This is Phil, taking some photos of my IKEA fence box planter. I am safe to post this as he won't be able to check my blog for a few days and complain about the photo. I am very proud of him as he is a finalist in the International Garden Photographer of the Year 2008, in the Plant Portraits category. You can see his photo of a cornflower by following this link here


I'm also very proud of Sian, pictured here riding Drummer - it was a very hot day on Saturday and poor Drummer had to be hosed down after the ride was over. I love watching Sian ride; it's one of life's great pleasures.

Drummer is one of the horses we use for RDA. He's a real gentle giant. He was trained as a carriage horse before he came to Foxes and had to be taught to canter and jump! If you are leading him, he goes better if you rest your palm against his nose - he pushes on it as if it was a carriage harness. He's not the most energetic of rides and Sian had to work really hard on him.

I have now been volunteering for RDA for over a year. It's become such an important part of my week. I love the horses, the other volunteers who have become friends, the riders and our wonderful instructor, Ruth.