and Angie didn't really enjoy trotting through all the puddles for an hour. Plus it was nearly feeding time at the yard, when Ellen puts the hay out for the horses, so i could see Angie eyeing up the other horses int heir fields making sure their hay hadn't arrived yet!
The week in work has been a mixed bag. The days looked quiet but somehow loads of people kept walking in off the streets wanting treatment so we were able to fit them in. The other dentist has gone on holiday now for 2 weeks so I'm going to have a busy time ahead of me (hopefully!). Im even working a monday morning which i don't usually do!
This morning i was up at 6am and met 2 of the girls with horses at the yard. We tacked up and headed out to the private land (owned by the water works) which we aren't really meant to be riding on. Never the less it was fantastic! We've had lovely weather this past week and its meant to continue into next week. Angie was such a star...i didn't know how she would behave as she hadn't been off the yard since before november. For the first 5 minutes i could feel she was a little excited/anxious but i just relaxed the reins and she soon settled. There were a number of occasions where we had to ride through water up to their bellies.Angie LOVED it! She wanted to lead the whole way. She splashed her way through the water. We all had a trot so i put Angie to the back of the ride but she didn't even try to quicken up to overtake them. Being a race horse i wasn't sure if she would want to get in front but nope, she was perfect. I was so happy with her. One of the girls has invited me to take Angie on her horse float (box) next weekend to go to another horse riding track...a legal track. I don't know what Angie is like to load onto a float!
Gaz and i are off up the yard again to see angie this evening and we are taking Em and Nathan with us. Em loves horses so I've said she can have Angies brushes when I'm away and she can go up and brush her whenever she likes. Angie will enjoy the attention.
Oh and I've contacted the local koala rescue society and Gaz and i are going to do a course when we com back out so eventually we can be injured koala carers! yay!
Saturday 30 June 2012
Sunday 24 June 2012
Sunday 24th June - Snow white and the huntsmen
Another lovely day today! i was up at 7am to go and see Angie. I thought id try the monty roberts 'join up' technique on her where you can get the horse to follow you round the ring and stuff but it fail miserably as i probe was doing it all wrong and instead angie thought bugger this and instead of following me, turned to eat some grass. LOL.
I did another 30 minute run which went well. Gaz has impressed me as he went for his second run yesterday! he said he only lasted 10 minutes but the fact he got out there is great! very proud of him.
We have been to the cinema to see snow white and the huntsmen. i really enjoyed the film but gaz found it a little pants. We were sat in front of this mother and daughter who commented on EVERYTHING throughout the start of the film 'oh look at her crown.' 'oh look at her dress' ....10 minutes of constant chatter and gaz turned round and sued them to stop talking lol...well done gaz!
For dinner we had pork belly cooked fantastically by gaz. Was delicious and has made the house smell yummy!
I did another 30 minute run which went well. Gaz has impressed me as he went for his second run yesterday! he said he only lasted 10 minutes but the fact he got out there is great! very proud of him.
We have been to the cinema to see snow white and the huntsmen. i really enjoyed the film but gaz found it a little pants. We were sat in front of this mother and daughter who commented on EVERYTHING throughout the start of the film 'oh look at her crown.' 'oh look at her dress' ....10 minutes of constant chatter and gaz turned round and sued them to stop talking lol...well done gaz!
For dinner we had pork belly cooked fantastically by gaz. Was delicious and has made the house smell yummy!
Friday 22 June 2012
Friday 21st June - Gaz finds his feet
Im so proud of gaz today (without sounding patronising) coz he found the time to go for a run. Its been lovely wether here all week and today he made the most of it and got outside. He's going to be sore tomorrow! But he managed to run for 13 minutes...got to start somewhere and ins use if he keeps it up he will be able to run for a lot longer.
Work went well, the book was full today so I've been busy busy. Didn't go and see Angie but I've had Ellen taking her rug off this morning and putting it on tonight so i know she's ok.
Gaz did well on the computer today so its been a good day all round! I have work for half the day tomorrow so the sooner thats over with, the sooner i can go and see Angie!
Work went well, the book was full today so I've been busy busy. Didn't go and see Angie but I've had Ellen taking her rug off this morning and putting it on tonight so i know she's ok.
Gaz did well on the computer today so its been a good day all round! I have work for half the day tomorrow so the sooner thats over with, the sooner i can go and see Angie!
Thursday 21 June 2012
Thursday 21st june - poker night
Gaz and i have been to Diggers to have a meal with Em and Nathan. Ive left Gaz there as he is now playing poker with Nathan amongst a sea of older women. It was a nice meal and nathan introduced us to one of his friends, Mick...its always nice to meet someone new. I had the day off work today. Its been pretty stressful this week as for some reason Pacific Smiles are struggling to get patients to fill the books. It isn't just our centre that is struggling, its all over but my book is doing worse than Wyatts. I counted up how many check ups Wyatt has this week...i counted 27. I counted how many i have....5. I pointed out to the girls doing the bookings this and was told 'its because wyatt would have seen these people before so we rebook them with him'...when i went back to check if he had seen them before, 21 patients were new patients...i thought this was a little unfair so I've brought it to everyones attention just so they know to even it out a little bit more! It was nice having the day off today. Gaz was up and out of bed before me for the first time....well ever?! He couldn't believe how cold it was and had all the heating going...now he knows what i have to deal with! It wasn't like he was up very early, he got out of bed at 7.45am as he had a poker lesson on at 8am. Whilst he was having a coaching session on the computer, i went for a run. I ran for 30 minutes around the beach and past all the nice houses here. It was beautiful weather for it. The past week we have had lovely sunshine! I came back and gaz was still being coached so i went up to see Angie and shovelled some poo from her field until it was time for my lesson at 1pm. Angie is improving all the time. Whilst shovelling the poo, i took some hay to the field for Angie. I felt bad because all the other horses were looking longingly at Angie eating her hay. Ive also been paying Ellen to take Angies rug off int he mornings so she can have the day int he sunshine with it off, and then put it back on when it gets cold int he evenings. No one else seems to take the rugs off their horses and they all look so hot int hem! I rang gaz to see how his coaching session was and he was still going! he paid the guy for 90 minutes but ended up having 4 hours of coaching!!! thats what i call getting your monies worth!
So yesterday my friend from the gym back home, Adam, sent me a training plan to help promote his business. Basically i took some before photos, and I'm keeping a video diary of my progress, and he's given me exercises to do for the next 4 weeks and then ill take some after photos. The idea is for there to be some improvement so he can show it to potential clients. Im very excited! Unfortunately i can't coax gaz into doing any exercise which is a shame as he's getting very lazy. Im hoping maybe our new friend nathan can get him out to do some kayaking/surfing or running!
Im still doing research on cars. Ian pointed out that i might want to consider a ute (SUV) and put a canopy over the back so as not to get the whole car dirty if I'm to be transporting hay, horse feed, dogs etc...I didn't really think much into it until on the weekend, after test driving the pathfinder and challenger, i went to pick some feed up for Angie and treated her to a bale of hay. The hay has made an awful mess in the boot of the car! i don't want my new car to be getting trashed with hay and wet dogs. (yes i think we will get a dog when we come back out). I have therefore done further research in to the toyota hilux....but way too out of my price range and apparently a little out dated now compared to other suv's around...the ford ranger which has had very very good reviews....but out of my price range...the nissan nirvana....dont like it....the mitusbishi triton has poor reviews, the new holden colorado...new on the market, in my price range but average reviews....and the mazda bt-50. I think after all the research I've done, I'm aiming towards the mazda BT-50 utility XT Hi rider automatic diesel 2wd which is 39,672AUD brand new but I've seen a 1 year old model going for 33,000. This is more in my price range and has had good reviews (unless any one can prove me wrong). I do like the idea of buing an SUV and putting a canopy over the back.
So yesterday my friend from the gym back home, Adam, sent me a training plan to help promote his business. Basically i took some before photos, and I'm keeping a video diary of my progress, and he's given me exercises to do for the next 4 weeks and then ill take some after photos. The idea is for there to be some improvement so he can show it to potential clients. Im very excited! Unfortunately i can't coax gaz into doing any exercise which is a shame as he's getting very lazy. Im hoping maybe our new friend nathan can get him out to do some kayaking/surfing or running!
Im still doing research on cars. Ian pointed out that i might want to consider a ute (SUV) and put a canopy over the back so as not to get the whole car dirty if I'm to be transporting hay, horse feed, dogs etc...I didn't really think much into it until on the weekend, after test driving the pathfinder and challenger, i went to pick some feed up for Angie and treated her to a bale of hay. The hay has made an awful mess in the boot of the car! i don't want my new car to be getting trashed with hay and wet dogs. (yes i think we will get a dog when we come back out). I have therefore done further research in to the toyota hilux....but way too out of my price range and apparently a little out dated now compared to other suv's around...the ford ranger which has had very very good reviews....but out of my price range...the nissan nirvana....dont like it....the mitusbishi triton has poor reviews, the new holden colorado...new on the market, in my price range but average reviews....and the mazda bt-50. I think after all the research I've done, I'm aiming towards the mazda BT-50 utility XT Hi rider automatic diesel 2wd which is 39,672AUD brand new but I've seen a 1 year old model going for 33,000. This is more in my price range and has had good reviews (unless any one can prove me wrong). I do like the idea of buing an SUV and putting a canopy over the back.
Monday 18 June 2012
Monday 18th June - Best lesson ever!
I am soooo thrilled with Angie today! Ever since I've had Angie we have been working together to develop correct muscle tone. As she is an ex race horse, she is used to being worked with her head high in the air (the natural position for a galloping horse)...The disadvantage of a horse being ridden with their head in the air is that their back dips down to the floor. If the back has dipped down, it means they can carry less weight and can even damage their backs. Imagine yourself being on all fours and someone sitting on you back with your back dipped to the floor - it may hurt a little....then try raising your back up to the ceiling - you will be able to carry more weight. Therefore, when a horse tucks their head in (ie. drops the head so it is vertical), their back rounds, they engage their hind quarters and work their muscles correctly. This has been a complex thing to ask Angie to do as she 1. has had to develop a different set of muscles and 2. has had to learn and understand what i am asking of her....and 3. I've never been taught or understood how to get a horse to do this before so I've been learning aswell!
Ellen has noticed Angie resisting my hand and leg aids and i have worked VERY hard for her to achieve this position in the walk but she always fights it in the trot. Today Ellen leant me one of her bridles with a different bit on it - this was to give more leverage from the reins so that Angie could release the pressure and find comfort not by sticking her head up, but by 'giving' her nose. We started work by lunging her - this is with no one riding her but a long piece of rope attached to the bridle and Angie circling around myself in large circles. At first Angie was trying to stick her head up, she had a little moment where she retaliated but Ellen had be driving her forwards and not letting her get up to mischief. It worked. In 5 minutes, Angie was relaxed, lowering her head and even licking the bit (sign of relaxation and contentment). She rounded her frame in both walk and trot - she has never done this in trot before so we were so pleased! she worked for 45 minutes on the lunge rope. She had sweat DRIPPING off her!!! She worked so hard. The next challenge was to try getting her to do this with me on her - this means using my hands and legs to achieve this rounded frame. It requires a lot of squeezing with the legs in the right place to get the impulsion of energy from behind in order to 'catch the energy' with the hands....it takes a good 'feel' of the bit (ie. feeling pressure with the left and right rein and using a sponging effect to enable her to relax and hold her position...and also having them at the right angle...meanwhile there is other technical stuff going on which in horse terminology is called being 'straight and true' but ill waffle about that another time! So as you can see, theres more to horse riding than just sitting not he horses back! Angie rounded her frame in both walk and for the first time in trot with me! I no longer had to work hard to get her to do this, every time i asked, she gave to me...it was an amazing feeling...together we are progressing and I'm so thrilled that we have an 'understanding' between one another...im also very grateful to Ellen who is such a fantastic, patient instructor and without her there is no way i would have got this far!!!
Angie was also lucky today as i went up early and took her rug off as it was very sunny. She followed me towards the gate of the field thinking she was going to get worked but i kept telling her to go and eat some grass and ill see her later! I went down to Newcastle to test drive cars for the horse float. I then went to pick Angie up some more feed and even grabbed a bale of hay. As i had 2 hours before my lesson, i gave Angie some hay in her field and sat with her and groomed her, both enjoying the sunshine - to was like a summers day in the UK!
Test driving cars was fun. I tried the misubishi challenger and the nissan pathfinder. I preferred driving the pathfinder - i think it is the more superior engine very slughly but the challenger is a lot cheaper. Ive therefore decided on either getting the top of the range misubishi challenger (4WD XLS) or the middle range Nissan pathfinder (ST-L) as second hand and 1-2 years old, these cars are about the same price - I'm going to be spending 40-45 grand on the car still. I LOVED the pathfinder Ti550 but its way out of my price range, even though i loved all the little extras like the DVD player for the kids in the back! I must be realistic...i have no kids so it would not benefit any one and i don't think Angie would want to watch anything on tv from the float lol.
Gaz has spent the day on the computer....a days work and he made 8 AUD. lol. Gaz said he would leave it to me to test drive the cars as he said he would only make me nervous which is true coz he likes to dictate to me how i should drive....even though HES the only one thats ever tried to kill us (hehe).
Gaz and I went for food on saturday night with our new friends em and nathan. they are great fun and we laughed so hard all night - we will have to do it again soon!
I asked Gaz if he would like to add anything he has done this weekend to the blog...he said no. he hasn't done any thing lol.
Ellen has noticed Angie resisting my hand and leg aids and i have worked VERY hard for her to achieve this position in the walk but she always fights it in the trot. Today Ellen leant me one of her bridles with a different bit on it - this was to give more leverage from the reins so that Angie could release the pressure and find comfort not by sticking her head up, but by 'giving' her nose. We started work by lunging her - this is with no one riding her but a long piece of rope attached to the bridle and Angie circling around myself in large circles. At first Angie was trying to stick her head up, she had a little moment where she retaliated but Ellen had be driving her forwards and not letting her get up to mischief. It worked. In 5 minutes, Angie was relaxed, lowering her head and even licking the bit (sign of relaxation and contentment). She rounded her frame in both walk and trot - she has never done this in trot before so we were so pleased! she worked for 45 minutes on the lunge rope. She had sweat DRIPPING off her!!! She worked so hard. The next challenge was to try getting her to do this with me on her - this means using my hands and legs to achieve this rounded frame. It requires a lot of squeezing with the legs in the right place to get the impulsion of energy from behind in order to 'catch the energy' with the hands....it takes a good 'feel' of the bit (ie. feeling pressure with the left and right rein and using a sponging effect to enable her to relax and hold her position...and also having them at the right angle...meanwhile there is other technical stuff going on which in horse terminology is called being 'straight and true' but ill waffle about that another time! So as you can see, theres more to horse riding than just sitting not he horses back! Angie rounded her frame in both walk and for the first time in trot with me! I no longer had to work hard to get her to do this, every time i asked, she gave to me...it was an amazing feeling...together we are progressing and I'm so thrilled that we have an 'understanding' between one another...im also very grateful to Ellen who is such a fantastic, patient instructor and without her there is no way i would have got this far!!!
Angie was also lucky today as i went up early and took her rug off as it was very sunny. She followed me towards the gate of the field thinking she was going to get worked but i kept telling her to go and eat some grass and ill see her later! I went down to Newcastle to test drive cars for the horse float. I then went to pick Angie up some more feed and even grabbed a bale of hay. As i had 2 hours before my lesson, i gave Angie some hay in her field and sat with her and groomed her, both enjoying the sunshine - to was like a summers day in the UK!
Test driving cars was fun. I tried the misubishi challenger and the nissan pathfinder. I preferred driving the pathfinder - i think it is the more superior engine very slughly but the challenger is a lot cheaper. Ive therefore decided on either getting the top of the range misubishi challenger (4WD XLS) or the middle range Nissan pathfinder (ST-L) as second hand and 1-2 years old, these cars are about the same price - I'm going to be spending 40-45 grand on the car still. I LOVED the pathfinder Ti550 but its way out of my price range, even though i loved all the little extras like the DVD player for the kids in the back! I must be realistic...i have no kids so it would not benefit any one and i don't think Angie would want to watch anything on tv from the float lol.
Gaz has spent the day on the computer....a days work and he made 8 AUD. lol. Gaz said he would leave it to me to test drive the cars as he said he would only make me nervous which is true coz he likes to dictate to me how i should drive....even though HES the only one thats ever tried to kill us (hehe).
Gaz and I went for food on saturday night with our new friends em and nathan. they are great fun and we laughed so hard all night - we will have to do it again soon!
I asked Gaz if he would like to add anything he has done this weekend to the blog...he said no. he hasn't done any thing lol.
Friday 15 June 2012
Friday 15th June - horse float on order!
Yesterday Gaz went to play poker at Diggers...he still didn't win but he says it isn't coz he's rubbish, more to do with luck of the cards...i keep telling him these old ladies he's playing must be better poker players than him (just to wind him up....its working hehe)...our friend nathan won for the 4th time in a row! Gaz had a good time and enjoyed himself...he was out till late and by the time he got home, i hate eaten a whole dominos pizza to myself and was snuggled up in bed fast asleep.
Today i didn't have a patient until 10.30am so i got up at 6.30am and went to ride Angie. It was beautiful day and got up to 21 degrees so i left Angies rug off her all day and got Ellen to put it on her this evening. I think she was grateful to have the rug off for a change...i bet she's been rolling!
Ive put a deposit down on my horse box...so excited! The guy will enjoy making it as I'm having lots of extras put in. it takes 3 months to make so at least ill have it for october when I'm back. Now all i need to do is to find a car which i will be test driving 2 of them on monday.
VISA UPDATE:
Having spoken with the immigration lawyer who may or may not know what he's doing...i am now applying for a temporary sponsorship visa (457) and gaz will be put on to this visa. We only need to show proof we have been living together for 6 months for gaz to go on my 457 visa...we have more than 6 months proof as we got the rent, bills and the car in both our names. Im signing a contract at work for 2 years. This will allow me to do my implant and invisalign course next year plus an extra year before gaz and i consider buying and starting up our own dental practice....which is the plan! the visas will be lodged when we leave to come back to the uK in july as gaz has to be off australian soil to lodge a new application. Exciting!
Today i didn't have a patient until 10.30am so i got up at 6.30am and went to ride Angie. It was beautiful day and got up to 21 degrees so i left Angies rug off her all day and got Ellen to put it on her this evening. I think she was grateful to have the rug off for a change...i bet she's been rolling!
Ive put a deposit down on my horse box...so excited! The guy will enjoy making it as I'm having lots of extras put in. it takes 3 months to make so at least ill have it for october when I'm back. Now all i need to do is to find a car which i will be test driving 2 of them on monday.
VISA UPDATE:
Having spoken with the immigration lawyer who may or may not know what he's doing...i am now applying for a temporary sponsorship visa (457) and gaz will be put on to this visa. We only need to show proof we have been living together for 6 months for gaz to go on my 457 visa...we have more than 6 months proof as we got the rent, bills and the car in both our names. Im signing a contract at work for 2 years. This will allow me to do my implant and invisalign course next year plus an extra year before gaz and i consider buying and starting up our own dental practice....which is the plan! the visas will be lodged when we leave to come back to the uK in july as gaz has to be off australian soil to lodge a new application. Exciting!
Wednesday 13 June 2012
Wednesday 13th June - date night
It rained all day today...again. Work was OK...i got my pay for the month which came in at 20,000AUD...after tax....i think i have some tax return money in there...either way, i was stoked! I have put a deposit down on my horse box...am sooo excited! Spoke to the guy whose going to be making it and we talked through all the extras I'm having added on...its going to look amazing! It will take 3 months to make so i thought id get the order in now so its ready for when i come back.
I rode Angie after work as i only had a half day...she is soooo gorgeous. Love her to bits!
Gaz and i went out for date night this evening. It was my turn to decide where we were to go. We went to an italian restaurant called marcos. When we arrived just before 6pm, there was a table of 15 guys who had just ordered and the rest of the restaurant was empty. We waited ages to have our drinks order taken. Gaz asked the waitress what vegetables came with the food...she didn't know. I was tossing up the decision between the lamb shanks or the duck with 'polenta'. i didn't know what polenta was...according to the waitress it was cheese. We waited over half hour for our startes which was stale bread and a load of oil and gone off balsamic vinegar. By this time, the restaurant was full with only one waitress. She was bloody useless! very slow and dopey. Some beeping noise was going on for about 15 minutes before someone asked her to turn it off. The food finally came and was awful! The polenta was not cheese but a corn type thing...tasted burnt to me! We called the waitress over and i said 'sorry i thought you said this was cheese?'....she said 'oh yes i did, i was confused'...i said well how about you give us some more potatoes then! The veg was undercooked and she had taken the order down wrong so only given one portion of potatoes. It was very poor. The meal with 2 drinks each came to 88AUD....you would expect it to be better than that for that price!!! no one else had had their food by the time we left...and people were getting restless. It was very disappointing and we won't be going back there again! Gaz has banned me from choosing restaurants in the future.
I rode Angie after work as i only had a half day...she is soooo gorgeous. Love her to bits!
Gaz and i went out for date night this evening. It was my turn to decide where we were to go. We went to an italian restaurant called marcos. When we arrived just before 6pm, there was a table of 15 guys who had just ordered and the rest of the restaurant was empty. We waited ages to have our drinks order taken. Gaz asked the waitress what vegetables came with the food...she didn't know. I was tossing up the decision between the lamb shanks or the duck with 'polenta'. i didn't know what polenta was...according to the waitress it was cheese. We waited over half hour for our startes which was stale bread and a load of oil and gone off balsamic vinegar. By this time, the restaurant was full with only one waitress. She was bloody useless! very slow and dopey. Some beeping noise was going on for about 15 minutes before someone asked her to turn it off. The food finally came and was awful! The polenta was not cheese but a corn type thing...tasted burnt to me! We called the waitress over and i said 'sorry i thought you said this was cheese?'....she said 'oh yes i did, i was confused'...i said well how about you give us some more potatoes then! The veg was undercooked and she had taken the order down wrong so only given one portion of potatoes. It was very poor. The meal with 2 drinks each came to 88AUD....you would expect it to be better than that for that price!!! no one else had had their food by the time we left...and people were getting restless. It was very disappointing and we won't be going back there again! Gaz has banned me from choosing restaurants in the future.
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