Scarves
Beauties
Luiz
Ocean
Batiks and Beaches
Yesterday it rained and rained and rained. I stayed at the Sutra to work all day - plugged my laptop in at one of the restaurant tables (everything is outdoors) and spent the entire day plugged in. The morning kept spitting rain, just sprinkles, and then after lunch the sky got darker and darker and thunder rumbled and the skies opened up. It rained all afternoon and into the evening. The riders had planned on doing a night ride - to experience the trail in the dark - but nobody said anything about practicing in the rain! So that was cancelled :)
This morning was clear and beautiful - almost cool in the morning, a breeze off the ocean, very comfortable. I worked a little more after breakfast and then Fida and Mimi rounded up a van to take a few of us to a Batik store - where they do the painting and dyeing, and have a store full of dazzling colors of silk and cotton. The batik is made by painting the fabric with hot wax, which blocks the dye and colors any parts that aren't waxed. They'll do this over and over with different stages of waxing and dyeing and the result is a work of art! We had fun shopping, touching, trying things on. I ended up buying their entire rack of batik cotton scarves (bandana style) to use as ride awards next year. They thought I was crazy! but only 10 ringets each (that's a little over $3 US) - it's a good think there was only one rack:)
We got back for a late lunch, the others went off to the barn and I worked a little, then took a long walk on the beach. It's a gorgeous coastline - miles and miles of sandy beach along the South China Sea - little islands dotting the horizon. I didn't see very many people - it's not a crowded coast - just a few families, a few women sitting in the sand. Beautiful palms, mangrove type trees with long roots reaching out in every direction. Warm warm water. It was low tide so I could walk far out in the ocean, ankle and knee deep water.
Seiichi and Harumi Hasumi just walked in! (I'm sitting in the Rhu Tapai Lounge at the Sutra with Mercedes and Luiz, our friends are playing again - Eric Clapton's Layla). Yaguchi just picked them up at the airport. They looked great after a long flight. Are you tired? I asked. No! no! of course not! Seiichi assured me. He's an amazing man.
The Qatar horses arrived today. There are still 3 Dubai horses and riders scheduled to come in a couple days. Another shipment of horses from Argentina (Miguel Pavlovsky and Hugo Mendez horses) recently purchased by Malaysian riders.
that's about it for news! We'll see what tomorrow brings-
Steph