Sometimes things just don't work the way we want....

Preface: I tried a different way of posting this today and of course (why am I not surprised?) it didn't work at all. I couldn't get the text to go with the photos, and I couldn't get the photos to go away to be added again later, so after devoting as much time as I can spare trying to sort it out, I'm putting the text in this separate post. Just pretend that the photos in the post below this one are above the text and it will all make some sort of sense. Apologies all round and next week I'll stick with the tried and true method of doing this!

I can't really feel that very much of note has happened in the last week to enliven my existence, although that might be as much a function of memory as of anything else. Suffice it to say it has been a "business much as usual" kind of week, with my standard trips to the barn most days (one notable thing there is I am not riding for the moment as my saddle has been sent off to be fitted with air panels to replace the wool stuffing, so until the saddle comes back Alpac is on a bit of a holiday) and with my camera outings, although there were fewer of them than usual since the weather has reverted to cold and often grey and lightless and I'm getting a tad tired of it all. Once you've done the first three and a half months of winter the charm starts to wear a little thin. Especially when you also know that realistically we're not going to see the end of it for the better part of yet another two months. It does, however, make you really appreciate the occasional little break of a day or two of single digits below freezing, of which we have had a few.

So in my mildly housebound state, I have taken the time to start working on some new visuals from my photo collection. Shot number one here shows one of the three variations on a theme that I have done of this one. The other two can be checked out on my website in the "Gothic, mystical and somewhat odd" gallery. The horse is the aptly named Starlight (aka Sparky) and the child is my grandson Mark, decked out when I took this shot to go to a Harry Potter event last year. I have of course added the obligatory (for me) crows, moon and night effects. Thanks to daughter Margaret for the photo of the architecture, taken on a trip to England last year. I'm not much of a traveller but I'm seriously thinking that a photo trip to Great Britain to get shots of architecture like this would be worth contemplating.

The next three shots were taken at the stables on one of the few mildish and sunny days. I had my camera with me and as I looked toward the gelding turnout I saw that my horse Alpac was playing the "halter game" over the fence with one of the neighbors. However, by the time I got there the neighbor had disappeared and the action had taken a turn for the less usual but much more interesting. 

Alpac (the black horse) and Dakota (purple blanket) were indulging in what I can only describe as "horse wrestling". It started with them circling each other, each one snaking his head down to snap at the lower limbs of the other. In defense of their legs, they would then get down on their knees and continue trying to grab with their mouths, while simultaneously pushing and shoving shoulder to shoulder. I've only ever seen this in documentary movies of wild stallions fighting, so at first I was a bit taken aback. However, I read horse body language and facial expressions quite well, and I know my own horse inside out, and nothing in this said to me that they were serious. In fact, every so often they would break off and stand up, looking around and blinking mildly, then would plunge back down onto their knees and start again. They had about four go-rounds altogether before they finally called it quits, at which point Alpac wandered over to say hello to me, and Dakota went off to find someone else to harass. I didn't have the best angles for photos from my vantage point, but I didn't want to move around for fear of distracting them and losing my good photo op. 

Shot number five was taken on the other nice and sunny day, and is of my "grand-dog" Brodie having a romp in the snow. Getting good snow shots on bright days is a challenge as the whites will often be blown out, or if the whites are good, everything else is underexposed. I've been working on getting the settings right for this type of shot and was quite happy with the way this one turned out. Of course I couldn't prevent myself from messing with the settings partway through the shoot so that not all of them had such a happy outcome, but that's all part of the learning process. Mostly I learn by working through all the things *not* to do first. 

Something you might want to check out is the first of  a series of articles that I am writing, the  series title being "Riding Lessons for Artists". You can find the premier article at the

Creativity Portal, and this will be an ongoing series, published monthly.