If you wish to read this news chronologically, please start at the bottom of each page with the earliest date. I know this is a nuisance but it is too much work to change it now.
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1998......12/16: Come and see the first of our holiday photos. 12/15: Happy Channukah and Merry Christmas to all. Last Saturday I went to Rich's Xmas party - great fun. Yesterday I restored an old gun cabinet. It looks so good I will have to post a photo of it. It was my first attempt at restoration and I am thrilled with the result. I can't wait to tackle another. I am back at Mountain Top but hopefully only until I can get a decent job. My truck has conked AGAIN. 12/2 I'm back. I had a great time with my wonderful hosts Jolene and Mark. You can only imagine the time I had if all I can complain about is that they fed me too well. Now I am on diet. On Monday I backed a horse called Carmen for Jiggs, the owner of "The Bee". All went well until I was done riding her and dismounted. Carmen dearest proceeded to kick me in the butt and run over poor Jiggs. No damage however and all is well. I will miss having the great Chili to school. She is a lovely, bright, willing, mare (except when she has PMS) and is a pleasure to school. Here are pic's of Chili jumping (she has a huge jump). It is good to be home. The Bee did not place in Kansas City but we did equal the winners time with only 4 faults against Gran Prix horses. Byron is riding a little quarter horse called Dikken these days. His confidence appears back in full force. I might be schooling a quarter horse stallion for the owners of Dikken. 11/16: Hello again. I have been hired to jump a little horse called Bumble Bee at the Kansas American Royal Horse Show. So on Friday we go to Kansas City to watch the Grand Prix and Saturday I jump in a show for the first time in ten years, and for the first time ever indoors in front of a large crowd. I hope my nerves don't get the better of me since the owner thinks we will win. Here I was hoping for no pressure on the basis that we had no hope anyway. Well only time will tell. The Bee is a remarkable old horse. He is 23 years old and this is his last jumping show. He has won Morgan Championships in Driving, Pulling and Jumping. Chili is a lovely mare who learns quickly and is doing very well. All is very well with Rich and I, he's a wonderful person and extremely easy to be around. I think my application is in and up to date. (I will check tomorrow) So things are looking good. 11/10: Sorry but I have been busy. Chili the mare is jumping very well. I have been able to observe a few surgeries and the weather here in Iowa SUCKS. Please note AVOID IOWA AT ALL COSTS there is NOTHING here. I will do a decent update when I get home. 10/26: This week I built a paddock at Rich's and we got two horses. I got to bring home my favorite horse, Image, and Krista, Rich's daughter, got Chester. The rest of the horses from Mountain Top Inn have gone to their winter grazing. The very old pony, Omar, went home with Krissie for the winter. (Krissie is also an instructor at the Inn) We are very busy packing everything away for the winter and next week I go to Iowa for a month to train a young Thoroughbred mare to jump. 10/15: Well it is official, Rich is my new boyfriend. Also we (Byron, Mom, and I, for the morons who might think I move in with a new boyfriend after a month) have a lovely new home, I found part of an old farm house to rent. It is on a horse farm and we start moving our stuff today. 10/1: We have had a DRASTIC drop in temperature and I am getting quite desperate to find us suitable winter accommodation. Unfortunately, the fact that we have dogs appears to be the problem. So we will be freezing until we find a landlord who likes dogs. The major news however, comes on the personal front. I am "seeing", (I can't call it dating 'cause nothing is official) a really nice young man, who, I hope (at this stage) will want to stick around awhile. I will keep you all informed. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFFREY for the 15th (My middle brother) 9/17: I just got back from taking the GRE, scored 1960. What a relief that's over. Thank heavens I did well, it should help with my apps. 9/15: Hold thumbs for me, I write the GRE on Thursday. Tricky goes back to the vet tomorrow for a check up. She appears a lot better, but not yet out of the woods. The truck is going very well, has a new lease on life. 9/9: Boy what a bad week. First the dog got poisoned, (she lived after HUGE vet bills) Byron was very ill, and the truck broke down, (another HUGE bill). Tricky is looking better, and the truck is running better than ever. So now all I need is a nice place to stay and a good husband and I will be all set. HA HA. 9/1: Well another month begins. Byron has settled in at school. Nothing much has happened here so I don't have much in the way of news. I am busy looking for a new job as this one ends in October, and trying hard to find us a place to live before it gets too uncomfortably cold here in the cabin. I have had so much fun jumping a very spirited horse called Keno. He is very well schooled on the flat but gets beside himself with excitement when faced with a jump. We go around the x-country bucking like a bronc. I would really love to find a job working with jumpers or eventers for the next few months before I get back to the study grindstone. I am going to be a aunty again. My middle brother Jeffrey (who turns 40 on Oct 15th) is expecting his first kid in Jan/Feb. My younger brother Jason has a birthday on the 25. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON. I went partying on Sunday and had my first drink of the year. I had a wonderful time and a hangover. 8/26 Byron started 3rd grade today. He is happy to be back at school. 8/19 I hope you like the new background I made. Today I had an amazing experience. I was in the middle of teaching a jumping lesson when a cute little deer ducked under the railing and trotted into the middle of the ring. The horses were not too happy so I shook my hands at the deer to chase it away but it just stood and looked at me. I walked toward her and she allowed me within 5 feet before she trotted slowly across the ring and out. We have also had two bear sightings on the trails this week. We had a very busy week and I will enjoy my two days off. 8/12 I have just returned from visiting Sue in Saratoga, New York. For those of you who don't know Sue, she is an old friend of mine from Durban, South Africa who moved here 13 years ago. Sue is married to Burk Kessinger, a racehorse trainer from Kentucky. If you like horses, Saratoga is a wonderful place to visit. It is a quaint town with great old homes and buildings, and the oldest racetrack in the country. We had a lot of fun. 8/5: Well I had a wonderful weekend. Gil came to visit and he, Byron and I went to Great Escape where we spent the day riding roller coasters and various water rides. Sunday we went riding, saw deer and did some site seeing and hiking in the woods. Time went too fast. Byron finished summer school and went golfing. Happy birthday to my dear friend Ian Gray for the 21th. 7/1: Well the new month has begun and I am a happy camper. I got a job for the summer as a riding instructor. Isn't it just great when you get a job that feels like fun. I am working for the Mountain Top Inn in Vermont, so if you want a lovely riding holiday in the most beautiful state in the union come and join me. Unfortunately the rain is back, but it can't last forever. Happy Birthday to my dear sister-in-law, Hope. A year older on the 6th and a year dearer to us all. Also Happy Birthday to cousin Edward for the 28th. How do you like the background? I designed it myself. The page is now all mine. (Of course with credit to the java programmers and the original designer of the pony gif.) 7/7 What a lovely week. I have used muscles I had forgotten existed and am sore and tired but very happy to be back with horses. Byron and Mom came riding today and Byron is fearless with excellent balance. He appears to have what it takes to ensure an unbroken chain of horse trainers or riders within the recorded history of our family. 7/12: Well Byron has been riding a few times and had his first fall today. I over horsed him and he got bucked off. Just a bloody mouth and a couple of scratches. By this afternoon he was out riding another horse and was back to his old self. Tonight he is a little stiff but no worse for wear. 7/22 Unfortunately I have no exciting news. I am just very busy working and getting college paperwork sorted out. 7/26 Another good week has passed. Today I rode trails for 4 hours on four different horses. We had no lessons scheduled so I gave some of my lesson horses a change of scenery. We saw some beautiful deer in the woods. Boy this really is a job that just doesn't feel like work. Yesterday Mom and Byron came riding and we all went on a lovely trail up the mountain with gorgeous views. Byron hasn't quite got over his fall and is still a little nervous cantering. The weather has been perfect, warm (not hot) sunny days and cold nights. Once again my bloody truck cost me a ton of unexpected money. This time it needed a caliper. Only a $182 ha ha for one ordinary little caliper. It is going to be hard to return to study mode after this summer. Please feel free to send a photo of yourself so I can add it to my friends/family page. Mom is aiming to go to South Africa in November for a nice long visit so if you want to be on her itinerary please to be sure to send her an invite before she leaves so she can plan her route. Remember, where she goes, there too go her two little white dogs. She is looking forward to seeing all her friends and family. Last week a couple on a Harley hit a bear on the way to the Inn. The passenger broke her leg and the bear ran off into the woods. The rangers tracked it in case it was injured and it appears all is well. Well since nothing exciting happened this week, I have run out of news. 7/29: Spent the day building X-county jumps. June:Happy birthday Dad for the 23rd, I hope you have a great year. First week: I went back to Florida for a week to visit Gil. We had a lot of fun and I enjoyed being warm. The weather has been so cold here in Vermont. I am hard on the job trail as I really need to start working before we all starve to death. Saturday we went to Byron's Bike Rodeo. He had lots of fun and won two races. Second week: It rained and on Monday the sun came out and so we went riding. Guess what? Then it really rained. Third week: Still raining. Well week three is hot and we have been swimming in the local swimming hole, cycling and even climbed a waterfall. 5/25: Well it has been a quiet week. I am busy looking for a job for the summer. I have also realized that I miss my dear friend Gili almost more than I like Vermont. Quite a problem. I will write more news as soon as I have it. (Kay if you read this please send me an email, I lost yours) Many of you will have been writing to me at my old AOL address and will be wondering what happened. Well AOL sucks so please keep in touch through the mailcity address below and I promise to write back. Happy Birthday Mom, May 27,And Granny, June 6 I love you both very much. 5/14 Firstly Happy Birthday Kay if you get to see this. So much has happened since my last update. I graduated Summa Cum Laude and moved to Vermont. I will possibly be attending the University of Vermont in the Fall. We are staying at a little hunting cabin for the summer. The only drawback to moving is that I miss my very best friend, Gil, very much. Unfortunately he hates the cold and I hate the heat so we might not get to see each other much. It is beautiful here. We have been for long walks in the woods and have seen deer, woodchucks, chipmunks, squirrels etc. Yesterday and today I dug a long trench to drain water away from the cabin and dry up the ground around the little deck I made. We are really roughing it here in the cabin. We have a chemical toilet and very cold water pumped from underground. We have a very temperamental in-line hot water heater so showers are "fun". It is still very cold at night but we don't feel it all snuggled up under many blankets. Unfortunately I left all my addresses on my old computer so if you haven't heard from me and couldn't get mail through to me, please write to the email address below. Well that's it for this week. 3/20: Back at school and very busy. Nothing exciting has happened and I am battling to get DNA out of the old rum preserved specimens. I hope to update my photo album as soon as I have the time. I have chosen some pictures of my pets, horses, and family to add. 3/7: Firstly Happy Birthday Gili, I hope you have a great year. Well it is spring break. I did well on my midterms and I can spend a few days doing mostly mindless fun stuff. I am really battling to extract DNA from some 20 year old specimens preserved in RUM of all things. If you have any suggestions please email me. 2/28: Well this has been a hectic week. Last Saturday I wrote my Modern Experimental Biochem exam. Afterwards my brother, his wife, and I took our kids to Universal Studios. On Monday I was at my Med school interview, I think it went OK. Afterwards I joined Jason and the family at Busch Gardens. It was awesome. I love amusement parks. We got home at 2 in the morning. I had gels to run on Tuesday and classes from 9am to 10pm on Wednesday so I only got to study for my inorganic midterm on Thursday. Well I wrote it yesterday (Friday) so now I can relax this weekend.My Dad is arriving to visit (from England) on Wednesday this week and then I have Spring break so maybe we will get to do some fun stuff if I don't have too many experiments to do over that week. 2/17: Mid-terms are upon me so there will not be any new news until next week. I am adding a photo album on Saturday. 2/10: I am involved in 3 research projects, the first involves MSH and its pathways (top secret, sorry), the 2nd involves extracting DNA from badly preserved (in Rum) museum specimens (boring), and the 3rd is my current pet project a phylogenetic study of the genera of suidae to test the present implied tree. We both just had our birthdays.