Living the dream.

The weird, but welcome effect that the threat of death caused by Covid-19 has had on Baggy, continues apace! Clever Bird is keeping her eye on the statistics so that she can keep the gang and number one furry as safe as possible, and the current figures are that in the coastal area of Suffolk where she lives, it's believed by the experts, that 2 in 1,000 people are currently infected. Hopefully, those "two" poor souls, are tucked up safely in their homes, recovering quickly. So, Clever Bird feels that it's pretty safe for her to be out-and-about with the gang. 

Creative Clara had to go into town today to post off an order from her little Etsy shop, Realuv. Clever Bird made her dress appropriately, although only around 1 in 20 people seemed to have done likewise!

Hormonal Hannah was really happy that some of the little shops in town are once again open for business. She popped into a couple for essentials, like brown parcel paper, as Realuv seems to be really busy at present. Grotty Groom also needed treats for her Boys. But possibly more importantly, Furry Mama needs to build Pepper Pooch's confidence back up, as two months of not being in town, seems to have caused him to totally lose his nerve there once more. And as stress can cause his, as yet unnamed, autoimmune disorder to flare up, he needs to regain his confidence in this weird new reality, of long queues of people waiting to go inside shops. 

The truth is that both Pepper and Hormonal Hannah have been struggling a bit, since number one furry has been back at work, so Furry Mama takes them to the beach. The weather this week has returned to being hot and summery, but the difference that the ten miles to the coast makes, is fascinating! This week's theme at Southwold has been sea frets! The one on Sunday was burned off by the sun by the time that Baggy, Pepper and Calum had walked down the beach, but today's went nowhere!

There were actually quite a lot of people on the beach, but they were hidden in the mist!

Creative Clara couldn't stop herself from wondering whether Furry Mama should worry about sea monsters appearing from the mists and devouring them! If it was a film, she'd be screaming at the woman and the dog to get away from the sea!

But an hour later, once Grotty arrived at the yard, it was once again clear blue sky and 24 deg. C.

Grotty was determined to ride Wesley. At least she was until he behaved like a total numpty when she took him into the school! Grotty decided that she had better lead him around in-hand for a while, to see whether he would calm down. He was so wound up, that when he spotted himself in the massive schooling-mirror, he reared up, literally standing on his back legs! Baggy didn't even attempt to hang onto the reins, and stepped out of his way, which was just as well, as he followed the rear up with a huge buck, followed by a fly-buck (kicking his back legs out sideways), then landed squarely on all four feet and froze, as if he'd embarrassed himself.

"Seriously, you over-sized numpty! What was that all about?" asked Grotty, as she tied his reins together so that they were safely tucked in his bridle. "If you don't want me to ride you, that's one way of achieving it." 

Baggy was a little shaken by these antics, and Freda Fretter decided that Grotty should not get on such a wired horse. But Grotty was still determined to ride, even though she hadn't put on her air jacket.

"Come on then numpty horse, and stop calling to Joey, he's in his paddock where we left him. He's not calling you is he? 

Baggy led the way, without touching Wesley's reins, she walked off. Grotty half expected Wesley to take off around the school, but he wandered along next to Baggy. When she stopped walking, so did he.

"So, are you going to let me get on you?" A head butt on Baggy's back, suggested that the answer to that question was "yes". Clever Bird decided not to phone Calum, to let him know that she was getting on the Boy, because she didn't want him worrying. Clever Bird couldn't quite believe how brave Grotty was being. But the reason is, that Grotty does totally trust her horse, only it's been so long since they rode together that she needs to let him know that! If he doesn't feel that Grotty trusts him, then why should he trust her?

Fifteen minutes later, Baggy was the one grinning like a numpty! Yes, Wesley called his brother a few times; yes, he did a little spook; yes, he lost concentration a little, but he was an angel once again!

He even decided that he fancied staying in the school, once Grotty had finished with his exercise.

As Grotty got Creative Clara to take some photos for her blog, Baggy realised that she was living the dream that she'd had as a little lonely girl, who just wanted to have her own pony. 

Baggy may not have achieved that childhood dream until she got Wesley when she was 45, but fifteen years later, she knows that she is one lucky woman! Having given the Boy a warm shower, and stuck some more suncream on his nose, she took him back out to his paddock, chatting to him as they walked, as she had always chatted to her imaginary ponies when she was a child. 

Two hours with her horse, then home to a lovely healthy meal created by The Domestic Goddess,

and a blog written, while the Pooch does his thing on the sofa.

Clever Bird continues to thank the lockdown (and her online healthy-living app), for adjusting Baggy's mindset, and allowing her to live her dream - one that she's rarely lived in the fifteen years of owning her horse, as she's always been a little too afraid to ride him without someone else there. Now all that has changed...

Baggy's current state!

Depression (Black = really bad/Grey = not great/Blue = okay/Yellow = sunny day): Blue.

Anxiety (From 1 = barely any to 10 = gibbering wreck standard): 6.
Tears: Why even ask?.
Overall days: Pretty good all things considered.

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!