Delayed Hallowe'en and random updates

We had a couple of days of storms with high winds and rain over Hallowe'en - our city was contemplating moving Hallowe'en trick or treating to another day so the weather would be better for the kids!  A lot of people were very angry about this, so it was kept on the same day!  I think the city of Montreal did move trick or treating to Thursday or Friday!

Anyway - I was planning on taking pictures of Fred in his skull gear on Thursday, but it was too gross to get decent pictures outside.  This attempt at a matching outfit was inspired by Stacie at Amateur at Large - her outfits and her horse's outfits are pretty amazing, so I thought I would do a post in homage to her.  ;-)  Turns out it is way harder to get good pics and put everything together than I thought. I also dislike taking pictures of myself, so you won't see much of my outfit.

When I did my big shopping spree in late September, I found a cute skeleton saddle pad and halter from Horze.  I like skulls, so I couldn't resist.  They even had a skeleton rain sheet, but I tried to have some self control and didn't get that.

Horze halter and fly bonnet my Mom made a while ago

I also made him wear a fly bonnet even though the flies are long gone (one good thing about November).  My Mom made this for me a while ago and she said it was a pain to crochet, so she wasn't going to do any more!  hahaha. 

I'm not a fan of the Horze halter - the fit was a bit weird, even on Fred's big head. It wouldn't fit a smaller horse well at all.

Cute horze saddle pad

 Man, my saddle needs some oil. Ahem - add that to the list for this month!  I like to bring tack inside and work on it by the fireplace!

Lame attempt at a selfie with my skull hat...My arms are just too short for selfies!

I found this skull hat (or toque if you are Cdn) at the Dollar store last year. It cracks me up.  It wasn't really that cold, but you know, for the sake of the themed outfit...

Found this tshirt on zulilly a while back - couldn't resist.

The rest of my outfit was boring, so I didn't attempt a photo. I was wearing black tights, black paddock boots and my fitbit with skulls.

Post work hallowe'en cookie!

We worked on some showmanship stuff and practicing setting up on the laneway, since everywhere else was a muddy swamp.  I switched Fred back to his regular halter after and gave him a big cookie as a reward. I won these cookies in a raffle at a club banquet last weekend! They are super cute and Fred loves them.

New Bucas rainsheet - in black to go with the skull/black theme (or that was the only colour)

 And I broke my no-shopping streak on Friday -  I only made it 8 days - I had to buy Fred another rain sheet at the local tack shop, since his new green one is not waterproof at all! Ugh.

On Friday night, I went to a paint night with a big group of horse friends.  It was a hoot - the painting is easy - they give you templates, so you don't have to worry about the actual painting part as much.  This is a key factor when adult beverages are involved!  Of course I chose something about cats, since they didn't have any horse options.   We are going to do another one this winter and my friend is going to send them a bunch of horse quotes for signs, so that will be fun.

This weekend has been all about tack and cleaning up and organizing my little barn.  It sort of looked like a tack store exploded in there.  lol  I have a bunch of tack I'm selling for the therapeutic riding centre and a bunch of my tack that needs to go. I brought all of that in the house to clean and take pictures so I can list it online.  I also hung up all the winter blankets and put away (sniff!) all of the summer gear.  So, I'm making some progress there!

And my last random update is that I also have to pack this weekend, as on Thursday I'm heading out of town for a little jaunt to Disneyworld!  It was my Mom's 70th bday this year, so she wanted to go to Disney with my cousin and I.  We fly out of Detroit early Saturday morning and I'll be gone for a week!  

WW: 6 days and counting

Treat Yo'self - mega edition: continued!

So this is part two and hopefully the final instalment of me spending all of the money I've been trying to save!  LOL

Me lately!

A few months ago, a friend approached me to see if I was interested in a partnership to breed her mare. I was thrilled that she asked me, as having/raising a foal has been on my bucket list before I even knew what a bucket list was!  

Also me.

We make a good team since a) we both have the same first name (lol) and b) she has the mare and doesn't like to show, but I do want to show.  So we agreed we would each go away and do some research on studs we were interested in.  In the end it came down to a halter stud who is actually a paint!  We were originally looking for something double registered (AQHA, APHA) so we'd have more breed show options, but we were able to get a special rate on this stallion that was on our short list.  We signed the contract and sent it in this week, so it looks like I'll be half owner of a foal in 2021, if all goes as planned.

Baby daddy!

And the other big, unplanned purchase this week is a new-to-me used truck!  I already had a truck, but it turns out it had a huuuuggge mechanical problem caused by modifications the dealer made, which were not disclosed to me.  Long story short, the dealer bought the truck back and I had about 5 days to find a new vehicle.

I thought about not getting a truck (cheaper on gas!) and then found a truck and sorta fell in love.  Yep. With a truck.

It is a 2015 GMC Sierra 1500 and has heated seats (which is awesome when you live where I do!) and lots of other features.  It has a towing package with trailer brakes all installed and everything. I have two trailers I can borrow whenever I want, so a big goal for 2020 will be learning to drive with a trailer! *Gulp*  I've driven my friend's rig once or twice on short hauls, but I want to get my skillz up next year so I'm comfortable on local hauls.

Swwweeeettt!!!!!

I know all of  this spending seems quite a bit out of character for me - I've been pretty careful about not spending - but at least most of it was planned and within budget.   I was already making truck payments, so this new one is around the same amount, so it isn't a shock to our budget. The stress of doing all this vehicle stuff in a week?  That is a different story...  Stress aside,  I'm very grateful that I am in a position to do all of these things right now, as you never know what life will throw at you!

What about you guys - any big purchases planned?  Are you saving up for anything? As for me, I'm back to saving...well, right after my trip to DisneyWorld with my Mom in a couple of weeks...  I'm also going to go check the couch cushions for change and hope to find a $20 in a pocket of  a winter jacket!  Edited to add:  I found $15 in change in my old truck when I cleaned it out. Counting that as a win!

Treat yo'self - mega edition

I've been trying to keep my horse "stuff" shopping to a minimum lately.   I was able to get away with it over the past year as I wasn't riding or showing much and all the horses had what they needed.

Until Fred grew. And grew. And continues to grow. And stuff gets old and needs to be replaced. And then before you know it, I'm on a full out shopping spree. I even ordered a couple of things from the UK - or at least tried to - one site with a lot of cool stuff didn't ship to North America! (the nerve!)

Started filling this out before I realized they don't ship to NA - they actually have Lord and Lady to choose from! LOL

Fred really needed new blankets this winter - his butt was hanging out of his size 81s from last winter. And he didn't have a rain sheet, so he now has a nice new wardrobe of green and matching blankets! I bought an old green/blue plaid stable sheet from a friend for $20, so I saved some cash there.

winter pjs

I also couldn't find what I was looking for here - green blankets for a reasonable price - so I broadened my search to the US.  Shipping to Canada is super expensive for some reason (it's not like I'm that far away) so my friend and I planned a trip over to NY state to pick up our items at a UPS store that holds items for desperate Canadian shoppers.  (yes, this exists!)  I also ordered myself a new pair of winter gloves, a winter coat and a new stretchy hose from Schneiders.  I'm only about 1hr from the border, so this is a fun option, as we make sure to hit up the TSC and a grocery store for my vanilla coke fix.

so cute.  And there is a heavyweight t/o in green too!

Copper didn't go neglected, don't worry. I got him a nice new rain sheet to hopefully keep his thick coat dry so he doesn't get rain rot again.  The thick coat he gets is a good and a bad thing, it seems.

I'll probably  cave and get him the matching purple winter t/o 'cause I'm a sucker!

I also got a few sweet things from going through all of the used tack at the therapeutic riding centre.  Maybe volunteering to help them re-sell old tack wasn't so smart, since I've been buying most of it!!!  I found Fred a 5.5" bit to tide him over until his 6" ones arrive from the UK.  He wasn't doing great with the copper rollers - too much for him to play with - so I'll try the full cheek snaffle.

Ahem - need to clean this tack at some point...

I also snagged a BoT dressage pad, a rambo newmarket fleece, old woof wear tendon boots, eskadron wraps, two wool coolers (I like to have spare coolers in case a horse is sweaty/colicky/cold) and a few other odds and ends.

Not green and a tad small, but for $20, good to have around.

So, after my little mega shopping spree, the boys should be good to get through the winter.  And while I bought a few things I needed, I still have a long-term wish list that seems to keep growing...but I'll try to hold off until the new year to shop!

BoT pads, coolers and not shown: all kinds of other stuff.  Omg my barn needs to be cleaned out big time!

Oh and since I started this post, I have ordered more from the UK (omg this is a dangerous trend) and I got a new cat!!!  Meet Archie - he is 4-8 months old and is from my friend who volunteers for a rescue and had a bunch of kittens.  Yes, I already have 2 cats, but I could not pass this guy up.  He is very sweet and affectionate and fitting in well around here.    Be prepared for lots of cat pictures moving forward, as we are heading into winter, so reading books with cats on my lap is my main goal  ;-)


Edited to add:  And I have two more big purchases to announce later this week.  OMG  Money floweth like water around here!  LOL

The tongue out kills me...lol





Archie and his ear floofs