I have since received information from someone in Winnipeg who got scammed as well by the same person for a firewood sale fraud.
The criminal’s name is Cody James Moar. He lives in Winnipeg, and has done this a lot in hay groups under the aliases Tracy Michelle Weymouth, Tracy Weymouth Gillette, and some variation of it in AB/BC/SK and MT.
He uses the following emails, but always the same name.
My local fraud case file number is 23-29459 for BC.
His son passed away in 2020 and here is the obituary I found online: Liam-James Moar Young Obituary (2020) | Winnipeg, Manitoba (echovita.com) If I were him, I would be heinously ashamed to smear the memory of such a sweet young child. He also has a second, younger child named Landon. For shame. His girlfriend’s name is Maxine.
It looks like his family is associated with Wab Kinew: Video | Facebook
Let’s work together to put this criminal behind bars, where he belongs. Everybody can have a very Merry Christmas once that chapter is behind us.
Here is a screenshot of the criminal’s Facebook page: He has since taken it down, because he is an absolute fucking coward and scum of the earth. Luckily, I had a screenshot that I shared with him- I am that nice!
Things were good, and then they were bad, and now, well I guess that’s life eh? Clawing your way out of the abyss, daily.
A million years ago, ah it will be so hard to say goodbye to this.
The good: Oats is the best pony, doing super well and I am really enjoying him. We were even practicing counter-canter circles- yes this guy is doing it!! Amazing!!
The bad: The boarding barn we have been at for over a decade is likely going up for sale. After the Great Hay Scam and ensuing debacle of GETTING a year’s worth of hay, I am so.over.this. And like, I was ranting in August, but…horse ownership here is untenable. Beyond untenable, even. I can’t reasonably continue, and so I have been telling everyone that my dear Mr. Oats is my last horse. First and last. I am not looking forward to scrambling to uproot him from the home he has known for so many years 😦 I can’t even think about it right now.
The good: My ankle is improving! I can run! I also have an appointment next week with Rebalance, the joint specialists.
The bad: It is still quite stiff, limited mobility and I really struggle with uneven ground/hills as they seem to jar it very unpleasantly, oh and I am slow as molasses, lol.
The good: Since my endometriosis this summer went into overdrive and I started experiencing debilitating, life-altering symptoms that were ruining my life, I was deemed to have ‘treatment-resistant’ endometriosis. I am now on a new, pretty serious medication (Very $$ and kind of damaging, but it seems to be working? Called Oriilissa). I am also now on a surgery list for a complete hysterectomy and I CAN’T WAIT omg. Finally, getting to live my life like a normal person??? Woah.
The bad: I’ve weirdly been struggling with some kind of sickness/illness? My shoulders and chest muscles are KILLIING ME. Like, aching beyond belief, where I feel like I have the flu every day because I am so body sore. It’s insane. I have a massage therapy appointment tomorrow, and a telehealth appointment this week to figure this out. I am in a lot of pain every day.
The good: I am getting my crown and a filling- guess this is a good and bad? Hah. A follow-up to the 8 hours of dental surgery I had in Mx.
The bad: Along with excruciating shoulder/flu pain and sickness feeling, I had a very swollen throat *(like a bullfrog…) and shooting nerve pain in my tooth. Had an emergency dental appt. last week only to find absolutely nothing wrong. WTF???? So why am I in so much pain randomly? Gah.
As I mentioned earlier, we had a difficult summer fraught with problems (you name it, we had it).
The week before one of our horse shows, Oats came in from field turnout with a massive laceration to his lower right front leg/hoof region. I freaked the eff out. It was horrible to look at. Didn’t seem to much bother him, but jesus…He had like a 2-inch gouge out of his foot. The placement was pretty good, considering it could have completely devastated the tendon, according to my vet who I called in a big panic.
I wasn’t able to have it stitched, as the area does not have enough skin. Greeeatttt…So, Oats was placed on antibiotics that day (for the second time this freaking year. THANKS) and we had to clean, debride, and wrap. Every.single.day. for a month.
So, that’s what we did! I didn’t ride him for a week (vet advised) but he was fine on it, really didn’t seem to bother him. I kind of wished I hadn’t given him the time off, as he has arthritis and does better moving regularly, but he was fine either way. Oh, and I ate the cost of ANOTHER horse show.
As the time passed, the wound regrew flesh from the inside-out. It was an interesting, in incredibly disgusting process. The wound was healthy, and remained so. We were diligent about cleaning, wrapping and- this is new to me- applying Manuka honey to the deep gouge. It seemed to really accelerate the healing, and within 3 weeks to a month, I left the wound uncovered to help it start drying out and crusting over.
The week before we went to the Saanich Fair was the first time I left it uncovered, and it did AMAZINGLY well. By the time we were at the show, you would have thought it was a very old injury.
I got so lucky this time, so lucky.
Shoutout to Oats’ leasor- who has handled this, and SO MANY ISSUES, with grace and patience over this past year. It has not been easy, or fun. At all.
After an incredibly disappointing and challenging summer where I felt literally plagued by an unkind god or force of some kind…Good things are happening!!
Oats and I took part in the Saanich Fair- my riding friend and fellow boarder talked me into it. I was EXTREMELY apprehensive (see- all bad things happening endlessly) but against my better judgement, I signed us up. For four days (well, three full days and going in the afternoon Friday). It was, in a word, completely exhausting but, 100% worth it.
Oats proved that he has a heart of gold. The atmosphere was pretty insane (midway rides= endless screaming all day, hundreds of people, stroller, screaming babies, umbrellas, sheep, llamas, goats, cows, you name it, it’s there baby!).
He was pretty feisty on Saturday. Friday night I tacked him up and just walked around the riding arena. Saturday I knew I’d have to lunge him and see what I had. He was pretty nuts, bronced and squealed and bucked the brass nameplate off his halter! LOL! That was all he had though. He was pretty tired for the rest of oh, the entire weekend, hahah silly pony.
He had many adoring fans and it was really thrilling to me to have him there, where my former colleagues and other friends could come by and see the famous Mr. Oats!!
We rode all three days- Sat/Sun/Mon and then finally headed home after 6 p.m. on Monday night. PHEW! The judge LOVED Mr. Oats. We were rewarded extremely well. Too well? Hah, probably! It ended up being a very lucrative show for us: Winning 2nd in the Trail Jackpot netted us $150, we won a championship class ($25) and got second in another championship ($15), as well as numerous gorgeous rosettes, and Oats and I won Hi-point English Sr. Rider and received a lovely director’s chair, and we were also Hi-point Rider Overall and won a SECOND director’s chair. Crazy eh?
What a nice way to bookend the summer. We certainly had our challenges, but I have to say…despite the insane-o atmosphere of the show, the riders showing were among the kindest, nicest and most sportsmanlike I have experienced. Just all around nice folks. What a true pleasure. My thanks to their supportive and friendly vibes and to the hard-working show organizers- a truly challenging job.
AGAIN?! I can’t believe the crappy timing. Last year I had it at this exact same time, and this year…Well, history really does repeat itself I guess.
My torn ligament remains stubbornly refusing to heal, and it aches like a motherfucker at night. I can walk down stairs though, so I guess that is some progress. Not enough for me though. This weekend is 2.5 months of being injured. Quite the milestone…
Otherwise, I’ve been enjoying taking Oats to some fun casual outings, like a poker ride in June as a fundraiser, and this past weekend (before I tested positive for COVID) we went to the gymkhana! He has continued to be a spicy/spooky little pony, lots of energy. I do think his spookiness is related to light/dark shadows as those continue to be difficult for him to see as he ages. Oh well!
I had a nice time visiting family in Kelowna, though I did find my injury to be QUITE the drag. Try limping along sandy beaches, or along rocky beaches. No bueno. It was extremely hot out and I did a lot of swimming. Ian and I even swam in Cowichan Lake’s Gordon Bay a few weeks ago, before I began my new job! It was gorgeous out, nice and hot.
My hesitation while riding is slowly going away as I get more confident in my mobility. It’s amazing how vulnerable you feel, and afraid, when you are badly compromised. I still haven’t gone for a gallop in the field yet, but there is still time.
Still here, still injured. Oats went through a few weeks of being a spooky, unmanageable jerk for a bit. I think the only springtime that we haven’t struggled with his ‘jump out of my skin freakouts’ was when he was recovering from his serious leg injury and I wasn’t allowed to turn him out! Eyesight has often been brought up, but since his silliness is seasonal…I’m more inclined to suspect the nice spring grass has a high sugar content that makes his brain leave his body for a few weeks.
While he was jumping out of his skin at (shadows, small birds, the shadow of a bird, birds flying outside the arena, the corners of the arena, you name it), he also unfortunately had some massive spooks, which jarred the SHIT out of my damaged ankle. Greeeeeeeeeeeat. Just what I need- more localized pain in a severely injured ankle. Fun! This happened pretty much every ride- going along great and then BOOM! A huge spook that jarred the crap out of my hurt ankle.
I know, I know…Riding with an injury is a foolish choice BUT I have been injured for almost 4 weeks now. I can’t let him slide back into couch-potato-ness, can I ? Plus, before he was having a bunch of freakouts, he was a very solid steady-eddie, like usual. So, fingers crossed he goes back and his brain remains in his head. I did turn him out and he was fine for turnout again, after a few days where he was losing it in the paddock (this is why I was skeptical about eyesight. He was just having big freakouts everywhere, in every location, at every moment). Not typical of him, I guess unless it’s spring?
He’s back to normal turnout and enjoying himself hiding in the bushes to eat the best selections of blackberry leaves. His turnout buddy really doesn’t love that Oats hides in the field and that he can’t see him…
While I am hobbling and the stairs kind of remain my nemesis (as do shoes, getting bumped by horses, gravel, uneven ground, basically anywhere at the barn…) I am healing. It’s incredibly frustrating and I remain kind of angry at the world and myself for getting into this situation. The world’s dumbest accident. Aren’t they all?
I had to cancel a volunteer gig I was going to do on Friday, chiefly because I can’t walk or stand for the required amount of time on my leg/ankle with the injury. Also, it was for a mega-bouncy house for adults, and if I can’t walk on uneven ground, the scenario where I really fuck my ankle up was looking VERY likely…And boy, wouldn’t that be even stupider?? HAH. Sadly, no go. I guess sometimes we do learn.
Had a surprisingly good weekend, considering how deep I was in a strong pity-party all week last week! Everything just seemed so…insurmountable. And I felt mad at myself for being mad about it? Ugh. It’s an ouroboros of pain, frustration, pain, anger, etc. Like- things are actually pretty fine, EXCEPT I am mobility-impaired and limping around with a fat and bruised ankle/foot, with an additional soft tissue injury in my leg. Not bad, right? Well, turns out pain has a way of really wearing down (any) tolerance that you have.
The weather is nice, I want to be out doing things, enjoying it! And…It takes me forever and a day to hobble around. It always hurts.
Friday was the real kicker. We got dinged with a lousy tax bill, on top of our housing taxes went up to over 2k (thanks, while we are both unemployed), I’m struggling to walk, my car died, our fridge is acting up, the one fun activity we were going to do blew up in our faces etc etc etc).
So, basically nothing was going right. We couldn’t even manage one lousy brewery visit to fill out some passports for a contest we were going to enter. The first one? Closed on Friday. The second one? Parking lot full. Third one? Got in no prob, enjoyed a drink and…they are literally the only brewery NOT participating in the contest. HAH. You gotta laugh at that. So, to sum up…Absolutely nothing worked. I am in the hands of a capricious and vengeful god, apparently. And the weather is so beautiful these days too!
Frustrating or what?
Luckily I had lots of great weekend plans with my friends, because man…I was in a dark place limping around in pain for two weeks straight (and counting!). We hosted a friend’s dinner with Ian being the chef (great at it too) and then on Sunday I watched a horse show our other friend was riding in, and then went riding myself. Felt more optimistic, being out and about, thought it was a lot of walking on my injuries for the day.
And today? Well, I’m still here, still hobbling around in pain. Hoping for the day sometime in the next month I can walk confidently up AND down the stairs, putting my shoes on, socks too! I guess a girl can hope.
Just limping around with a sprained ankle. People have suspected it is fractured, but I’m pretty sure it is a bad sprain. I can walk on it, and I have been riding, haha. The mobility is impacted and the ankle is very stiff, but generally it’s not that painful? My leg tendon that I twisted hurt WAY WORSE omgggg. Fortunately that has been improving through me rehabbing it/stretching it every day, which was absolutely excruciating to start with.
So, I continue to sit around, though I am more mobile and actually able to drive (it’s still a bit tough on my ankle given the limited mobility of it).
Still hanging around, still limping. I finally got it checked out at a private clinic (paid $130 for the pleasure) because I could NOT get in anywhere public to have it looked at–and I did have a lot of friends/family asking if I’d broken it. Nope, no break! Luckily it is a soft tissue injury, my ankle bruising and foot swelling are going down albeit slowly, and the excruciating pain I have been feeling in my shin area is muscle related…So, the fun news is that I get to stretch it and rehab it every day. You literally pay for it every day.
I was watching CSI and one of the crime scene techs makes a mention that there are five kinds of tears. It was weirdly poetic. And scientific? It’s true. You have grief tears, pain tears, happy tears. Actually now that I am googling, there are three types of tears. Emotional, basal and reflex tears. Apparently emotional tears are unique to humans. I feel like I have randomly cried all of them this week. I had to eat the $300 cost of a registered horse show I was supposed to be attending all weekend. We were going to camp, and horse show, and hang out with horse friends in the sun! Instead, I am in pain and hobbling around, feeling afraid of my vulnerability and sometimes collapsing and falling down because the pain is so great.
Yes, I cried a few angry tears this week. My stupid fault, stupid accident, expensive and stupid and just…I have cried tears of frustration many times this week, as well as pain. I’m wallowing in this weird, bitter irony of having the looming spectre of Oats being so injured with so many vet visits, rehab, wrapping, meds, more meds…To my own serious leg injury? WTF? Who exactly did I screw in the universe?
I’m still vaguely afraid of the stairs. Ian has been helping me dutifully all week going to the stables to lead, tack up and groom Mr. Oats. Oats has been a very saintly pony, not putting a hoof wrong while I ride (yes I am still riding, very, very, very carefully) lightly and briefly. I mount at the mounting block, and I also dismount at it to minimize jarring the injury.
I have been trying to walk more, with some success. It takes forever and it’s a painful combination of limping and kind of shuffling. With the leg stretching and Advil, I have enjoyed some more mobility. Getting socks and shoes on is the most painful part of the process and I do so very gingerly.
I am now a full week out from the accident, and still incredibly frustrated and angry, but I’ll live, I guess. I swear to god, I will not take my mobility for granted!!!
Oh, I was riding a high. Having a blast volunteering at Victoria Beer Week (so fun, highly recommend both volunteering and attending) and then when my husband and I were walking home from the afterparty on Saturday, I tripped over a small parking barrier as we cut across the park going to our house and seriously injured my leg and ankle. DAMN DAMN DAMN.
We had such a fun time with the volunteering- we did Beer and Pizza night as servers, something Ian and I were very bad at (I dropped a slice of pizza on the ground, and spilled beer by bumping into the wall, haha) but you know? It was still super fun! The vibe was good and man, we were so busy! I prefer that when we volunteer- keep me busy. I don’t want to hang around, you know?
All the volunteers were invited to the afterparty at 10:30 pm, and also we scored free tickets to the final event ‘Touchdown’ so we went there a little bit later, enjoyed some beers, seltzers and ciders (Saltspring was outstanding, so good!) and then stayed later for the afterparty. All good right? Right….Except we drank too much, unfortunately. In an effort to curb the weight gain I experienced over the months in Mexico, I have not really been drinking for a few weeks- a beer or two once a week is it. I felt so good, so into it that I didn’t realize how inebriated I had gotten.
We enjoyed free food and beers, and then left our car at the venue and walked the 4km home. A bit of a hike but safety first! All was good (basically, we were staggering around so time flew)…And then I didn’t even see the small wooden barrier that rings the park across from our house, hooked my foot under it, and fell on my arm. I twisted my right leg so badly I couldn’t move. It hurt incredibly, so horrible. I scraped my hand a little bit but my leg…So excruciating. Ian helped me get up and I couldn’t weight bear at all. It was so painful I threw up.
The next day I was in a world of hurt. My leg and ankle were non-weight bearing. I had to crawl up and down the stairs. Officially…fucked.
Day 2Day 1
My ankle and foot are swollen still, and my fibula is giving me a LOT of grief. But, I am sort of weight bearing (carefully), so I am hopeful that I will recover…if not quickly, I hope to recover in time. In the meantime, I am bored out of my mind and cursing out, in the following order:
Now that I’m funemployed (on sabbatical for another few months, whee!), it’s time to DO ALL THE THINGS!
I have been enjoying riding on dear Oaty, running (getting back into the groove), working out, going up island with my buds to check out a horse for sale, and generally just hanging out. Oh and Ian and I are volunteering for Victoria Beer Week- more on that later this week 🙂
Basically, I’d rock being retired!!
Easter at my sister’s! I picked up some treats from Trader Joe’s in Santa Fe 🙂
My sister gave me our birthday present early, when I was visiting with her and our family at Easter. In the gift was a super fun treat/experience: Make your own ice cream! So, I made it!
It was a lot more time/labour intensive than I thought, as you have to first mix up the ice creams, and then pour them into pans to freeze, and then take out and shovel the ice cream product around in the trays to break up ice crystals that form. Basically every 45 minutes…For five hours. Yeesh. Nothing is worth that much man.
It did make a lot of ice cream, and I think the flavours are pretty darn good! Would I make it again? HAHAH no. I will happily buy it. It was fun to try though, but I guess I won’t skip my day job anytime soon. 🙂
Sadly I had to leave my dear Mr. Oats while I was travelling in Mexico for the past five months. He was left in the very capable and caring hands of my barn friends and his half-leasor, Chris. Unfortunately it immediately went downhill, with a series of health issues for Mr. Oats 😦 He experienced really horrible diarrhea due to his hay (sensitive to high sugar, despite how $$$$ the hay I buy is!), and then refused to eat his meds (he is on Previcox for arthritis, and Prascend for his Cushings disease), and then the worst of all worst things happened: Serious lameness due to a problem with his hoof. More accurately, my amazing barn friends would pick out his feet, and BLOOD would gush out. Needless to say he was in a lot of pain, and lame intermittently.
Of course, the day I got back I rode a barnmate’s horse too!
It was apparently challenging to diagnose as well (as it ended up being the literally perfect shitstorm: My vet was going through serious health issues, and we had a stand-in vet. Very nice but did not know what was going on!). I really did appreciate the thoroughness of the stand-in vet but GOD DAMN was it expensive while I was travelling. I had one month of 7 thousand dollars in vet bills, hay bills, board, car insurance and horse insurance. Almost none of it was from travel? Good christ!!
So, the long story was…It was close to 4 months of drama, drama, drama, drama and oh? More drama! Yay. Shoot me.
Mr. Oats says, “Drama? Me?”
It was immensely stressful and I almost flew back actually. My leasor certainly did NOT sign up for this shenangians and I felt sooo horrible that I was traipsing off in another country enjoying beaches, etc. when everyone was really struggling at home. The stress and guilt ate me alive inside. It was horrible.
To top it off, my fabulous leasor was also going through serious health issues and wound up in the hospital as well. And our barn manager who keeps the whole shitshow running? Her mother passed away as well. So, like…good news all around, right? Shiiiit. It was not good, and I felt very guilty.
I called my regular vet when we were in our last leg of Mexico and he said to just schedule an appointment with him when I got back. He was not concerned- just said as long as there is no swelling coming up in his leg, he’s fine to wait. So we waited a few more weeks (what’s a few more when he’s been off for four months, eh?) and I had an appointment with him on Apr. 14. I got back into town on the Wed. of April and he looked good actually! Much to my amazement!
For months I’d been hearing pretty bad, seriously grim things about his foot/lameness. Words like coffin bone infection, or a hoof tumour (keratoma) were tossed around. It was the worst case of all worst case scenarios pretty much every single day I was gone. Looming over me like the nastiest black cloud, it did colour a lot of my trip with negative emotions, fear, stress and guilt.
I saw that Oats was pretty darned sound, so the day I got back he went for a walk, and then I started riding the next day! Vet appointment came and the vet is known for being a bit of a gloom-and-doomer and he was like nah, this is a puncture wound. Big deep one, would have taken ages to heal and no wonder the horse was lame- it’s super painful! We then had a few weeks of more on-and-off drama, as we struggled to get the hole to close in. I left it open to give his poor chafed heels some healing time, and the second I did that, BOOM! A sliver of hog fuel got jammed in the hole, Oats almost fell to his knees in pain. I jumped off, pulled the splinter out and it gushed blood. I was SO sure this was it, end game due to my stupidity.
He was fine! I booted him though to ride the next day (sound!) and the boot rubbed the everloving shit out of his poor feet…Damned if you do, damned if you don’t eh? He developed really nasty heel abscesses and was foot-dragging lame one day. What a freaking time of it eh?
The next day, he was fine! Hah. WTF horse?
Oh Mr. Oats…we had our first lesson back on Thursday! He was such a gem, I love him and missed him SO MUCH. I now owe a LOT of favours to people, whooo boy. I am just lucky, so lucky, that it turned out ok~
That’s right- time for the first review of the new year! (Ok I’ve been busy travelling in Mexico, so I have a good reason to not have posted anything for ages!).
A clear winner for the first review of the year- Peeps Hot Tamales!
Now when I bought them, I was surprised to see cinnamon-spicy Hot Tamales as a flavour choice. THey’ve gone out there on flavours (birthday cake, watermelon-sour, chocolate coated, etc) but…It begs the question. How many people actually like cinnamon flavoured confections? Novelties? (autocorrect tried to go after confections as ‘confessions’. Not today, Satan!).
There are vanishingly few cinnamon-flavoured things. I will name a few, to illustrate my point here: Hot Tamales, those lame cinnamon hearts at Valentine’s Day, and Fireball whiskey (according to the newest Scream 6 film, also the choice of potential college date rapists! Exciting!).
And…cinnamon buns, but those barely count. This is for the artificial-candy cinnamon only!
So, buckle up. Was this going to the holy grail of Peep-dom? Were my tastebuds going to bounce off the walls, zingy with flavour and anticipation?
Well, hate to say this but a big, fat NO. No fire, no heat, no intensity, no nothing. They are attractive, well-shaped Peeps to be sure, won’t kick them out of my mouth for existing, but spicy/firey cinnamon? It was a bland, barely noticeable sugary hint of cinnamon. Like, that moment you get a big whiff of someone’s breath when they have just put a fresh pellet of Dentyne Fire in their mouth. It is that subtle, and in my opinion, wasted on a Peep.
Neither fiery, nor cinnamon. A shame.
Do better, Peeps! I know you can! (also I think the chocolate-dipped Peep is a waste of space too. Like, the coating is barely 1 millimetre thick, are you really fooling anyone here? Deluxe my ass.).
I was bored by this ‘flavour’ so they ended up like most of my regular, Peeps-flavoured Peeps. Microwaved with peanut butter on top, while telling Ian I had a salad for lunch. And to think, the man actually believes me?!
I’m not actually that interested in re-hashing my entire five months in Mexico, chiefly because in my real life, I’ve already shared it extensively and it’s feeling more than a bit tedious to go over ALL of it again. So, it ends in Lo de Marcos, though trust me there were endless adventures, mishaps, great opportunities, excitement and everything.
Coming back home in April surprised some people, as I had said six months. We came back at Easter (so, two weeks early) so we could spend Easter at my sister’s new place and have Easter as a family after we had been out of country for so long. It was super nice to see her new house and enjoy some fine dining, good wine and stories!
That being said, I was SUPER anxious about getting home. I was kind of feeling like it was wayyy past due. Oats was a huge question mark and the uncertainty and daily stress was eating me alive. I had gained a significant amount of weight and was struggling with the feeling like my body was no longer my own. I needed a real routine back (hah, I say as I currently am out of work for oh, six months?). I guess I needed my home life back more than I thought.
Still, I relish the adventure we took part in and I am glad we took the time to also visit family at Easter. A nice bookend to our trip.
And how is the Oats situation? Stay tuned for tomorrow, and I’ll share more! 🙂
We’d gone to Sayulita a few years back and I LOVED IT. Sadly, that experience faded when I re-visited it close to Christmas time in 2022. Just…too busy, messy, chaotic, crowded. No thanks. It is way oversubscribed and I don’t want to add to that problem anymore. Sadly, that’s it for me with Sayulita. No thank you.
We then spent a week in Lo de Marcos, just a short jaunt up the road from Sayulita but a very different vibe. Rougher, gravel and dirt dusty roads, but a gorgeous, very quiet beach. The water is so warm, a bit rough, but very peaceful. The house we were renting was nice but it was obvious it hadn’t been kept up for new renters, as there were no chairs to sit on outdoors in the plunge pool, it seemed dusty and neglected, and there were items missing that we needed (like hot water, a bbq lighter for the gas stove, etc). Oh well! We enjoyed our Lo de Marcos time, it was very relaxing after our food poisoning experience in Mazatlan that we actually needed about a week to recover from, hah.
After our time in Loreto, which I really enjoyed, we headed up to La Paz, which is Baja South and right on the border of the rest of ‘mainland’ Mexico. Leaving the Baja means more paperwork (for our car) as they do not want you to sell it when you are travelling in MX.
My first impression, after sleepy Loreto? NUTS. La Paz was gritty, busy, gross, scary and I did not like the drivers- they seemed more than ready to kill you, and anyone else who messed with them. Yikes. But…once I refused to stay at the gross ‘Hotel Prison California’ and re-booked us at a better place, went for a few runs on the malecon, and we went swimming with sea lions, I was ready to re-evaluate La Paz. Nicer than you think, but can be a gritty, tough place as well. Many facets here!
Would I go back? Not sure. It’s interesting and easy to navigate for sure. I did like Loreto more on the whole, but La Paz had a lot of really intriguing options too! You grew on me, La Paz, good job 🙂
Compared to the relatively rough regions of the North Baja, Loreto was positively cosmopolitan. A nice city, had a real stink zone on the malecon (something I would learn is endemic to most malecons, haha) but good restaurants, good food, TERRIBLE grocery store ha, and fun stuff to do!
I would definitely go back to Loreto and I would recommend it! We did fine that like most of Baja North, it is very expensive.
After enjoying (?) camping in San Felipe, we headed a little further out and camped for a bit longer along the coast. It was..an experience. I did NOT enjoy how cold it was, and how freaking windy! The wind sandblasted absolutely everything. What I did enjoy? The freedom to explore, to be at one with the universe here…No agenda, no nothing.
Unfortunately I am too impatient to enjoy that for too long, particularly since it was so windy and sand was driving me insane. We escaped to the Mulage Brewery and had a few beers to escape the infernal wind!
And then it was off to Loreto, mercifully a WAY NICER place than San Felipe and basically anywhere in the Baja to date.
Ah Baja North- a big ‘why’ in my mind but I guess it’s a great gateway to the vast openness of Mexico itself? The country is enormous, and the experiences astounding. San Felipe is where we began our great journey of five months…Camping even! Do not recommend camping but we met the BEST people there 🙂
And it has been interesting to get back, that’s for darned sure. Horse drama, teeth drama, more horse drama, my poor legs not loving running back in Canada again, getting locked out of every single password two-factor-authenticator drama and more! Wow!
Thanks world, I did need a reminder about how real life kind of sucks and can be difficult, and that it will encroach heavily on the jet-set travel lifestyle I did become so fond of.
Honestly, I needed to come back. I was dealing with a lot of stress and fear and frustration due to an ongoing problem with Mr. Oats and it was seriously eating at my brain. No way i wanted my dear friends having to manage this for so many, many months- and the fun continues now that I am home 😦
I have been back for two weeks now! It’s crazy. The adventure was crazy. It’s so hard to encapsulate, all of it. How do you tell people about your whole life? I was a different person then.
I’ll try to do some updates, now that I am NOT WORKING whoop whoop! (I have six months left in my sabbatical, which is amazing and kind of insane all at the same time). How do you look at six weeks of your time without your head exploding? I don’t know? But I guess I have time to figure it out.
I ran this race last year and quite enjoyed the autumnal, small and cozy atmosphere of it- the fall colours, the winery, everything! So I signed up as an early bird this year and promptly forgot that I had signed up…Literally falling two weeks after my marathon debut. NOT great timing I guess?
But it took only about a week for my legs to stop feeling like total mush, and for my blisters to heal over and I felt fairly confident that it was going to be ok.
And then I got really sick…and dealt with a strong emotional blow with Tucker, and struggling with the after effects of the COVID+flu shot. Do not recommend, at all. Basically knocked me on my ass Thur/Fri/Sat. And race on Sunday? Yikes.
I slowly started feeling a bit better, but now it’s even Friday after having a cold and things for over a week and I am STILL snotty and nose blowing/coughing up stuff. WTF? My sinuses hurt man.
So last Sunday was not really an auspicious day at all but I’d signed up, felt reasonably ok but not great, and we did it! Ian signed up for the 5k just for something to do. When we drove up island, it was absolutely freezing, with frost on the ground. I was in shock. Two weeks ago we had a heat warning for the marathon, over 20 deg, and now frost? Damn! Luckily I planned ahead a little bit and brought my run gloves, but otherwise was in for a real slap to the face. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr… Plus we were running kind of late, we forgot how long it really took to get up there (an hour, apparently) and I was like arghhhh!
But, all worked out for the best! We hustled and got our bibs, raced to the bathrooms (not long lineups, thank GOD), didn’t have time to put our bibs in the draw 😦 and jogged to the start of the 5k. I was racing both 5k and 10k in a combined race ‘the combo’ where your times are added up and the fastest time wins.
We started and Ian and I were easily right in the leaders pack. I was pacing myself to a reasonable not great time- I didn’t really have the lung capacity to race super fast and my legs were frozen. Plus I wanted to be careful about not killing my lungs for the 10k. Burnout isn’t fun and when I start coughing, I really can’t stop!
It’s a super hilly course- up and down, with the downhill sections being very steep! There is also 1km section through a bit of trail, which is flat but very pitted with potholes, haha. So you went up-down-up-down on that part. I was reminded, with relief, how short a 5k is.
I cruised to a 22:?? and felt good about that. Hard effort but not killing myself. It still felt extremely cold. I then hung out for a bit waiting for the 10k to start. Ian finished ahead of me with a 20:?? which is a great effort- this isn’t a fast track by any stretch of the imagination!
Then the 10k- I learned my lesson from last year and started at the front. Last year I basically ran as hard as I could for the 5k and jogged the 10k…which was a mistake, b/c the combine the times and my 10k was just so.slow! Hit the middle for both, that’s the way to go.
We had more trail sections in the 10k course which was pretty good, but I am always surprised by how slow gravel feels compared with pavement. It is an excellently- marked course, very clear course markers and safe. Still damn hilly, haha. I didn’t really pass anyone, and nobody really passed me much.
It finally started to warm up (well, my body heat was going nuts haha) so I could take off my gloves the last 2-3 kms. A guy running ahead of me shouted that he wished he had my gloves earlier in the race 😉 I was SO thankful I had them. Lifesavers.
I tried to pull myself together for a stronger finish but kind of…blaaahhhhed my way. I felt strong, but nowhere near the lung capacity I could potentially have. That’s ok! I was done within my goal range (45 mintues) just squeaked under 46 hahah.
And it was good for 2nd place women in the combo race, Ian tied me with a 2nd in his 5k for the men’s, and we even got to do a complimentary wine tasting at Zenatta winery! Win-win eh??
This is a fun local race, quite small but well run with excellent and safe courses marked, good volunteers (thank you!!) and nice post-race snacks.
Things have been really nuts lately. Had a very challenging week last week that culminated in…
A lousy cold, that I STILL have this week
Getting a COVID booster and flu shot in the same arm, same day (terrible idea)
Putting my poor rabbit down
And this week, I ran out of my allergy medication and thought I’d be ok. WRONG. Immediately had flu-like symptoms yesterday (chills/body aches/sore and swollen throat/crazy phlegm) and today was woken up by insane sinus pain. So bad that it woke me up!
So I tried to get a renewal, only to be turned down by the pharmacists because they couldn’t be arsed. Thanks, guys. You are freaking useless. And I KNOW you can renew prescriptions now! God.
Basically, the entire weekend was a write-off, starting on Tuesday essentially with a sore throat…I should have known. It’s a shame, because the month was going so well.
We enjoyed beer events, wine tastings, races, horsey events, and great weather. It all came crashing down last week, and the weather joined in too- we are not in a drought any longer, rather it’s dropped to 10 deg and blasting wind/rain? Well, I know we had it coming but ouch, this stings. 😦
Onwards and upwards though as we prepare to leave on our big sabbatical. Only 6 days left- can you believe it? Then it’s adios, amigos!
So, I did it. Like any good runner, you turn into a cliche: The marathon runner. SIGH!
Looking fresher than I felt…
I held out for a long time, chiefly because I couldn’t stay healthy enough to train, let alone race, that type of distance. I got a few stress fractures (when people talk about shin splints, they have NO IDEA how bad they can get. Source: me) and I wasn’t able to walk very well so goodbyeee race plans! And then a pandemic, and then another set of stress fractures, and well you know the whole story!
So, this was my time to shine- clearly.
I did train fairly well with a ridiculously ambitious training plan (for people aiming to get under 3:30, and I can tell you the plan was NUTS and clearly designed more for people trying to get closer to a 3:15, in my opinion!).
But…the bugaboos are always there. The gerbils were running wild in my head, I was so anxious. It’s not a joke of a distance and I was aiming for an aggressive time. I chatted with a few runners I knew at the start and told them my time goals and they thought they were agreeable, but when I was pacing with a guy we chatted too and he was surprised that my time goals were that ambitious for my first…So I was kind of knotted up in uncertainty. Go big or go home??
I had a lot of nightmares about the race leading up to the day. Two back to back nightmares about missing the start? Hah. Weird.
The morning was anticlimactic. There was a heat warning for the race, as we are having an incredibly unseasonably warm October- this was the warmest this race had ever been, at just over 20 degrees when we were running! This added to my freakout…
We jogged to the start (a huge bonus of doing a hometown race. Zero travel!) and got into position. The wheels in my brain started to churn- there was NO pacers. None. I was really counting on one, given I am a newbie…And kind of left the idea of pacing to someone else. Big mistake!
But no time to worry, time to focus! We started and it was very congested and very slow. The half marathon started with us, and many racers (half and marathon alike) pretty much went to the front and started…walking. I spent a lot of time and energy weaving, because I am an idiot.
Looks better than it felt
I felt tired right away- good omen eh? The first 10k were uneventful, I had some candy in my pockets and I ate those. It was hilly and winding, very congested. We wouldn’t lose the halfers until about KM 14 I think?
Because of how dangerous the heat could be, I made sure to stop at every.single.water.stop. No skipping- not even one. I don’t normally even go for water in a half, but I knew that could literally kill me this time. I respected the heat warning, and in fact got so hot I started grabbing multiple waters (one to drink, one to dump down my chest).
I was so thirsty. SO thirsty.
My pacing (despite not running tangents due to crowds) was fairly even up until the half way point. I caught a few too fast KMs (4:23s) and toned it down. I’m still so green at this distance…I know it can mess you up badly. By the time we got to the half way point I was hanging on, but also starting to feel concerned…and like maybe this was a bad idea… The tightness in my right hamstring really started to call out to me.
Hah, joke’s on me. It only gets worse from there on!
At around Km 33, the wheels in my brain fell off and I wanted to
a. cry,
b. leave the course immediately and probably
c. get hurt so I wouldn’t have to finish.
Sweat was pouring off me, my core temperature was going crazy and I just couldn’t think straight. I ate a few more Xact Nutrition bars (clumsily, with sugar crystals coating my face, the bar a mushy mess in my mouth) and just tried to hang.
I bounced around with one of my friends until I thought he left me in the dust. I was feeling lightheaded and hot, so hot. After KM 36 or so, it honestly felt like time was slowing down. Everyone was moving in slow-motion, arcing in front of me but still going too fast for me to catch up. My legs, arms, body wouldn’t go faster.
I also tossed an almost full water cup straight into the chest of a volunteer (sorry!) who was standing in front of the trash cans and didn’t move when I was mumbling excuse me as I ran by. There was someone running in a full rhino suit- can you believe it!! It was SO hot man. Woof.
It was pretty funny in retrospect!
I had this thought: Get to KM 39 and THEN you can fall apart.
But then I got there, and the finish seemed so close!! (until you realize it’s still like 3km of winding). Any small amount of hill that normally wouldn’t bother me seemed like Mt. Everest. I wanted to walk so badly, I even stopped at the final water aid station (2km left) to drink in hopes it’d power me further. On a regular day no way would I stop that late in the race!
Clearly I was desperate 😉
Ian was going to watch me and I planned to spy him, but when it came I was so zonked out that I couldn’t do anything but stare straight ahead, and breathe with my mouth open. Hah. He did the half marathon (and got a very solid time!).
My time! Finally! It was good too, 3:17:38 (chip)
I jogged weakly through the finish, saw a chair and sat in it for a bit, then got up and got my medal. The snack volunteers were like: You want a banana or an apple? And my brain was so destroyed that I couldn’t figure out wtf they were asking me. So, I ended up with a banana and then went to the next volunteer and got the apple bag- hah.
I hung around waiting for Ian, and when I couldn’t find him decided to start walking home gingerly. I spotted him in the field of the Legislature and I was soooo glad because then I could lean on him to hobble home! We got home, I couldn’t take my shoes off so I sat on the stairs so Ian could take them off. The aftermath was prettttty hideous. But I hopped in an epsom salt bath for 30 mins and listened to a podcast (Gidget kept coming in to check on me!! ha she is so sweet) and then we were up and walking back downtown to beer festival. Crazy eh? It was SO GOOD!!! I loved it! It was amazing.
Ouch. Still healing these bad boys today!
And then I walked home feeling pretty drunk but probably just tired and lay on the grass for awhile. Good end to a good day. At that point I told Ian I was NEVER going to run another marathon ever.
Ian and I were incredibly fortunate to win a fantastic 10-course tasting experience with Chef Castro at House of Boateng, thanks to YAM Magazine!
A great event!
It was a few weeks ago, but things have been SUUUPER nuts lately, so only now I am able to sit down and write all about it- it was lovely!
I bought us a few drinks (glasses of wine, that we both turned out to be incredibly allergic to unfortunately and made for a very challenging next day, ugh) and the dinner was set!
We started with a simple riff on caprese salad with tomatoes, and moved on to a tasty soup (was supposed to be served chilled, but it was served warm- which I was thankful for, I was absolutely FREEZING for the night, hah).
Roasted chilled white beets were good, but I was kind of getting concerned…so small…and I was so hungry!
The jalapeno that was stuffed was hilarious- apparently there is a lot of variability, mine was fine so I chowed down, while almost everyone sitting at the long table with us was freaking out it was so hot!! HAHAH.
The mushroom wrap was lovely, kind of like a green taco?
And who doesn’t like a hot dog (vegan!)
The squash noodles were lovely as well…
But the real standouts were the roasted white yam- AMAZING and complex flavours. Fantastic! A depth I never thought was possible with plant based!
And so was the finale- the King Oyster mushroom- very steak-like, tons of umami flavour. Delish!
Dessert was hilarious- literally carrots?! Not sweet at all- but worked with the cashew cream and balanced the sweet meringue nicely. A great way to end the (super long, omg we got home after 11am!) night. 🙂
Am I now a plant-based convert? Nope. It was very fun and an amazing way to try a huge variety of chef-specialties, but I did find myself missing the mouthfeel of cheese or meat. I did think the menu ‘built up’ better in vegan than meat-based, but it also leaves you hungrier, hah. We had to definitely eat all of the 10 courses to feel full.
Thank you to Chef Castro and YAM- amazing opportunity!!
We took the opportunity to do a field trip on the weekend to try out our dressage trainer’s amazing new footing at her farm, Fairlawn. It’s also a gorgeous facility, so huge and spacious and bright so why not !?!
The ponies were…less than thrilled to see the trailer pull up again (Two WEEKS in a row?) but got onboard when we were there 🙂
And I said: Let’s do something FUN! That’s all I want to do now, lol. I only have less than a month left here, so let’s make the most of it and really enjoy ourselves, so that is the lesson we got- a pas de deux lesson with the two dudes!
And they are so cute together, I think they’re really figuring out how to rate with each other!! And Becky and I only forgot where we were going once or twice I think 😉 The horses picked it up faster than we did.
We then enjoyed a little cruise around the fields after, as they have a lovely little pond you can ride around. The boys were very well behaved, and it was just such a fun and chill atmosphere. Can you ask for any better? Plus the weather has been amazing lately…chilly today, but far, far above the seasonal temps for Oct. We’re stuck in the groundhog day of my dreams…An endless summer!
Superlative ice cream rankings as we say goodbye to summer and I only have FIVE WEEKS LEFT!!! (and boy, I am so over everything ).
A few weeks ago I was telling my husband that I probably shouldn’t be the one to go to the grocery store, because no matter what, I come home with like three ice creams, two bags of marshmallows, yogurt, Cheetos Flaming Hot, and Funyuns. And no actual food, because I am a garbage person??
He agreed but also hinted that someone has to be the junk food buyer and someone has to be the responsible buyer, and it looks like that is now my role sooo…. I bring to you the best ice creams I have tried this summer, and likely all bought at the same time, hah. Hey, the freezer is there for a reason- ice cream and frozen pizza. You may be shocked, even surprised to learn: the winner was NOT chocolate peanut butter!! I know, blasphemy! BUT stay with me.
The winner of this year’s best grocery store ice cream is…. Western Family’s Signature Double Chocolate Cupcake!
I know, I was surprised myself but this ice cream is so incredibly rich and it has these lovely little sprinkles providing fun pops of colour throughout without being trite or tired, kind of like the Americans weird love of sprinkles called ‘Funfetti??’
Plus unlike peanut butter cup, the flavour appears to be evenly dispersed soooo to all of you mining for a rich vein of peanut butter cups, or peanut butter…You don’t need to! The taste is all in it, you don’t need to dig through half of the container seeking the one interesting chunk. That, to me, is priceless. Friends, get yourself this ice cream. You will NOT regret it.
I love product innovations and will seek them out because I think companies should be trying harder. On that note, bear with me on this rant but: I hate buying shards of pretzels jazzed up to make it seem like ‘hey great new product!!’ NO. I am buying YOUR mistake. Bring back the whole pretzel, you cheap bastards!
In other news, I still buy them because I like pretzels and they don’t seem to make whole ones in the fun new flavours these days.
Moving on to second place is Ian’s favourite and a pretty fun new flavour buuttt the quality is very much of the ‘frozen dessert’ mediocrity that is Breyer’s and the like. (I see they are calling it ‘light ice cream’ which is a pretty nice spin there, Breyers. Want a job at GCPE?) Try out the Nanaimo Bar ice cream as one of their ‘taste of Canada’ flavours and prepare for an interesting textural but still very on-the-note of Nanaimo bars.
It has flakes of coconut, mixed in with a fairly rich and delicious ice cream base that is marbled yellow/chocolate just like a good ol’ fashioned Nanaimo bar. Now, it’s not punching above its weight at all- that is reserved for actual ice cream, not a fakey one, however it’s a really nice take on something Canadian and a fun eating experience. Give it a try!
Third place (I couldn’t give this ranking to peanut butter cup- I just couldn’t do it to my truest love) so I am springing on you a new ice cream altogether. Enter the dairy-free offering from Coconut Bliss. I tried the Madagascar Vanilla Bean (by accident, thought I was buying chocolate peanut butter), and the Sea-Salt Caramel Chocolate. I actually really enjoyed the Madagascar Vanilla Bean once I got over the fact it wasn’t chocolate but it does have a pronounced and unsurprisingly heavy coconut flavour, so if that’s not your gig steer clear. The Sea-Salt Caramel Chocolate I like a bit less, and that did surprise me a bit, possibly because it still have a very heavy coconut base flavour that doesn’t mingle amazingly well with predominantly caramel flavouring? And I also expected it to be chocolately with caramel, but it’s the other way around- caramel with chocolate bits. So…yeah. Not a big hit but not bad either. If they go on sale (I found them for 2.97 a pint at Country Grocer) then give them a go!
As we bid adieu to a summer that seemed so very short, I also have a message to the ‘mother’ that got in my face to yell at me after her child ran into me when I was jogging on the Breakwater: I hope you NEVER get to enjoy another ice cream again, you ass. Also when you yell at a person about ‘why would anyone think they can run here’ and ‘this is a PUBLIC place’ I guess to cover her poor parenting, when there are about four other runners also enjoying a lunchtime run on the Breakwater, well hate to break it to you but die mad about it.
Another fun day! Wow this fall has been sooo busy, I can’t keep up! This is a new club and I am loving their ethos- low key, supportive and fun 🙂 Oats and I are NOT fast but as English riders, we are welcomed and having a blast.
Yessss keyhole!
We did barrel racing (our weakest), pole bending, keyhole, surprise class and stake class. They were such fun and I borrowed hoof boots so Oats would be comfy this time. He was still very unhurried, lol, but he’s a solid citizen and very safe to show at this venue. Also, the Western horses all had a meltdown about the miniature x-rail in the keyhole lol so that was Oats’ time to shine!
Friends!
We won the keyhole and might have won the surprise class (holding a lacrosse stick with a ball in it, you ride the stake pattern and on the way back, you deposit the ball from the lacrosse net into a basket!) Oats was a superstar about it 🙂
Love my boy! We also had our friends come, including Oats’ leasor, and it was really awesome to see everyone out again on such a gorgeous day.
On our way, Oats didn’t even try to kill everyone in the trailer this time!
Ah yes, forgot that I ran this one of a few busy weekends ago (Sept 11?). It’s quite a small community fun run, and it is unique in that it offers two distances: the full marathon, and the half. It is not chip-timed – and as I learned when I ran it- not quite a full distance either, hah. 😉
Lake to Lake!! An eerie glow…
There was a small crowd as we started slightly after the full marathon folks, and it’s a point-to-point, so you do have to be aware of getting back to your car. They do offer a shuttle, but luckily for me Ian wasn’t running so he could pick me up afterwards! Yes!
The weather was fantastic. It’s been an incredible fall, no rain, just sun and warm weather days. I love it! I was a tad chilly in the morning, but that burned off pretty quick. Speaking of burned off, there was also smoke- due to forest fires from WA. Luckily for us, the smoke in the air didn’t get too bad until later in the afternoon and I was finished fairly early, so not bad.
I started up near the front, as it was quite a small race. I hung out for awhile with another guy, cognizant of not wanting to blow up my pace (this was supposed to be a practice run for training, NOT a real race). Did I actually do that? Well…sort of. I got pretty into the idea of racing quick 😉 and mistakenly thought I was KILLING IT!! A new world record for me!! (newsflash: This did not happen. You merely rise to the level of your training, not above it.).
So, I jogged along, beat the one guy and had a few fasties ahead of me. I hustled and caught up with them…and then started feeling tired. The aid stations were a bit odd, not very evenly spaced and we had one right off the bat where we didn’t need them, and then 1 at about 12k? And then one at the finish, lol. Guess they were more important for the marathoners hahaha. The gravel was ok to run on, but I think the fatigue of training caught up with me and I started feeling pretty chewed up.
Cute participation medal eh?
I lost the fasties and kind plugged along solo for awhile. Wish I had some pictures actually!! And then it was the finish- at about 20.60, we were definitely a touch short. Oh well! I came in with no fanfare and my time was around 1:30:?? which is fine for a training run for sure, but again- course was short. I believe I was second female but not quite sure as there’s no awards or anything unless you win!
Waited around for Ian to come, he didn’t so I decided to just go and tackle the rest of my long run rather than waiting for the smoke to get worse, and for my legs to start stiffening up too much. That part was a SLOG lol. I did see a lot of other marathon runners so I cheered them on, hah clutching my participation medal because I didn’t know where to put it haha.
I finished that in about 1.5 hours, jogged back to the staging area and ran into Ian again. We wrapped up the day by going to Stillhead distillery for a spirits tasting (so good!!!) and then we went to watch the finishers of the Finlayson Arm Ultra (50k/100k day) and then went riding. A good day all around! 😉
I would recommend the Lake to Lake Marathon for a fun training opportunity that is supported and quite reasonably priced, it’s a beautiful course and very fun. Not a serious race, in my opinion but that makes it more fun!
Saw this on a Spotify playlist yesterday and man, I’m hooked.
100% worth it
Actually, I am not really drinking intentionally right now (trying to take a break, for health and you know, those reasons) but I have been very much enjoying my weekends, boozy or not 😉
We have had so many fun times, where to begin…We went to the Cobble Hill the other weekend and now it costs $10 to get in (not worth it) and it was a freaking ZOO with the most ill-behaved little monsters running around. I couldn’t handle it, ughh. I was overwhelmed and couldn’t manage to be in the same outdoors space as all of these little assholes running wild. NO THANKS. Yuck.
Where is the hay seed sticking out of his teeth?
We didn’t stay that long, thankfully (and I cancelled my ideas to go to the Saanich Fair. Do that again? NOPE!). We then had approximately 100 errands to run, haha. Pick up a sweater I forgot at the horse show site, visit a cidery (Valley Cider, it was lovely!), go to Merridale too, and best of all- I bought the most insane Caesar possible. Friends, you haven’t lived until you have eaten the Coast Caesar!
Feast your eyes… And it did cost a cool $40, so maybe make it a once-in-a-lifetime treat eh?
A thing of beauty. It was also a triple, so that meant the rest of my day was very fuzzy…
And then on the Sunday, Ian and I did a long run of 24k and I got changed quickly and went to the James Bay BBQ with my friend Amaka. We listened to live music, I brought Gidget and we ate and ate and ate. Man! The BBQ was incredibly generous- as many jumbo dogs as you can eat (so, like I saved half of mine b/c i was too full), ice cream, freezies, bananas, cake, chocolate chip cookies. It was a feast!! What a great day 🙂
Fun day in the sun with a friend!
Gidget got a lot of treats that day.
Gidget also likes friends 🙂
Ian and I also caught Phillips ‘Dino Sour’ patio party on a random Thursday. I got back early from my lesson and saw a biiiggg lineup…And almost bailed. But then we got in, and while it was busy, we ordered our drinks and got in, and out pretty quick. I had the Dino sour slushy and bought a few sleeves of the other random ‘dino sour’ flavours. One was a very hideous swampy-green cask-conditioned salted plum sour and wow did it look horrible! Tasted ok though.
After my sad-sack ‘dressage’ test where Oats had a head tossing freakout, I forgot where I was going and he was spooking at everything, I was determined to just let it go. Ok fine, it sucked but I’m camping in a great spot, it’s super hot out and we have trails and a pond to swim in. It could be worse!!
The gang. What a great weekend!
So we trail rode, I focused on letting it go past me and I went for some more swims…Even going skinny dipping when everyone else who was finished for the weekend went on a night time trail ride. Daring eh?? HAh it was so refreshing, I slept amazingly well despite the really loud concert going on all night in a nearby farm (and they had huge tents, a professional sound system and everything!).
The next day of course I didn’t ride until… after 2pm. Was I hanging around, biting my nails, feeling hot and festering? NOPE! I was determined to actually enjoy my experience for once. I fed Oats, cleaned his stall, longed him in the morning (he was tired) and then I went on a little run to check out where the Cowichan Trail connected to where we were the day previous. Then I cooled off with a nice swim, packed up my gear and lazily went over to think about tacking up…to find they had accelerated the schedule! Yikes!
Ease of Handling round
Ha but it was totally fine. We had lots of time still! So I tacked up, and felt fairly confident about the tracks I was planning. There was no real water obstacle, and no bank, both of which challenged Oats last year.
When it was our turn, I was fairly pleased with Oats, with the understanding that he was quite footsore on the rock hard grass, and some areas were worse than others- he couldn’t hold a good canter at all, and did a fair amount of ‘trantering’ where it was very hard. He was a good boy though and I couldn’t wait for my fav- the speed round!!
Oats is NOT fast, but he’s a canny little dude and gets really into it. When we had the speed round come up, he was great!! Of course we got absolutely blown out of the water by some of the other speedier riders and horses but he’s just SO fun 🙂 and I think he really enjoys it too!
We were in last place after our miserable dressage, and then first after Ease of Handling, to settle in second place out of three. Not bad for us and a great way to wrap up our show season. Go Oats!
And the fun keeps rolling! We did the Working Equitation horse show in Glenora a few weeks ago, in mid-August. I personally think that is the best time…even though it was extremely hot. Like, very hot for us. Last year Oats was high as a kite and a bit difficult to manage, so I was more prepared this year to work on his energy levels (though I may have overestimated them and worked him into tiredness a little early?!) guess that’s better than a nutty horse on-course.
It really is beautiful eh? too bad the grass is so dead! This is for our Ease of Handling/Speed Round course.
I took Friday off work (I have a few days to use up and MAN I am really enjoying it!!) and my working equitation trainer Shelly and I loaded the horses/gear up and set out. The Malahat is pretty much terrible any time of day, but it was particularly nasty on a Friday afternoon so it took us ages to get there (and then about 2+++ hours to get home on Sunday…eff this for a 45 minute journey…).
It was a muggy day, I had already longed and bathed Oats at home so I didn’t stress him by working him further on Friday. Instead, we got the ponies comfortable in the stables, which Oats HATED and was pissed about all weekend, feeling like he was stuck in a cage… And then we went for a swim!
The next morning came really early, it was so hot out that I was slowly roasting in my tent. I went to warm up Oats after his breakfast/cleaning his stall and he was hot hot hot hot to trot! Sooo I hopped off and longed the little turd to get his yahoos out. He did have some! THEN I hopped back on and he was a gentleman.
And then, the waiting game…
And waiting…
And by the time my dressage time was up, I was pretty over it. Hot, tired, Oats was hot and pissy, and some flies were really bothering his eyes. We warmed up fairly nicely but it was very hot and stuffy in the arena, and the minute we trotted down centreline…Oats was freaked riiiight out. His head was on a swivel, he was spooking and flinging his head wildly. I got so distracted by his wacked-out behaviours that I forgot where I was going!! I had to pull up and ask the judge (who is SUPER nice). YEEEEK. I was in such a bad mood after that piss-poor showing. ARGH.
And then I noticed that everyone was crabby after dressage. HAHAH. So true.
After, to put the bad taste of the bad test out of my head, I asked Shelly to come with us on a trail ride. She did and with a few minor Oats moments (where he runs backwards and is an ass every time we stop on the trail..) they did really nicely 🙂
And then I got to go swimming again, and start perseverating about the Ease of Handling Round and Speed Round the next day… No banks this time, thank god (our real nemesis last time!).
We had FANTASTIC weather this August, so we headed up Island to visit my in-laws, and my new nephew too!
It was so warm we swam in the ocean, every day. It was heavenly, just divine 🙂
I also went on a 27-km run that was pretty miserable, as it was 30 deg, full sun, a long, hot day AND I hit the trails to escape some of the heat and ended up tripping and falling pretty dramatically, but hey- I didn’t even get hurt!
I wrapped up the run covered in dirt/dust, lol and Ian had to go looking for me because it took me forever to get back, those trails…Not fast!
After I left my last blog entry, it basically fell off a cliff!
Things were very busy, and lots of opportunity to blog but I just didn’t have the desire I suppose?
We went on a really nice summer holiday to visit my family in the Interior of BC, where we enjoyed camping at Christina Lake, kayaking, hiking, running, horseback riding, and biking/running the Myra Canyon Trestles, a trip to the Kangaroo Farm and then…COVID when we were in Vancouver.
We also enjoyed a fantastic dinner and wine tasting at Mission Hill, courtesy of my parents. It was divine!
Yep, the big Covid hit us, pretty hard. Not unexpected, as my sister was sick when she had dinner/visited with us in Kelowna but I was still fairly surprised and thought it was just terrible allergies when we were in Vancouver (running the sea wall, going out for drinks, out for dinner…greeeat…). Nope, COVID.
That knocked us on our butts for a while, and when I was feeling better I was working from home, and then back to work, where work proceeded to knock me on my butt again too!
Phew, after a suuuper long day at the horse show on Sunday, I got home around 6-ish and we immediately zipped out to catch the last of Pride.
The Pride parade and festival happens every year, and ends up at the park near our house, we can just walk over! It was also extremely HOT out so I was kind of glad it was a bit shadier. Lol and of course, it’s 16 degrees and chilly/grey out today. Man, this weather!
Wow so we had a busy weekend and the horse show was a blast!!!
I loved watching all the adorable Welsh ponies, shetlands, minis, Fjords, New Forest Ponies and it was just so cool to be there. It was also an extremely HOT day, so we had to be very careful with the heat and the sun and old Oaty, who can tolerate things well but he is an animal and you have to respect their needs.
Spoiler: Winners!!
So, we parked it in the shade for a lot of the day, as it was a loooooooooong day, lol.
We got there early for the Sport Pony halter class, where Oats behaved himself fairly nicely, only getting a little irritated at the end of the class. He placed fourth in that one, and then it was time to tack up for our first u/saddle classes. We had a LONG wait, due to a class conflict. So, it started about an hour later than we thought…and I was getting hot hot hot! I hopped off and parked Oats in the shade.
A very restrained Oats in the halter class.
Then it was our turn! We did the adult hunt seat equitation, where we rode well and the judge was very complimentary (the very kind Peter Holmes) but I got dinged hard for carrying an incorrect whip, whoops! And I am kicking myself, because I KNEW better lol. Doh!
And we won this sweet plaque, redeeming ourselves in hunter hack. Isn’t it awesome?
Oh well, Oats was behaving himself perfectly 🙂
Next class: Hunter under saddle, and Oats was so good at it, and we placed first!
Oats says: No frame, just freeeee
Next up was the hunter hack, and we had to jump two little fences. Video below: and of course, Oats was a star. We had a chance to warm up over it once, and it was set a little higher, maybe 18”? They knocked a rail off for the class itself, to Oats’ disappointment. Hah.
He was first that time too! Then our ‘suitable to be a dressage horse’ class, and we were second in it. Oats was getting hot and I was getting tired too. A long lunch break, and then we zipped over to ride the trail/agility class- and I messed it up, but it was fun! 🙂
I don’t know if I’ve ever smiled this much in the show ring! 🙂
Then our final classes of the day: Barrel racing and pole bending! I scratched the keyhole race, as I noticed Oats was getting too tired by the end of barrel racing, poor guy lol. We placed first in the pole bending!! Third in barrel race. 🙂
Alll the prizes!! It was incredible!
It was a super long day but the volunteers, competitors and sponsors were absolutely fantastic. Big kudos to everyone that kept the show running safely, well and happy!! We loved it!
A few weeks ago we finally went to a show, in a month where despite my best efforts, EVERYTHING got cancelled on me. 😦
Best buds!
Games day with the horses? Cancelled, not enough entries.
Bachelorette party? Cancelled, bride got COVID.
Movie I wanted to go see? Left the theatres.
And so on…ARGH.
But this is the one thing that actually happened this month. And it went very well, both horses Donato and Oats were superstars and didn’t put a hoof wrong. My scores are not competitive anymore, and I am not entirely sure what to chalk that up to?
Performance anxiety?
Not able to replicate the homework we do at home in the ring?
Oats aging?
Me losing focus?
Whatever it is, it’s going on at every show we go to. SIGH. He is very well behaved but we just don’t have magic anymore. Regardless, it was a very nice day and super fun to get out there with our buds. We missed them so much over the years of injury + COVID that despite our lacklustre scoring, it’s just nice to be out, doing the things we love to do, you know?
In a painting! I commissioned a painting of him earlier this year, and was able to pick it up two weeks ago, when I was grabbing my race bib for the Oak Bay half actually.
Stunning! Artist is Linda Stagg
I love it so much!! The artist is a colleague of mine and incredibly talented 🙂
And this is the photo inspiration! Isn’t it amazing what she did?
And how is the old boy? Oh being a terror, like usual 😉 On Saturday I rode, and then let him have turnout while I cleaned his disgusting horse blankets, and then went to bring him in- he can’t be on grass for too long right now, it’s too rich and he is a Cushings pony so too much grass is a big no-no…And I watched as he freaking BLEW past me, and galloped into the farm yard. He went from paddock to paddock, fighting and instigating chaos with each horse. Every time I went to get him, he basically charged past me or AT me. Asshole.
He then went back into his own paddock? Weird.
Guess he’s a time-limited terror?
From the scene of the crime…He looks so innocent but he definitely is NOT
He’s been super fun in my dressage lessons, mixing in a little test-practice, with some little fences, all kinds of little things to do and all fun! I haven’t had a Working Equitation lesson in awhile, due to being away in Port Townsend, the race, and then this weekend I didn’t have my car (because I was supposed to be in a bachelorette party, which got cancelled)…So I am hoping we can revisit WE practice this weekend.
He does really enjoy it, and I’m hoping there is a WE show in Aug. so we can strut our stuff! (but NO BANKS PLEASE jesus).
Now, this is a combo of typical ‘big race’ and ‘community race’ I think. I’m not generally a fan of big races, it seems like more of an opportunity to spend more, and get wayyy less. This race is no exception, but it is very well organized, with a whole army of excellent volunteers, so I am very thankful for them and the organization! It is a very nice, leafy course and one of the most scenic ones in Victoria I think.
And then in two minutes I wanted my sweater back…
BUT…
It is a fairly large race, there are no race awards for age-groups, and it is more ‘everybody gets a medal’ day ie- you get a race medal for completion. I am not a fan of participation medals, basically at all, unless you’re at marathon distance. (Ok I know there is some innate snobbery here, but I just don’t need medals myself unless I won them, is my thinking. Not meaning to rob someone of their joy here.).
So, last weekend’s race was much more lucrative for me, hahah. Oh and also that the run scene here is EXTREMELY competitive. Like…Olympian-fast. So you can take the overall placings out of your dreams, hahah because it ain’t gonna happen. That is the only reason I am able to place in races elsewhere, basically!
Also I had to get up early for this one, which is a hard sell for me, argh. 8am just isn’t…friendly to me and it was absolutely freezing that early in the morning. Lucky for me Ian joined me so he could park the car and take a video 🙂
Whee!
We started off and it’s a mass start- 10k and half marathon all together, with relay participants. It’s a bit of organized chaos, as we run with the 10k’ers until they turn around. Now, I do think I owe my last half marathon personal best to having some unofficial pacers to follow until they dropped my ass at like 8k, so I was feeling a bit lost and apprehensive about being with 10k’ers. Like…who do I follow? Well, it was fine. Maybe I came out a bit quick, but you run for so long you give that up pretty damn fast, haha. We were with the 10k’ers until just past 6km, and they turned around, and we kept climbing.
No lie, this was much hillier than I expected. I guess I thought Oak Bay was kind of flat? Also the wind was pretty nuts, gusting up to 60k/hr and we did so many twists and turns…straight into the headwind every time. It was never really at our backs, at all. My hat kept blowing off my head, so I took it off and held it. Boo!
I was apprehensive for up until oh, 11km and then I high-fived a spectator, felt good and kept GOING!
The only thing I was really struggling with was getting a solid, pounding rhythm …could get it great on the flats, and then we’d hit another hill and I’d lose my awesome pace. Then get it…and immediately hit another hill.
My legs felt awesome though, no troubles at all there. So good in fact I just wanted some flat sections to really test how fast I could go this late in the game! But the last 5km was just hills and a wicked headwind 😦
Wrapped up by charging past some of the walkers finishing the early start, not super inspiring because you’re alone out there again, racing past walkers. Finished with a not too shabby 1:31:39. Slower than my last one, but truly it’s a different race, so I am pleased with consistency. That was enough to net me 5th overall and 2nd AG (but no AG awards, sigh) and that’s it!
So would I do it again? No I don’t think I will. It is nice and scenic, when the weather cooperates it’s a fun race but I just am not that into more ‘fun runs’ really. I would recommend it for people looking for something new and interesting, but challenging. Don’t expect a personal best here.
And what did we do on our last day, other than me joining the race? Well, we did a lot of hoofing around, ahha trying to get to a brewery (The Pourhouse). We finally made it AND they took a few bucks off my drink when I showed them my race bib – I had brought it just in case 😉 and it finally worked!
SO good
I enjoyed a sour, and then a truly incredible salted watermelon-apricot sour and wowza it was so tasty, I couldn’t believe it!
We cruised around, ate ice cream, drank beer, enjoyed the sunshine again and then ate dinner at the local greasy fish’n’ chips joint, Sea Jay’s and headed out to see the drive-in movie. That’s right, they have one of the last drive-ins in Washington State! OMG it starts so LATE though, wow. We got there after 8pm, and watched Sonic the Hedgehog #2 at like… 9:30am to 11:30am. Got back to the hotel after midnight. Phew, I was exhausted haa and my legs were starting to bug me, aching a lot I guess due to sitting too much!
Luckily we didn’t have to get up too early in the morning and it’s a quick and easy sail back home.
I would definitely revisit Port Townsend! I do recommend it 🙂
That’s right, what kind of moron goes on holidays and signs up for a race, last-minute?
Yeah, haha. This moron!
It was very much on a whim. I saw that they had a race as part of their annual rhododendron festival called ‘Rhody Run’ and was like yep that’s it. I’m signing up! And sooo I did, haha. I couldn’t sign up only due to entries being maxed out, but they were allowing the day-before registration so we spent the day out at Fort Worden and then swung by the Fairgrounds around 3pm to sign up, and it was effortless, took 10 mins. Then the race was the next morning!
Ian got to dig through shirts to find one I wanted to wear, and off we went!
Of course we’d walked over 10k that day alone, and basically spend the rest of the afternoon drinking beer, but heyyyy…why not do a race? I slept HORRIBLY the entire weekend, which was the only downer part of the time but oh well.
Sunday dawned bright and early and we were back at the Fairgrounds (ok like a 7 minute drive hahahah) and I had my bib on ready to race!
Pre-race
The race had so many participants, they said it was a record sell-out. They had 10k and then 5k starting immediately afterwards. We got in line and were off!
Not gonna lie, I was hot already. I was very unused to the sun (hello, it hasn’t been sunny and warm for ONE day here in Victoria..not one day) and I was wearing long sleeves, gloves, long pants to run in every single day and freezing. So I ended up wearing my sleeping shorts for the race, hahah since I had only packed long pants/spandex tights due to it being so miserably cold the entire ‘spring’.
It was a challenging course, a few rolling hills and then QUITE the hill at oh… KM 5-6 I think? I can’t remember exactly other than cursing myself for signing up hahaha. Also someone was playing Vangelis’ Chariots of Fire soundtrack at like KM 3 and it made me feel really good, like Rocky!!
There was one screaming downhill at like KM 7 I think, and wow it was nuttssss…I was pretty sure I was going to fall hahah.
I was running alone a lot, there was one guy ahead of me who stopped to walk at like KM 8? The top woman was unreachable to me, but I held 2nd place the entire way which felt really nice 🙂
Zipped to the finish, and immediately took off my shirt, I was so hot. Also forgot that I’d packed my worst, saggiest sports bra b/c I really didn’t think we’d be running that much. Hah, whoops! Then the marine fog rolled in and I felt cold again.
We enjoyed some post-race snacks and Ian snapped some pics for me, and I was the happy recipient of a medal for first in my AG and a $200 gift card to Amazon for being second female. YEAH!!! Thanks Port Townsend, you rock!!
Next up: Fourth and final farewell to Port Townsend
Wow been awhile. As I left, I had just started my new position (same job) and things got very busy for awhile, but it is a change for the better.
In the meantime, I am still counting down the days until my sabbatical, and we also enjoyed a long weekend in Washington in Port Townsend!
We stayed at the Palace Hotel in Pt. Townsend and had a loft bedroom with a kitchen!
It was a super awesome weekend. NOT cheap by any stretch of the imagination ($$$$$$$$$ for ferry, eating out, hotels, activities, booze, etc) but well worth it, given we haven’t really travelled much in oh, two years? THANKS pandemic…So, we were overdue I think.
It was pretty neat and very old-timey
Also we’ve had endless crap weather. Like, heat on in May kind of crap weather. And no signs of it improving either, so we’re feeling really stir-crazy with every single day being windy/freezing/raining/grey…No respite in sight. HOW?
Ok ran about the weather over.
First up in Port Townsend wasn’t even Port Townsend- it was in Sequim, about 20 mins away from Port Angeles at the Olympic Game Farm. We went there on a whim, when I saw an ad for it on the Coho haha. And it was a freaking blast! We bought bread (1 loaf) there and you pay $17/pp and drive-through a little animal safari. The critters were all over us hahaha. I did have a moderate buffalo freakout when one stuck his head in the car and basically mauled me with his giant 1ft long tongue-eeeek!!!
Ian got drooled all over by an elk. HAHA. It was so fun, Gidget didn’t know what to think, it was hilarious!
I highly recommend. And next up…Port Townsend marine science centre.
I’m moving on from my workplace of 11 years and while this is a change I really wanted to make, I also feel very strange about it now?!
Going to miss these crazy kooks!
I started here when I had just turned 25, and now I am turning 37. Where did the time go? I’ve really valued the friendships I’ve made here and my colleagues are great people, but I came to the realization that with just under 6 months left before my sabbatical, it was time to make a more permanent change and leave my current office.
I’m staying in the same position but handling some different aspects, something I haven’t done in oh, about 7 years?? But the change is necessary and important for both my mental health and personal growth. I need to take more proactive steps towards a future that I can believe in.
You eat with your eyes, so maybe wear sunglasses..
Buckle up people!
Ah yes, the finest cuisine
They say you eat with your eyes, and if that’s the case, my eyes wanted sunglasses when I was staring down a bowl of this atomic-red monstrosity. Sidenote: We always associated atomic with the colour green? Why not this fiery inferno of red? The colour is so weirdly off putting that when you eat it, your brain and mouth don’t want to work together and kept insisting that this must have tomato in it? (It doesn’t, this is 100% chemically-created with not a hint of any sort of real food). BUT that being said, even if it is eye-blistering, it’s also very tasty! The texture is straight up cooked pasta, a fusilli shape to simulate Chester the Cheetah’s tail, apparently. That is a bit of a reach, personally. It’s fusilli, people. The taste is straight up spicy heat, kind of like eating a softer Takis Fuego, the kind that makes your face and eyeballs sweat when you’re eating it.
Yum??
The portion sizes, like all mac and cheese dinners, is miniscule. Too much maybe for 1 person but too little for 2 unless you are both children in trenchcoat instead of an adult.
Also lacking: Cheese. For mac and cheese, it’s all bite and no smooth cheesy taste. So think it really wins on the heat level – impressive- but it does lack on the backup cheese taste. In that way, it is not like Cheetos at all, but luckily for them I have a solution- mix in a box of regular Kraft mac and cheese! Win-win!
So, please do that and let me know if it’s a winner because in my mind, it really will be. Cheetos mac and cheese is available in other flavours so maybe I will have to try those, see if they can balance the heat + cheese flavour a little better? Otherwise, this was available at Save On Foods for a ridiculously marked up price because of the novelty of it. Go ahead and try it, remix it 😉
Last weekend we had the final race of the series, the 5k and the series wrap up! 🙂
Heading back. Photo courtesy of Lois D’Ell.
I was kind of dreading the 5k- I just find it so tough, and I feel like I am pretty weak at getting any top end speed but I figured I could probably hang well enough for a sub- 20:00 with the fitness I have right now.
And it was FREEZING out. We have had a really miserable spring- super cold, wind storms every other day, it was a blizzard last Monday?! The race morning it was 0 deg, and by the time we were racing, I think it crawled up to a measly 4 deg? Anyways I was frozen, wearing gloves for the last race of the season and cursing our luck. I guess we should have considered ourselves lucky that it wasn’t snowing (it was on the Malahat and up Island all day…) and the brave runners who traveled here definitely had to contend with a really tough go to get to the race.
Photo courtesy of Lois D’Ell.
Weather gripes aside, the race itself was fine. I did get annoyed when I saw some older, non-elite runners head to the start. Guys, that’s a good way to get really hurt. Of course, when we started everyone blew past them and they got elbowed a lot. That’s life when you try to hang w/the pros… Do better!
I was hung up in a few packs throughout the race but nothing too tight, which was nice. I forgot my watch so didn’t have that pressure 😉 at least!
At the start. My lungs didn’t love the extra-cold weather. Photo by Lois D’Ell.
It was tough, Ian blew past me like I was standing still which is always irritating! Lol! Wish I had speed if I didn’t train- how??? That will always confound me. My breathing was fairly labored and I did feel like I was at my max for speed. We hit the turnaround and zoomed back. As always, the finish loomed just out of reach for muuuchhh longer than I ever want…
About 1.5 kms to the finish, a guy was telling us we’re getting under 20:00 and I was like yes my dude, I know that, but I’m not gearing JUST for under, you know? I was running hard!
Second place in the series! Photo courtesy of Joseph ‘Crazy Legs’ Camillieri.
And luckily I did get under 20:00 by a fair margin- gun time was 19:22, chip..can’t remember haha. Good enough! I got 5th in my AG, and then we had the series awards. It was confusing at first because none of the 5k times were loaded so nobody knew what they had placed in, and the placings did have an effect on the series end awards. I was in 3rd place, until they called out the placings and I – in a big upset lol- moved to 2nd?!
Yeah!!
$50 gift card to Frontrunners was all mine, baby!! 🙂
And the race results never did get loaded, so a few days later we saw them. Ha, my AG was quite competiive this year, phewww!
Grateful to have a good racing season, nice weather until the last race (how??) and lovely to see my run community buddies and enjoy some excellent post-race snacks. Until next time, racing!!! 🙂
It’s been…a lot lately. The return to the workplace is making me realize a whole bunch of truths, namely that I need a big change and my sabbatical won’t be coming soon enough.
Just want nice sunny weather again- is that too much to ask?
Things only change if you change them.
Also, I hate working in the workplace and I find it very distracting. And the time? Oh lord. My time management has gone to hell and back, namely I spend all of it sitting at work and then rushing around at home trying to get all of my life stuff done, like my animals, showering, preparing lunches, etc. Fun times.
Oats had a difficult week last week- he was spooky as hell, seeing things in every single corner of the arena, slamming on the brakes, half rearing, etc. I know him well enough now that this behaviour is seasonal (unfortunately or fortunately…) and it too will pass, but damn, I just wanted a fun pony to ride? Likely there is a big tie-in to his disease and the medication, as this only became a bigger issue the past two years he was diagnosed. 😦 blows either way.
And then he was foot-perfect at my Thursday lesson! Such a lovely little dude, we jumped cross rails one-handed and had the funnest time, which was great b/c mentally I was NOT in a good place (thanks, work). And then I free longed him on Friday and he came up lame. GREEATTT
But no swelling, heat, etc so I chalked it up to stiffness, and his leasor longed him on Sunday and he looked fine. I rode him last night, and while he was still stiff and moving quite ‘flat’ going to the right, he did improve and worked out of it, leading me to believe that it is indeed stiffness?
His leasor is going to ride tonight.
I don’t think the weather has been helping though- it’s been miserable. Freezing cold, unseasonably cold, raining, snowing, wind at 100km/hr almost every day? WTF? Just such a shit spring. No day is a respite. Our allergies also went completely bananas, and poor Gidget had the worst weekend with her ‘reverse sneezing’- honking and gasping allllllll day and the nasal spray we use didn’t work 😦 WTF life. Thanks guys…
Ah, our first 10k of the season. I wished I had run a 10k or something a bit longer before the half marathon to be better prepared but I had to wait my turn until this past weekend 😉
Photo by Joe Crazy Legs.
The course is a bit more challenging than the other 10k that is on the VIRA race roster (Cobble Hill, we missed that one) so the times do tend to be a bit softer in general. That being said, I have run this one well and very poorly in the past. I was a bit concerned about the hills- not big ones, but lots of rolling terrain and I am finding hills to be an absolute killer recently, guess they’re my weak points!
The weather was SO nice, oh man it was gorgeous. I wasn’t expecting nice- it’s been really crummy, cold, wet, rainy, windy and so blah lately. I went back to wearing gloves and vests I was so cold last week! Hence, I definitely was a touch overdressed for this race.
Running with a pack: Photo courtesy of Lois D’Ell
We got there in good time, had a bit of a snafu with the race bibs running out of safety pins haha but I had extra from home so I was golden. We warmed up, and joined the start. It was a fairly non-eventful start except for one very fast runner who got tripped up and fell pretty hard. She was bleeding from quite a few scrapes! She rallied really well though. I saw another runner at the start wearing a regular bra (??) loose hair and generally didn’t look like she should have been at the start, more to the back. I was right about that…She walked about 2k. I saw her on the turnaround, well behind the packs.
Despite those, I had a good start and not much weaving.
Photo courtesy of Lois D’Ell.
My first few KMs were quick, relatively fast paced but I did have some trouble focusing. All I could think about was the turnaround, and how many hills we were going to face on the way back…Yikes.
We headed up to the turnaround and I held the pace ok, but it was definitely really wearing on me. The hills on the way home were rough, not gonna lie. My pace dropped off and I started getting passed, a lot. I ran in a pack pretty steadily the entire way until I got passed around KM 7-9. Ian even passed me! How dare he?! (I think the real mystery is how he can run such a solid race with NO training. Man, I can’t even!!? I’m jealous).
My breathing was a bit ragged and I was sweating heavily, but happy to see the finish.
Finally the finish, wish my eyes were open! Photo courtesy of Joe Crazy Legs
I definitely didn’t rally as well as I could have (or should have??) but I know hills are my weak spot right now so fair enough Sooke, you win. I am happy with my time though! I am clinging desperately to the mirage that is under- 41:00, hahah. My chip time was 40:58, and my gun time was 41:01. Not too shabby for a girl who couldn’t break 43:XX to save her life a few years ago eh?
And that was good for 2nd in my AG and 8th woman overall. A fairly competitive field I think this year.
Best of all? CINNAMON BUNS as a post-race snack AND pizza. What a great day!!! 🙂 Lovely race, good folks, fun to catch up with everyone at the end and enjoy my (second) cinnamon bun even if I did drop it in my car and Gidget ate the rest of it hahah.
This past weekend for a change in gears- we took part in a 2 day clinic with Darcy Henckel!
I think Oats liked her too!
She was very friendly, agreeable and horsemanship-focused, something Oats and I really appreciated. It was a very focused weekend that reviewed how we approach each obstacle, and obstacle work in general, through a relaxed, calm and horse-forward approach.
Bridge was no problem for all the horses! Photos courtesy of Stella French.
Oats was a gem but I WAS prepared lol. I rode the absolute snot out of him on Friday, after not really wanting to ride on Friday (freaking tired man) but I knew I kind of had to, to prepare him to behave for the weekend. He was pretty lazy on Friday, so I was going to call it a day, until I lost his shit spooking and spinning violently at a pony that he sees every single day, soooooo I figured he had a LOT more to give. And boy, did he! We hand galloped for 35 minutes, and he STILL had energy to do another huge spook after that. Face palm.
I swear I was trying to smile, ha.
I called it after his second spook and we cooled him out outdoors. He was so sweaty he was lathered white with sweat. Gee, thanks Oats… I gave him a calming paste the night before, and then Saturday came to the barn to longe the sillies out of him before our session in the AM. Meant a very early morning for me, but you know what? 100% worth it. He was very well behaved for both days, and I was NOT taking any chances of him being nuts or too silly.
Ok now I am trying to smile better 🙂 Through the figure-eight with is more like double-D’s!
He was calm, quiet and cantered nicely in a group. He approached the obstacles with focus and attentiveness, only really losing it at the gate on the second day when he spotted some horses unloading near the entrance of the arena and wanting to look at them instead. Can’t blame him for that!
I really liked how calm, quiet and attentive the trainer was. We weren’t pushed, nobody was, for anything that was too much. A good focused day was had by all 🙂 And I learned more about the obstacles- so many things to recall, ha. A lot of pitfalls you can fall into.
Because you have this little cuddlebug on your lap the whole time! Her name is Rizzo and she is a rescue dog from Mexico. She is only 1 year old, but she’s incredibly well behaved and the loveliest little pup. She stayed with me during my appointment and snoozed on my lap (well, lap and chest lol) and made the whole experience so much better. (well, that and the fact that my teeth looked pretty good!).
Rizzo, your friendly dog companion at the dentist!
She is in ‘good etiquette’ classes right now and her owner is looking to have her assessed by St. John’s Ambulance to be a support animal. I think she’s the right dog for the job!
Yeah, so I am *almost wrote was, HAHAHAH no, I am still fully in it- in a big funk.
To the extent that I am seeking out New Age-y cures. Anyone have sage I can burn? Does the universe hate me or something? To wit- I wrote out a list of Bad Things this morning. Some big, some very minor. All dragging down my damn life.
The Big Bad:
Tearing my peroneal tendon- coming on four months of injury
Getting COVID for my birthday
Oat’s giant laceration a week before another horse show- having to wrap and medicate for a month and counting
Package never gets delivered, until I have to chase it down and it becomes my problem
Drought means I am out of hay and desperate- calling 15+ people to resolve
Getting frauded out of over $750
Getting screamed at over 3 bales of hay by a so-called adult who heavily implied I was a thief??
Gidget got sick- more vet bills
Missing a Dr’s appt. because they never updated my phone number when I called to update it and they blamed me
Paying for two horse shows and two races that I could never go to because of mine and Oat’s injuries
Over 2k in vet bills for Oats’ puncture wound and around 5 months off with meds/wrapping
My Substack doesn’t land well and I have to delete a post because of hurt feelings
Have had a serious flare up of endometriosis for four months in a row every single month, escalating in excruciating pain, bloating, fatigue, GI distress (see above Dr. appt that never happened….)
Getting 10 hours of excruciating dental surgery in Mx, never got compensated for it via useless hlth insurance that we paid for
Having to now get more dental surgery including a crown
Ian not working, and then working sporadically with some upcoming complications…
So, yeah. My summer in a nutshell. I am very fortunate that we do not live in a forest-fire affected area for sure. But that’s kind of it.
So, now on to the good!
My friends are amazing. I couldn’t have made it this far without them!
My husband/valet is also amazing and helps me every day
I love my new bunny Marshmallow
Gidget and Oats are still being good right now fingers crossed, and Oats’ mega-wound is healing AMAZINGLY well
I am doing physio for the tendon tear, and responding ok to it
I have a new job and 100% do not miss my old job. Ever. At all. I can also WFH!!
I have been enjoying lots of friendships, support and engagement this summer, that has literally made me get out of bed in the mornings when things feel insurmountable/cursed
After the entire hay fiasco/drama even when I GOT hay, in the end at least I have it. RIP my bank account.
Still with an injury (likely a peroneal tendon tear, yay…), recovering slowly from complications due to having COVID on my birthday, Oats got a massive laceration but it is healing well, AND I got frauded in a terrible hay scam- thanks asshole Tracy Weymouth Gillett AND Cody Moar. They are (or one person, maybe JUST Cody Moar?) scammed desperate horseowners (me and 1 other) during a serious drought out of 150 bales/1500 dollars. FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU.
I have reported this to the police, who are investigating. My bank is conducting a fraud investigation as well. Hopefully something comes out of it- though the constable wasn’t super reassuring, he did say that he would look into it and if these assholes were in the US which I think they were, they might be able to issue a warrant out for them. Fingers crossed!!!
In the meantime, I am actually having the worst summer of my life and I would like a do-over, preferably in a decade or something. The only way I have been getting by is with help from my friends (to find some fucking hay for christs sake) and my husband. I am comforted by knowing people care about me and how I am, and that in their time of need I can respond as kindly and supportively as they have helped me.
The adventures of Mr. Oats 