Back into the Routine at Home

It's been two weeks since we arrived home from our winter "vacation" in Merida.  I am happy to report that I have ridden my mare, Molly, nearly every day (she has Sundays off).  I think she was happy to see me but horses are not like dogs in that they do not express their emotions as clearly as our dogs do.  She did remember her tricks and was immediately looking for sugar and carrots.  She was quite agreeable to ride until she went into heat several days ago - then she was not quite so agreeable but I could deal with it.  She makes me work harder when she is in heat and that's o.k.  Dressage is work to do it correctly and one has to stay focused every second.  Even though I say "work" - it is fun work - otherwise I wouldn't do it.

San Miguel has had a very unusual February in that it rained almost 3 inches this month when normally it does not rain at all this time of the year.  But now it is sunny again and we have turned on the solar panels to start warming up the pool.  I checked it this morning and the water is 72 degrees - o.k. for polar bears and penguins but not for me.  My calculation is that if the weather stays sunny every day, I might be able to swim by the end of next week - I'm hoping for 85 degrees or more.  John prefers 88 but that's a bit too warm for swimming laps - which I intend to do.

In addition to my volunteer work, I am looking for home exchanges to Europe next fall.  We love doing home exchanges - have done over 20 since our first one around 2003. (I'll blog about home exchanging soon).  We haven't been to Europe in several years and since John isn't getting any younger (tee-hee), we thought we had better enjoy our travels while we're still physically in fine shape.  So, we already have a confirmed exchange to Scotland starting August 20 for 2 1/2 weeks.  From there we will go to an exchange in the south of France near Carcassone - still waiting for confirmation of exact ending date - it will start the day after we leave Scotland.  I am also hoping to find a 3rd exchange in Germany after France.  We'll be gone a total of about 2 months I think.  That is a very long time to be away from home.  I'm a little nervous about that but once we are in our first home exchange, I'll be comfortable with seeing new sights and meeting new people.  I'm even trying to learn a little French before we go.  John can handle the German while in Germany and we don't have to worry about Scotland except for driving on the wrong side of the road.  We have never been to Scotland so I'm really looking forward to that.  When traveling, I love to go to new places.  John is happy to go back to places we have been so we usually end up doing a little of each.