Skip to main content

Digby!

I couldn't just squeeze our new addition into a paragraph of another blog, so here's an extra little update to introduce Digby, the latest creation from Glenn's handiwork. No wonder Abi and Izzy think Daddy can create anything from his garage - this magnificent example was as a result of Abi saying her toy horse (made by him from an old bed, a set of casters and some imagination) was a bit small and kept falling over. So we did a bit of research on the Internet, I found a training aid for polo players and hey presto, he'd adapted and built this!

The girls spent a good while settling on the right name. Nelson was a close second but Izzy didn't like it, and Digby seemed to fit. Now you might think this is a wonderfully cheap way to amuse 2 pony mad children - think again! Wood is eye wateringly expensive these days and it's had to have a bridle, numner, saddle and other accessories. I'd like to make the point that I (successfully) customised a picnic blanket to make a horse rug, and we begged an old saddle and girth from Ruth at the stables. It's still cost an arm and a leg though, but not as much as a real one.

Today we painted it a deep brown (bay would be the equestrian term), which has had a unfortunate effect of making it look a bit more like a cow, but they love it and that's all that matters. They've played with him endlessly, the bigger question now is where is he going to live?!? At least if he has a stable we'll have somewhere to put all these bloody rosettes!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Snow!

After a beautiful day of sunshine yesterday, today it snowed... but more of that in a minute. Yesterday actually felt like a day of much progress. Despite Covid we managed to arrange a visit to Taunton School to have a look around with the girls and to meet the Headmaster. This was a massive relief as I had got to the point of thinking we would have to accept a place without ever stepping foot inside the school. In the end we had a very comprehensive, if a little deserted, tour of the school and the kids loved it, as did we. There may even be a small chance they might squeeze us in if we are there by the summer term - that is of course if the kids are back into school by then. The other news was that I managed to speak to Mr &Mrs Tucker - the people buying our house - and we tentatively agreed that we will try and complete during the Easter holidays which could have us moving in the third week of April. This does require everyone to have got all of what they need done, and that of ...

Busy, busy, busy

Full English brunch for these two! Life is VERY busy and I don't feel like we have stopped for weeks (or is that months?) It seems like the 'to-do' list is endless and while I know we don't have to do it all at once, I have taken on the unenviable task of trying to get the Muppet to finish all the work he promised / we have paid for and that has been like pushing a mountain of water up a very steep hill. We've got to the point where I think we have got all of what we are likely to get and the rest we'd rather finish ourselves anyway. The electric gates are clearly a work of his imagination based on the gates / the electric cables he spec'd and the cheapo motor mechanism - there is no way they'll work so we have decided to not bother and source proper gates that do the job and look better as well. Knowing that we are almost at a point where we sever the ties feels very liberating. Looking back this last 6 months has been incredibly stressful and just didn...

Decluttering

Girls buying baby clothes - this could get addictive! It's Easter weekend already and we still haven't completed!! However we have made some progress, most importantly with the paperwork which has not been Steve the Builder's forte throughout this process. Stags finally got their act together and got in touch with the planning office and got an update from the Planning Officer. Apparently she is broadly happy with the application, and is prepared to pass it with only a few minor modifications which we are completely comfortable with. The Building Control Officer also came and did all of what he needed to, which means the final certificate should be issued which allows the warranty to also be issued. On our side we finally tracked down the paperwork (or more correctly got the BC Officer to come out again and do a second assessment) for the outstanding BCC on our windows (which went in 6 years ago but due to an admin error were never registered) - nothing is straightforward i...