Flying off to the nationals!

Well my month has certainly been an eventful one! It started with a bang – on the 1st of October I qualified for my first ever National Championships – I've been a stand in member of daughter No.1's British Dressage Team Quest team – the Cheshire Chicks, for a couple of years. This year with one member dropping out for a bit due to A-Levels, I've ended up a fully fledged (or should that be 'feathered') member of the team. So the first weekend in October I spent driving the wagon up and down the motorway to Warren Farm near Formby to compete in the North West regional finals and we only went and came 2nd which qualifies us for the nationals!! Daughter No 1 also did amazingly well individually and qualified for the individual part of the competition as well as the team. Now for all of you who have no idea what dressage is – you just have to think about the "dancing horses" of the 2012 Olympics, then tone it down about 10 levels. Daughter No 1 now actually does do some of the fancy footwork, but for my beloved equine and I it's all about staying within the white boards of the arena and doing the right thing at the right time! Banners have been printed to take with us (all carrying the Overwater name too of course!), and the wagon is practically undergoing "pimp up my ride" to get it ready for two nights away camping with the horses (they get a temporary stable – we sleep in the wagon). The only thing missing will be my husband who has taken the executive decision to stay at home in case he's need at the marina (possibly swayed by the fact that he'd be on the camp bed in the back!). On the marina we've had a busy month of jetty cleaning and repairing and meeting winter moorers. It'll go quiet into November with the stoppages and we'll be back onto winter hours and will spend our time catching up in the office and out round site. It's not my favourite time of year but it does give you chance to draw breathe and get on top of things and it also gives me time to find another all singing, all dancing Christmas decoration to drive the rest of the staff mad during December!