After weeks of, initially, back pain, and then recuperation, today I ventured back onto The Equine, Emu. Niki and I went for a calm ride, with our friend Maxine, and later Jenny, through the valley. A lovely warm day, spring calves growing and an excellent opportunity to find out whether my back and assorted related areas would accept the ups and downs of riding movements. I am happy to say it / they did, although I did nothing more than go for a gentle walk and gingerly, no trots, no canters, and left the ride after about 45 minutes halfway through (as much to get Tess from work, as to just call it enough for the day). It was great to be back in the saddle! More, please!
Earlier that day, in the morning, we went on another
Paw Power dog beach walk. Nice hot weather, cool from the waves breezing in, and about 50 dogs with their owners and (some with their) families. Raffie, as usual, only had eyes for The Ball, after an initial romp and run with assorted canines. One dog owner pair felt Raffie was being aggressive (well, he was barking in a jolly fashion, yes, to a Blue Heeler who was barking happily back while they frolicked in the waves), and after a few barking / racing sessions (during which other dogs also joined in) said owners asked (well, strongly suggested) we put our dog back on the lead.
Poetic licence required Fate to step in, and - lo -Fate did, as Raffie ran (completely involuntary and without direction of course, and most certainly without our involvement) into The Man, who buckled, slipped and fell on his knees. The look of embarrassment on his face was tangible and priceless but no words were said. Imagine our surprise (or not) when at the end of the walk we saw the pair leave with the Blue Heeler in the back of a Ute, in a cage (!), barking its head off, and 500 metres further on (as we passed, they had stopped) The Man putting a muzzle on his dog's, erm, muzzle. We wondered whether Raffie had been the problem ... (not according to the Paw Power organiser, Sarah, who knew both Raffie and the Blue Heeler - and their respective " parents"). All good fun!
Not only am I shaping up myself by having resumed my daily morning walks (to be turned into runs at some stage), and not only have I gone back to the gym to be guided by 'my' personal consultant into improved fitness (not being able to do any physical exercise for a few weeks does take it out of you), I also received some other good news with the word 'shape' in it. 
In her enthusiastic Quest to further 'infiltrate' the deepest reaches of the Cambridge ESOL organisation (for whom Niki currently works as an examiner, and team leader), my love yesterday took a course, organised by none other than the Australian Immigration Department (of visa extending renown), to learn how to read and recognise falsified documentation (such as passports). She did the course with a group of colleagues from the Shaftston and Navitas Cambridge exam centres, from both of which Niki has examiners in her team. Having her eyes set on a Cambridge inspectorate in Australia (a vacancy is likely to come up next year), Niki was keen to do this, but also felt this might just be a fascinating thing to do and 'something different'. So, a specialised magnifying glass (of the kind you need to peek through at close distance from a document, with a light in) and a UV torch (as yet to arrive from the US) were purchased. Imagine all the secrets hiding in passports, that we never knew of (and officially still don't), allowing Those In The Know to see whether the document is true or false; discover how people cleverly falsify language attainment certificates / diplomas (but don't fool the sleuths); learn about the many other devious ways of people pretending they are someone else, or have achieved something they haven't really. Better be wary, very wary, Cambridge exam candidates: Sherlock is in the House!
This Sunday we spent the whole, sunny day mucking around with horses. 
