New Year, Same Me

 I had a little over a week off over Christmas and it was so wonderful. Coming back to work last week was a bit of a shock. I'm definitely the type of person who keeps busy and fills my days regardless of vacation status, so even after such a short time it was a little bit of an adjustment reprioritizing things so I have time to work (you know, the one thing that actually pays me money and should be the priority!)

I still find a desk job really hard, to be honest. I'm a GIS data analyst so it keeps my brain busy enough, but in general I'm happier outdoors or doing hands on work where I can be moving around more. This winter has been full of evenings like this where I'm fitting in an hour or two of outside time in the semi dark.

So, it might surprise exactly no one that I got a ton of work done on the house and in the barn over the last couple of weeks. I cleaned the last of the building supplies out of the barn so I've got about 100% more room for hay storage (or space for an extra pony stall). That makes me pretty happy.

Bridget would like to move in now...I'm sure we can trust her with the two tons of hay already stored inside?

As for the house, we can technically start moving in any time, but we won't have a proper kitchen or a shower (bathtub only!) for a while yet.

My screen is making the living room paint look very green. It IS green, but more on the blue/gray side

Basically the only major thing on G's wishlist for the house was a place for a bigger TV. I rebuilt the shelving like so, I think a good compromise between books and television space:)

Floors in the back of the house redone, the front half still needs further sanding

This is the room with a view of the ponies

But I can grudgingly accept that this room makes more sense for my future office space. I can see part of their paddocks from this room's window too so all is not lost :D. Also, I will never again put fussy moldings x2 around ceilings. Painting is not fun, and it seems like I ran out of patience with filling and priming the first time around because here I am years later cursing out Previous Me for adding to the work this time around. I'm currently a walking lesson in doing things right the first time.

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On the pony side, with the house improvements (and moving so we can rent the house we're in) as current priority, they've just been happily cleaning out the neglected parts the yard for me every day. Bridget is teaching Sophie the ways of yard maintenance and she's now expanded her diet to include trimming hazelnut, poplars, blackberries and other assorted shrubberies off the fencelines just like her big sister. Very handy!

Best pony babysitter and mentor ever

Sophie's turning into the best backyard pony. She's very sociable and quite tuned into our activities so she's always checking in and visiting with us and it's more like having a giant golden retriever than a pony in the back field. 

As far as New Years goals, if I've learned anything it's that my only goal should be that I need to keep working at being resilient to change, because it's pretty rare that my stated plans turn out as I expect them to.

Lessons, clinics, fun outings and little shows will most likely continue to be part of 2023. You're probably going to see a bunch more property and house reno updates. Maybe Bridget will go off to be bred, maybe not. I'm leaning towards no, but there is an option to send her on farm with a cob stallion that is keeping the door open a crack - most of my anxiety came from Fed Ex and vet arrangements, so something a bit more natural might be less stressful. I'm unsure of what to do with Bridget if she's not making a baby, but probably I'm overthinking it and there's no decision to be made - she's happy as a pet and trail pony and great company for Sophie. I don't think she misses having a proper job. 

The thing I'm most excited for is having my own ring at home. Rather than dreaming of getaways and show results I'm loving the idea of evening rides in the back yard. That will really be a lifetime goal accomplished.

Could not find the real tape measure

But the start of my little rock border for the ring still looks fairly straight at a consistent 16 hands from the fence