Hurrah, for the sun is shining and it is Friday. Rah, for I am sapped of energy but less so than yesterday so hopeful that I've nipped the thing in the bud.

All being well, tomorrow we will have a working picadeiro. There is a 40' lorry coming to drop off a load of large wood chips for the base and then there is the small matter of scooping it all up into the picadeiro, flattening and levelling it, then dumping rather smaller grade woodchip on top to make a workable surface.

And the sooner the better. It's one thing sitting at home feeling sapped of energy, time best not spent watching horse videos on Youtube because it just makes me want to go and ride.

All being equally well tomorrow we're going to meet our new neighbours. Certainly they are happy for us to use their arena, praise be to all that is holy.

On another subject, I've always felt that yard owners were weird, a stance which I have any amount of evidence to back up. It's a funny thing because as a new yard owner myself looking at things from the other side of the mountain, I begin to develop some sympathy. Maybe it's just our current situation but I find it irks me when people treat the place as their own, especially as Mr Equidoodads and I are the ones busting our chops to pay the sodding mortgage. I am not by nature a possessive or fussy bint, I'm really not, and like to think I would do my utmost to accommodate most things as long as people ask and don't assume. Sigh. One thing's for sure, nothing is ever easy and there is no ideal solution (short of winning the lottery, holing up at home and putting a bit fuck off padlock on the gate).