Small world

Linda with Chipita has moved house and Chip has also moved yard, on arrival they bumped into Christine with Tizona who was having a few days away, having some lessons and playing over the XC course.  It is such a small world and this will always be one of my "what ifs" - what if we'd bred another ten foals a year for ten more years, or twenty for twenty?  How could our wee community have grown?  How synonymous would Chamfron have become for Criollo in the UK or just for good useful and talented horses?  

Spotted on my travels (10)

Walks this week

Scotland is doing well controlling Coronavirus but cases are increasing in England again with certain areas being placed back into a stricter lockdown.  We actually went out for dinner for the first time in 2020.  We went to Provender in Melrose and it felt very normal, though the staff were being religious about using hand sanitiser.   It was so good we are going back next Wednesday as part of the government's "eat out to help out" scheme, we are just doing our bit for the economy obviously...!  Other than that, I walk!

Chamfron Lysander

Great to get an updated photo of Chamfron Lysander (Moomin), he is in the same home he was sold to as a foal and very loved.

Best Boy!

Community Woodlands

So it would appear I have become a bit of a fiend for a community woodland, Gordon last night and Wooplaw tonight.  Wooplaw was the brainchild of Tim Stead, a wood sculptor and furniture maker who lived nearby in the village of Blainslie.  Tim specialised in using native British hardwoods, rather than imported timber and he wanted to try to replace some of the massive elm, oak and ash trees he had used in his works of art.  Tim is buried at Wooplaw and beside the grave is a sculpture in burr elm of Tim by Russian artist Eduard Bersudsky, who was a long-time friend of Tim and his family.

I've driven past one of the signs to Wooplaw for years and stopped there to go exploring, in hindsight driving to the main car park, where there is a really good map, would of been more cunning but I saw a lot of the woods (missed the totem pole!) and not another soul in the hour and a half I was there.

Spotted on my travels (9)

You see some surprising things on your travels, a magnificent willow stag and a rather late lamb for example!