11/27/09 Vacation Day 3 - The Disasters

*Laugh* Such an ominous title, isn't it?! I will calm those readers that are panicing - no I didn't get a flying lesson, no unintentional dismounts, no horse sickness, no dog or cat sickness. Not even me sickness. But still a pretty crummy day.

I grabbed Ransom in the morning, and relaxed into my dressage saddle. Whew! Long legs, deep stirrups, and a soft squishy saddle seat, we headed to the arena. The entire distance around was quite dry, and soft, so I avoided circles as much as possible on the low end. I rode far end circles, middle circles, and all the way 'round on the rail. All three gaits, collected as well as long & low. Even kicked my feets out of the stirrups a while towards the end, noticing the different leg muscles required to balance in the different saddle. Pretty neat stuff! Ransom seemed rather happy with himself, moving forward at the slightest cue.

Our really only "work to fix" was from trot to walk, trying to get it in a few strides without tugging tugging on his face. It improved as I went along.

In the afternoon, R and I made a very hearty attempt to stick ceiling tiles on my living room ceiling. See, I'd been offered a bunch of tiles for free, and it sounded like such a great idea - Get the leaking roof fixed (done months ago), and cover the entire living room with these tiles - covers the leak repair, and makes the ceiling look like new.

After nearly six hours
Three different kinds of glue
(Two of those on the carpet, from tiles falling glue-down on the floor)
And plenty of frustrated exclamations
We gave up

The tiles would NOT stick to the ceiling. There was no easy way to nail or staple them up without leaving ugly marks. One kind of glue appeared to be working, but then three tiles fell to the floor before we could catch 'em, and of course they fall glue down, leaving blue glue on my almost new carpeting. Bah Humbug!

Both of us frustrated, and about a dozen little tiles on the ceiling, we stopped to make a decision on what to try next. Off the ladders, from the floor, the tiles didn't really look good stuck up there. They were uneven, probably because the glue amounts weren't exact from one tile to the next.

I said I quit... and the tiles were removed. I've still got some glue patches on that part of the ceiling, to be all covered probably early into next year once the holiday spending frenzy has passed. I'm still entirely frustrated about it, wishing the tiles had worked, because it would've been quite nice. But oh well... We sure did try, and try hard.