First time adventures.

On Saturday, i went with Jane and Amber riding. This was my first, real riding experience. We saddled up and headed out on the property. What was meant to be a leisurely stroll for a couple of hours and a picnic on top of the hill, turned into an intensive day of riding. My horse, Monty, beautiful and calm was also pretty random. Probably a perfect horse for me, the beginner. The interesting thing was to try and stay on the horse when he went from a trot to a screeching halt, dipping his head down to eat a bit of grass. I almost went off the front of him several times. Luckily, i stayed on for the entire 3 1/2 hours. I was soooo sore. We did get to see a lot of the property that you can't see from the road. plus, all the wild life in a more natural setting. When i got into the lodge to cook that night, our clients laughed their heads off upon hearing about our day and how worn out i was. That night i received a call from Eve and was told, one of our guests had treated me to a message from Nancy, a Maori Princess and our resident Massage therapist. It was an incredibly fun day. Photos to follow.
I do work with some special people. Today is the anniversary of my mother's passing. In honor of my mothers life..... and the very special relationship that i miss.... my boss gave me, Jane and Amber the day off together. I planned to go on a hike or take off and go sight seeing, but i was surprised with a rafting trip. They had heard i had never been and wanted to do something special for me. It was a great experience and more than that, i really appreciate the hearts of my new work family. The Kaituna River is a 7 meter drop and 45 minute long trip. Our guides were great and made the trip a blast. Luckily i stayed in the raft, but swallowed a lot of water. They got some very funny pictures of us along the way. We were wearing the funniest clothing and not a big help in the rowing department. I looked like we should be shot out of a cannon rather than rafting. Since none of us fell out, they tried to liven up the experience by steering us back into the mouth of a rapid to get dunked. I kept my head down, but Jane and Amber looked hilarious in the pictures.
Tomorrow i am back in the saddle, so to speak. I will have 14 guest for the next 6 days and then have a three day break. We have a staff Christmas party one of those nights, but i am going hunting one of those days with Mau and Ben (our hunting guides). I am learning to shoot right now and really liking it. They are the ones who get me all my yummy meats from the property and i am thankful they are involving me so much in it all. I will get some pictures of that next week.
Thanks to all that have written me updates, i do miss you friends, great to hear about your lives.
Love always!