Meeting Another Blogger and The Winner is.......

Early last week, I took a drive to see Roz and her husband Neil from Dirty Feet and Rubble in my Hair .  What a delightful couple!  Neil was busy building his workshop and what a magnificent job he is doing. So as not to disrupt the good work, we left him to it. Meanwhile Roz took me off to see the horses that she works with, and also one of her own. Having lived and breathed horses for many, many years of my life, it was such a pleasure to be back among them.  Roz had told me what great horses Friesians were and what fantastic temperaments they have; how right she was - I have never seen such friendly horses. So much so, that it was difficult to take photos.  They just wanted to have a fuss made of them.  It is a breed that I have not encountered before, having worked in racing stables. I only had thoroughbreds in my care and most of my show jumpers were ex race horses.

I managed to catch these three as they came rushing across the paddock to meet us.

I am sure Roz will correct me if I am wrong, but here she is (I think) with with her own Friesian on the left.  As all the Friesians are black, I was getting a bit confused as to which was which!  The Chestnut is about the same age and is there for company.

The two youngest ones to be born; I love their curly coats, which sadly they will grow out of!

and with their Mums.

I could not resist taking a photo of this family on the farm. They are a very small breed and these little chaps are about the size of guinea pigs at the present time!! I would loved to have taken one home!!!

then there was this bunny who I suspect had made an escape from one of the runs; he was gorgeous with his long floppy ears.

Oops I digress, I went to see Roz and the horses!  In the evening, Roz and her friends were practicing for a musical ride, which is coming up quite soon.  I went along to watch and to see the Friesians at work.  I gather that they make fantastic carriage horses and that they are excellent at dressage.  I was also very interested to hear that the South African Police have recently acquired a number of Friesians  to work with, because of their amazing temperaments.

Roz showing the paces; just look at that beautiful view behind her.

The riders concentrating hard. The horse on the left is a young stallion and although he was very full of himself, he behaved impeccably.

I think that there should be 8 riders in the full ride, but 2 were missing on the evening I was there. Here are the four Friesians together afterwards.  Roz second from the right.

Thanks Roz for a fantastic day and taking the trouble to guide me all over the place.  It was so good to be back with horses again after a long spell away.   

AND

The winner of the giveaway is number 7 Dolly

Congratulations Dolly, I will be emailing you and the jewellery will be winging its way to you quite soon.

Winning two cookery books

For those of you who follow me regularly, you will know that I had a winning streak at the beginning of this year and in a matter of a few days, I was the lucky recipient of three awards from fellow bloggers.  My first win was two cook books, courtesy of Linda from My Type of Cooking, but due to her very busy schedule, they were only posted later; they arrived just after I had left for France, but Nigel brought them over with him on the plane when he came over yesterday for a short holiday. 

I am absolutely delighted with the books and the recipes are so simple that my mind is already  in overdrive!!  I had suggested that Nigel went on a cookery course, when he eventually moves here to France.  I had already decided that  with both of us retired, the kitchen was going to be shared between us........   Now having seen these two books, the recipes are so simple, and so clear, maybe the cookery course starts with these books.  I say that Nigel needs to go on a cookery course, but I might add that when he puts his mind to it, he can in fact cook a fantastic Boeuf Bourguignon.  One problem though, it takes a huge amount of time and there seems to be much more washing up than when I get in the kitchen! Nigel says it is a complicated Robert Carrier recipe, and RC obviously had a large staff to do his washing up!

These are the two books that Linda sent to me and they are her two latest publications.

In Linda's own words, "I write cookbooks. Which means I eat, breathe, and dream about food! I love to create recipes that are quick and easy, using just a few ingredients."

She also has a popular cooking segment in the States, on the Passion Radio Network, called “Fast Food Fridays” and she co-hosts an afternoon drive-time show with her husband called "The Cross Connection"

Linda. I certainly hope so.

Two recipes that took my eye on a first quick look

If you are even remotely interested in cooking and you have not seen Linda's blog My Kind of Cooking, I suggest that you go along and take a look at her fantastic recipes and great tips.

Thank you so much Linda, for drawing my name to win this fantastic prize; I will treasure both books and I really appreciate them.

In Front of a Few More Closed Doors!

How I wish I could see behind closed doors; I get more and more curious!!!  All of these doors were seen around La Rochefoucauld.

At least I got a look in at the hairdresser next door here!

Today I had yet another big surprise. I am once more a winner, so this must have been my lucky week.  I am now living in hope that a  third win may pop up and that will be the lottery!  LOL wishful thinking!  I am delighted though with this win  from Quay Po Cooks and I am now the very happy owner of earrings and a bangle.  I will take photos and show you all when they arrive.  

Please take time out to visit Quay Po Cooks,, they have an excellent cookery blog which has many varied recipes from Western to Oriental.  In her own words "Before I was married to my "Quaylo" (Guaylo) husband, I did not know how to bake or cook. Subsequently I learned some baking and cooking Western cuisine from him, and providing his food for him launched an interest in cooking in general."