horsehusbandetc

Bruce’s Story: the beginning

Through the records in his Irish Horse Passport, I traced Bruce’s early years in Ireland. A previous owner sent me this photo of him as a five-year old. With allowances for creative licence, I’ve dabbled with fiction and written his story: Southern Ireland is famous for the craic, the Guinness and the rainfall but evenContinue reading “Bruce’s Story: the beginning”

connection

Being introduced to someone because we both have cancer is something I’ve studiously avoided. I would prefer we be ‘friends’ via another connection, rather than both being skewered by the Sword of Damocles, partnered like kebabs awaiting the barbecue. Some years ago my oncologist prescribed Eribulin chemotherapy which had just been approved for metastatic breastContinue reading “connection”

stubborn

I’ve always thought of stubbornness as a fault. An annoying, narrow-minded short-sighted fault. Stains and screws that won’t come out are stubborn, stubbornness is the strength of the weak and the dictionary defines stubborn as grim and implacable. (N.B we exclude donkeys and mules from any of these definitions because they have their own agenda).Continue reading “stubborn”

blockage

Mark and I were getting on each other’s nerves. Not a lot, but enough to make snappy, slightly-too-sharp replies. Neither of us are confrontational and we don’t argue much, but he thought I was having a go at him and I thought he was being stubborn. Neither of us wanted to talk about the realContinue reading “blockage”

Four in the Morning

It is a fitful sleep that I’m relieved to be out of. I wiggle my fingers and feel my hands, reassured that they’re still attached to my arms and not performing a solo tap-dance routine, on stage at The London Palladium. Where does all this random stuff come from? I wonder if dreams are reallyContinue reading “Four in the Morning”

scan

For the past four years, I’ve had a CT scan every twelve weeks to monitor the cancer’s progress. I joke that I’ll die of radiation poisoning before I die of cancer, and one year when the tumours were in retreat, the radiographer took the threat seriously. Then the tumour cavalry appeared on the horizon andContinue reading “scan”

Down or Out

Q. How do you pull yourself out of a hole? A. You’ve fallen down a hole so deep, you’re standing at rock bottom. That’s assuming of course, that you are still standing. You tried to climb out, but scaling the sides seems impossible from such a low standpoint, and each superhuman effort barely makes aContinue reading “Down or Out”

Dancing with Hooves

I’ve gained much horse knowledge and human support since Anna Blake opened the doors of her Relaxed & Forward Barn. I was very anti on-line horse groups because of the bitching and showboating that goes on, and shy about airing my dirty horse laundry in public, but I soon discovered most horse laundry has theContinue reading “Dancing with Hooves”

perspective

What I call honesty, you feel is tactless. What you call caring I say is control. And one woman’s fabulous-dahling taupe is another woman’s plain old mushroom. Where do we find common ground, why can’t we agree, and what is the answer? Each week during construction, I read my blog post out loud to Mark.Continue reading “perspective”

work-life balance

Ever since I began buying and selling antiques in the mid seventies, it’s been part of my life and not just a job. The hard beauty of visual things that shout ‘look at me’ are easy to appreciate, but my heart belongs to tactile treasures that want to be touched and felt. The words FadedContinue reading “work-life balance”