Fizzing

It’s winter here now. Cold frosty mornings with the grass crunching underfoot as I go out to let the duck and the chickens out of their night houses. Our duck, the widow Marmalade, quacks loudly and coarsely to get my attention if I linger over my morning coffee, reminding me she wants her freedom. Today was different though. We had light rain overnight, the first rain in a fortnight, and so there was no frost. Instead the clouds hung low in the hills, a scene of such beauty that it never fails to stop me in my tracks.


We’re minding two horses until the end of the year, Nugget and Coco. I’m learning to ride and I’m trying to go for a ride at least once a week, preferably twice. It’s my solution to wanting to explore this beautiful country where we live without relying on my dodgy knees. It’s also a kind of long term peak oil insurance. I’m sure knowing how to handle horses won’t go astray.


I dropped Noah off with his grandparents Rob and Sue this morning, to go with them into town to pick up their new paving bricks, and went for a ride on Nugget. I like Nugget. I know very little about horses so it’s hard to describe him. Big. Palomino. Easy going. We rode out through the back of the block into our neighbour's place, following the creek that we draw our water from. Beyond our neighbour's block there are no other properties in the catchment, just State forest. I went as far as I could, picking my way across the paddocks and into the forest before a big log across the track forced me to turn back.


I’m very new to riding and still getting the hang of it. It reminds me of learning to drive, complete with gears – walk, trot, canter, gallop and the associated screeches and grinds as I jump from first to third, forgetting everything, thrown about as if I’ve let the clutch out to fast, hanging on, just hanging on. I was very sore when I got off. It was a beautiful ride though. I picked up Noah and borrowed an album from Sue, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. I put it on when I got home, exhausted, and lay on the bed. “Do you like it?” asked Noah. “Yep” I said. “I think it’s beautiful” he told me. I went to sleep.


When I woke we cleaned the bathroom together in preparation for his Nana, my mum, who is coming to visit while Em is away. I showed him how to clean the sink with bicarb and vinegar and he enjoyed the fizzing as it cleaned. I added a chicken korma to the leftovers from last night and Noah sat on his squeaky vinyl chair during dinner, sliding around pretending the noises were him farting. “I’m the fartiest of the world”, “Can you SMELL it?”, “Is it STINKY?”. He loved it so much he had to blow into the crook of his arm for added effect. I wonder what Nana will think?


“I’m grateful that we bought the bricks and watched a lovely DVD.”
(Confused? Look)