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Birthday Suck-Ups

With Christmas well and truly over, our columnist turns her attentions to the next big event in her personal calendar: but what exactly are Richard and Steph hiding?

I hope that the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations treated you all kindly, and that you’re now back and ready to tackle the brand new year with renewed enthusiasm and a refreshed outlook.

Okay, that’s probably asking a bit much, but I hope at least you had a good break, away from the stressors of everyday life. No? Well, at least enjoy all the food…..

2017 had quite a wet start, but lately the weather seems determined to remind us all that we do live in Australia, and that Australian summers are notorious for being ridiculously hot.

Yeah, because it’s always fun when I walk into the house and see that the thermometer reads 47 degrees Celsius……

All I’ll say is “thank goodness for air conditioned arenas!”

Anyway, enough with the griping. This week we’ve been getting Tyler ready to start school on Monday: grade 4 sure is exciting (he doesn’t seem to care less). So we’ve been running back and forth from town grabbing last minute supplies, ironing uniforms, covering school books, writing his name on many, many stationary items. It kind of makes me nostalgic for my own school days.

And then there’s the next big thing coming up for me. You see, my birthday is on the 25th (I know, exactly 1 month after Christmas, what were my parents thinking?!) and I’m silently counting the days.

I’ve told both Richard and Steph many times that I don’t want anything, honestly, but Richard still seems to be up to something.

I caught him shutting off his phone rather hurriedly when I walked into the office the other day, and was a little too quick to answer when I asked him what he was doing.

Steph’s been asking me really random questions too: like “when was the last time we had a pool party?” and then ignoring me when I ask her about it.

It’s kind of sweet, I have to be honest. But really, those two are rubbish when it comes to hiding secret plans.

Onto other news, we’ve also been getting the horses back into their training slowly, after having a few weeks off over the holiday season. We’ve also had a heap of new arrivals trickling in slowly over the past couple of weeks, and with them, new staff members. Hopefully, I’ll get around to introducing them to you all at some point.

Hang on, I’d better get going. Sounds like Richard and Steph are up to something again. Talk to you next time!

Hey guys, Richard here. I’ve hijacked Chloe’s page for a moment to ask if you could join us on the 25th in celebrating Chloe’s birthday. I know she has a lot of fans here in Symphony Hill, and we would love for you to join us at Winyard for a big surprise party. We’re opening our doors for you all to come and celebrate with us: fun starts at 3pm this Wednesday.

Crikey, I think she’s coming back. Gonna send this off to the paper before she finds what I’ve written! Catch you all later.

Take care, friends!

R.

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UESN wishes you all a happy new year! Hopefully you reached the new year well, stay healthy everybody and have fun with your pixel horses!

And like asked for, again the link to the new forum, you need to reregister as it is a new hoster :)

The Best Aussie Christmas Ever!

Christmas at Winyard isn’t blessed with snow, but that doesn’t matter – according to our festive columnist!

I hope this finds you all well during this festive season, and that Santa was as kind to you all as you deserve!

Christmas hasn’t quite come for us yet. I’m still in the past right now; as I write this, it is two days before Christmas, and we’ve just finished at the Symphony Hill Christmas Parade.

Which meant we got to put the new present to good use.

I know, presents usually have to wait until Sunday (wow, that sounds weird for me to say right now, but moving on) to be opened, but with the parade this evening, I just had to get it out of the way.

I managed to lure Richard outside and wrap a blindfold around his eyes, trying hard to stifle my excited giggles.

He shot me an amusedly perplexed look as I took his hand and led him towards the main courtyard, excitement bubbling in my throat as I laid eyes on the spectacle before us.

Stopping about ten metres away, I reached up and removed the blindfold, hiding a delighted grin as Richard blinked owlishly in the sudden light, before his eyes focussed on the sight before him – a sharp breath escaping his lips.

Two towering Clydesdales – one grey sabino, the other a bay – stood together, thick manes fluttering softly in the gentle summer breeze, feathering wafting casually about their hooves. The sleigh behind them a startling red with gold trim, laced with white, green and blue tinsel, the evergreen wreath hanging from the front of the horses’ joining harness a wonderful touch.

Richard turned to me, eyes conveying about a hundred different emotions.

“You’ve always loved draft horses, and wanted to take up driving” I shrugged, once more entwining my hand in his. “Mick rang me a few weeks ago and told me about these two, and we came to an arrangement” I continued, grin going wider.

Then the breath was knocked out of me as I found myself pressed against my husband’s chest. We embraced for a good few minutes before he pulled away and walked over to the waiting horses.

The grey sabino raised his head, ears pricked, and let out a deep, booming whinny.

The bay was a little slower in his reaction, but he nuzzled Richard as he approached and reached up to stroke his wide, proud face.

“Chloe, I –” he broke off, voice thick. He didn’t need to say anything though; I understood.

“You’d better get changed – they’re expecting us at the parade in half an hour” I told him, almost giggling when he spun around to face me, a stunned look on his face.

“You didn’t think we dressed them up just to surprise you, did you?” I chuckled, grabbing the bag that sat on one of the seats in the sleigh and tossing it to him.

Puzzled, Richard opened the bag, and caught sight of the bright red fabric inside. His face lit up and I found myself wrapped in his arms for the second time in five minutes. I laughed, and pushed him away gently with a fond shooing motion. He grinned and sped off to change.

You see, Richard has always wanted to be in the Christmas Parade, but the opportunity never arose before now. Mainly because Symphony Hill has never actually had a formal Christmas parade before now.

So I’m glad they decided to make it official this year. The phone call they made to me about a week ago just cemented it.

Richard returned about ten minutes later. At least, I think it was Richard – he was barely recognisable as the jolly man in red.

Although, I have to say: I didn’t envy him in that hot suit and beard in almost 35 degree heat.

He didn’t seem too phased, just grinned at me and clambered into the sleigh’s front seat.

Holding a hand out to me, he raised his eyebrows in question.

“You coming, Mrs Claus?” he asked, cheeky grin on his face all the while.

A grin nearly as wide settling onto my face, I climbed in next to him, shivering with excitement as he clicked his tongue and the two horses set off, almost as eager as the two of us to get going.

The parade itself was an awesome success. People from the town lined the streets – some dressed up, others in the typical Aussie dacks of singlet, shorts and thongs – all cheering and waving as “Santa” clopped past in his horse-drawn sleigh.

At the end of the parade, was the carol concert. Steph, Tyler, Rayleigh, and the rest of the Winyard team joined us for the concert, while Richard took centre stage with the sack of presents for the little children in the crowd. The delighted smiles on their faces will stay with me for a long time.

When the night was over, and Richard had taken off the beard and jacket, the four of us sat in the sleigh for the return trip to Winyard.

Tyler and Rayleigh fell asleep in the back, Tyler’s arms wrapped protectively around his little sister, who was snuggled into his chest.

We pulled back into the yard at around 10pm, and after unhitching the horses and turning them out, we woke the two sleepy-heads and Richard reached around and picked up a blanket from the back of the sleigh.

Walking out into one of the open fields, we lay down on the blanket and gazed up at the startlingly clear night above us. A faint whinny in the distance broke the silence for a moment before it became quiet once more.

And in that moment, as I lay with my family and watched the stars, surrounded by our horses, totally at peace with the world, it didn’t matter that it doesn’t snow at Christmas here. All that matters, is that we are celebrating together, and that everyone is happy.

And all I wish for you is that you find a similar happiness and peace with your loved ones this festive season.

Decorating the Yard for Christmas

With just one week to go, Winyard Estate is getting well into the Christmas spirit with some festive decorating.

Wow. I have to say, this whole Christmas decorating thing has absolutely worn me out!

We’ve spent all this past week slowly getting the whole yard looking nice and festive for Christmas, and not a moment too soon, since we’ve only got a week left.

Still, better slightly late than never, right?

And I have to say, if I am allowed to say myself, that we did a pretty good job.

We have our enormous outdoor tree set up in the entrance courtyard, down near the office. That was probably the hardest thing to decorate – the thing’s nearly ten metres tall!

There’s wreaths on all the building doors, and tinsel draped around all the available wall space. And when I say “all the available space”, I mean all the available space.

Blame Steph: she’s the one who went a little mad when she got her hands on the tinsel.

Still, she did a great job with it, and you certainly can’t say we’re not festive around here now!

We’ve also set up a life-sized Nativity scene near the front entrance, complete with live animals (that one was Tyler’s idea, of course). So we now have a donkey, three sheep, half a dozen chooks, a few ducks and a dairy cow to add to our ever-growing menagerie.

The more, the merrier, that’s what I say! Richard still isn’t quite with me on that one, but I’m sure we’ll win him over: he’s already quietly besotted with Billabong, the donkey.

Our other residents have also been lending a paw (or hoof) to the festive decorating.

Although, when I say “helping”……

Kyra loves decorations – be they Christmas, or I’m sure you remember what she did with the pumpkins at Halloween – and will easily run off with a wreath or a string of baubles in her mouth, and have a grand time throwing them in the air and catching them, before running off again. I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve had to rescue a poor bauble or lonely string of tinsel out of her mouth or out of a certain burial near the outdoor arena.

Watson couldn’t really be bothered, although he does seem to like curling up in the closest patch of fresh tinsel and deciding it’s the perfect place for a nap. Then he just meows crossly at us when we try to gently prize him off it so we can hang it up in the barn.

He just stalks off to find another piece, or to attack a low-hanging bauble.

Then there’s our other four-legged friends.

Now, I’m going to tell you a story about what happened the other day. And you have to promise not to laugh....

I’d been hanging decorations inside the main barn, and it was raining outside, so some of the horses had retreated to the dry, warm cosiness of their stalls (and their hay). All throughout my time in there, certain equines had been sticking their curious muzzles into everything I was doing, providing Richard and Tyler with endless amusement as I constantly had to bat the persistent red muzzle away (three guesses who….).

I had the tinsel in a bucket and was stringing it up above the stalls (standing on a free hay bale), when the phone rang in the tack room.

Setting the tinsel down on the hay bale, I scurried off to answer it, and was gone maybe five minutes, but when I came back, I found the bucket of tinsel gone, Richard videoing something on his phone, and Tyler in stitches behind him.

Confused, I cast my gaze over to the stalls I had just been decorating.

Daze had somehow managed to grab the bucket of tinsel in front of her stall and was now holding it up in her mouth, watching as Hamster – who was in the stall next to her – took the loose tinsel in his teeth and stretched his neck up towards the top of his door.

I blinked in surprise, before chuckling and standing back as the two mischief-makers threw the tinsel around trying to get it where they assumed it needed to go.

I have to give them props for trying, but in the end – and after about five minutes of laughing later – I convinced them to admit defeat and Hamster gave me back the strand of tinsel, a mildly disgusted look on his face as he turned back to his hay.

Clearly, the shiny, glittery strand of festive decoration didn’t taste quite as good as he expected it to.

As I turned to retrieve the bucket containing the rest of the tinsel coil, I was met with a chestnut mare giving me the most stubborn look I had ever seen on her face.

I reached for the bucket in her mouth, and she moved her head away. I reached for it again, taking a step toward her, and she held her head higher, effectively taking the bucket out of my reach.

Amidst roars of laughter behind me (and hiding giggles myself, I have to admit), I managed to get the bucket back, but only after I had let Daze hold it in her mouth while I finished putting the tinsel up around her stall.

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Hiding the Biggest Present

Christmas is two weeks away, and there’s only one problem for our columnist: where to hide Richard’s present?

Oh boy. The silly season has begun, and with it, comes seasonal challenges.

To be honest, I don’t mind it: really. I love the smell of tinsel, the sound of bells jingling, the excitement when I see presents wrapped under our Christmas tree.

But that doesn’t take away the challenge of buying presents for everyone else in your family.

Tyler and Rayleigh are easy: they’re both kids – they tell you exactly what they want. Rayleigh in particular just yells out everything she sees and says she wants “that one!”

And usually, Richard and I can pull most of it off.

But the problem this year, hides with the man of the house.

I have to be careful how I tell you this next bit, just in case he’s reading this (I know you do, honey: I’ve caught you a few times).

You see, I thought I’d found the perfect gift online a few weeks ago, and it was based in Brisbane, so it wouldn’t take too long to get down to Symphony Hill in time for Christmas.

Then the Winyard luck struck. The company emailed me and told me that they had gone into liquidation and that they could no longer process my order. They were kind enough to give a full refund and extended a complete apology, and offered another store where I could get a similar item.

Unfortunately, this store was in America, and almost certainly wouldn’t arrive in time for Christmas.

Cue Plan B.

While I was walking around town the other day, I spotted an ad for something that – as soon as I saw it – I knew would be perfect for Richard.

I got talking to the seller and we came to an arrangement, and he even offered to drop the present off on Saturday.

Winning!

Now came the next challenge, and possibly one even more difficult than actually finding the gift: hiding it from a man who has a nose like a bloodhound and can sniff out anything that’s different about any situation.

And to that end, I found myself trying to shift the present in question into my secret location without the husband noticing anything untoward.