I'm having a super weekend at Mom's ! Huzzah ! I spent most of today helping her in the garden, which was something I had promised to do with her. It's very warm this weekend, compared to the chilly weather of the past two weeks, so this was perfect. As it's supposed to rain tomorrow, it's good that we got out today. We took down the birdhouses, and cleaned and put away the garden furniture, and tidied things, spending aroud three hours just enjoying the out-of-doors. Melody (one of the cats), was in and out all day, while Chester (the one that was adopted out of the cold several years ago) generally avoided setting foot over the threshold . He's turned into a lazy wimp. Willi watched us through the den windows, hissing intermittantly at Melody through the glass. It was a lot of fun and made the hot chocolate taste extra delicious when we sat down to enjoy it after we were done. For this, I ended up missing D&D, which had been rescheduled from last week. Ryan had told me he'd try to run it on Sunday, in order for me to attend, but I guess that plan never really materialised, so in this case, my mother won out. And it was well worth it.

Last night, Mom and I saw the Lipizzaners at the Memorial Centre or whatever it's called - the hockey arena here in the Petes - and it was GREAT ! We saw them a number of years ago, I must have been in my early teens, and now, knowing so much more about dressage than I did then (and my mother, too), this performance was so much better. Additionally, the arena was a much smaller venue than at Exhibition Place creating a much more intimate setting that provided everyone attending with excellent views and a proximity to the horses that are normally reserved only for the wealthy sitting in their boxes. Yes, sure the riders aren't the -real- Spanish school riders, but they're trained dressage riders and their leaders certainly know what they're doing. What was super nifty was that six out of the eight riders were women. Keen ! Through the whole event, the one thought that kept coming back into my head was, "Man, would I ever love to ride on this tour..." Boy, would I. It was a wonderful event and I am most pleased to have gotten to see it. Thanks, Mom !