So very proud of my niece, Tori.  She’s once again qualified through the regional groups to the National Championships in dressage.

The RDA National Championships is a wonderful event where people with all sorts of disabilities are able to showcase their incredible ability and skill to ride horses to a high level.

Such a shame however that unlike last year’s heatwave at the finals, this year it was p’ing with rain, muddy underfoot and the very real threat of thunder and lightning.

Michelle and Tori were up early getting Jinx ready for the competition.  Trying themselves to avoid the rain showers whilst grooming him and then hiding out in the horse trailer to plait Jinx’s mane.

When we arrived at Hartpury it was clear that sadly the bad weather had an affect on the competition.  Not only were the outdoor arenas waterlogged but the spectators simply weren’t there in the numbers of last year.  Such a shame for the competitors not to have the support.

The dressage competitions were held in the indoor arenas which created even more challenges for many of the riders.  The sound is very different indoors, the confined space within which to warm up and prepare and added to which there was the occasional clap of thunder outside which reverberated in the arena and created difficulties for the riders to handle their horses.

However all the adverse conditions simply demonstrated that these plucky riders are made of sterner stuff.  Amazing competition with some truly inspiration and incredible riders.

Here’s a few pictures of Tori during her competition.  10th place in the Nationals.  She did brilliantly.

Another beautiful day at Henley Royal Regatta.. but first a reminder about the dress code.  When I picked up my friends, Verity and Caroline, they both asked if their dresses were long enough to meet Henley Regatta’s strict dress code.  Both had dresses that finished on the knee and indeed were very similar to dresses I’d seen in the Stewards’ Enclosure on Thursday, so I thought they’d be OK.

It appears however that the rule is more heavily enforced at a weekend… a quick diversion to Henley town to acquire a new dress!  We certainly weren’t the only ones and the dress shops were doing a roaring trade.

When we finally got into the Enclosure we decided to go for a little exploration of the Stewards’ Enclosure, Regatta Enclosure and part way down the towpath.  It was noticeably quieter than on the Thursday despite it being the last day of racing and therefore the finals.  Always good to see the other parts of Henley Regatta and we were a little envious that there was no dress code!

On returning to the Stewards’ Enclosure we met up with my friends Liz and Andrew who had with them their friends, Phil and Jane.  A wonderful party of fabulous people for an afternoon of gossip, laughter, drinking and watching the end of the racing.

Also wonderful to see the Royal Barge, Gloriana, at Henley again this year.  Such an impressive craft.

And a beautiful picture of Henley at the end of this year’s Regatta.

I discovered how tremendously popular I was when I announced on Facebook that I’d managed to get two pairs of Centre Court tickets in the Wimbledon Ballot.

However when I heard that my great friend Jenny, who now lives in the US, was to start her family holiday by flying in to the UK on Friday 4th July, it was a no-brainer.  Jen loves her tennis and I knew would relish the opportunity to be in Centre Court for the Ladies’ Singles Final.  Her fabulous husband agreed to take the kids down to Cornwall on his own on the condition that I was to make sure Jenny got an early train to Cornwall on Sunday.

Perfect plan… well it would have been but for a couple of reasons.  United Airlines cancelled their flight and announced that they’d be put on another arriving into London on Sunday.  After much kerfuffle, negotiation and yet more US driving, they headed for a flight out of Philly to Washington DC, then another flight to London.  This arrived on Saturday morning and it was going to be a rush to get to London and Wimbledon but fortunately it landed early and I was already there waiting.  We bid the family goodbye and raced for London.  Quick shower and change and made it to Wimbledon by 1.20pm.  A quick wander to watch a few minutes of the wheelchair doubles – utterly amazing and in awe of the power and agility of these players.

Check in at the ballgirl/boy office to find out if Abi was on court anywhere for a spot of Abi-stalking.  Then just enough time to take our seats in Centre Court for the 2pm Ladies’ Singles Final.

Gosh, can you tell we’ve barely had any sleep?

Once again blessed with fabulous seats.  Amazing to be there and to hear and see the power and strength of each shot.

The Ladies’ Singles Final:

Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) [13]
v
Petra Kvitova (CZE) [6]

was sadly over very quickly.  Under 55 minutes and it felt very one-sided.  Sadly we were both supporting Bouchard who for whatever reason we felt didn’t quite have her mojo.

We had to stay for the presentation ceremony because guess which ball-girl was in the line-up?   Yes the ever wonderful Abi!  Sadly though I wasn’t able to get the ‘perfect’ picture of her as there was a pesky boy in front… but here’s a few of the better ones.

We then left Centre Court briefly to have a wake-up walk around Wimbledon and headed back in for the latter part of the next match – Ladies’ Doubles Finals

Timea Babos (HUN) [14] / Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) [14] v
Sara Errani (ITA) [2] / Roberta Vinci (ITA) [2]

A well-fought match where age and experience of Errani and Vinci won over the enthusiastic and energetic youngsters of Babos and Mladenovic.  Fair to say the final scores of 6-1, 6-3 truly didn’t reflect the amount of quality shots and winning play that was represented by Babos and Mladenovic.  I think we’ll be seeing more of these ladies in future competitions.

Once again in need of a wake-up walk and also some refreshment we headed for the nearest cafe… just as the heavens really opened.  Pots of tea with scones, clotted cream and jam… ooh and strawberries and cream.  Perfect pick me up!

Next on Centre Court was the Gentlemen’s Doubles Final

Bob Bryan (USA) [1] Mike Bryan (USA) [1]
v
Vasek Pospisil (CAN) Jack Sock (USA)

I had been fortunate enough to see the Bryan Brothers in a qualifying round for this final but chose to support the youngsters AKA Popsocks.

An incredibly hard-fought match.  Again age and experience v enthusiasm and energy.  We stayed only for the first couple of sets but could see that it would run it’s full course of 5 sets.

So very pleased to hear the final was won not by the seeded and title holders but by the youngsters, Popsocks. It would no doubt have been an utterly brilliant match to watch to the final point but we had somewhere we really wanted to be and someone who had been on our minds all day.

As we left Wimbledon we had our tickets scanned so that hopefully someone else was able to purchase the remaining time and enjoy what would have been a wonderful completion of a day of tennis on Centre Court.  The money for resold tickets goes to charity.

My lovely friend, Stephen, organises an amazing day each year at Henley Royal Regatta and I’m terrifically fortunate that he invited me again this year.

There are several of us that used to work together in the 80s and 90s that are invited and we race for busy trains to get to Henley late morning.  Not that we are creatures of habit but a stop off at Hotel Du Vin for a glass or two of bubbly start our wonderful day.  Time to regroup and take a breath before the main event.

We then head over to the Lion Meadow, Henley Royal Regatta car park, where Stephen is waiting with other guests and the very wonderful catering team from Thame.  This year, as it was so very hot and sunny, I was grateful for the gazebo and shade it created.  What wonderful food, great wines and, of course, fabulous company.

Mid-afternoon we make our way into the Stewards enclosure.  There’s always a little loitering so that we can find an area to set up camp for our group.  Once again we tuck into the ever important Pimms and bubbles enjoying each other’s company.  I have to confess it does become harder to actually watch the rowing – particularly when we are so comfortable with the sunshine, Pimms and company.

Great great fun… oooh and of course a few Regatta selfies!

When the racing had finished, a few of us headed off to Stephen’s glorious narrowboat for a glass of wine on deck as the sun went down.

All in all a super special day.  Thanks Stephen. x

Again blessed to have won the opportunity to purchase some Wimbledon tickets via the tennis league ballot.

I’m back in Court 2 for the day with my friend, Verity.

We had seats a little higher but still perfectly centre to watch some awesome tennis matches.

The lineup of matches on Court 2 were:

1. Shuko Aoyama (JPN) / Renata Voracova (CZE) v
Sara Errani (ITA) [2] / Roberta Vinci (ITA) [2]
2. Bob Bryan (USA) [1] / Mike Bryan (USA) [1] v
Julian Knowle (AUT) [9] / Marcelo Melo (BRA) [9]
3. Martin Klizan (SVK) / Belinda Bencic (SUI) v
Bruno Soares (BRA) [13] / Martina Hingis (SUI) [13]
4. Aisam Qureshi (PAK) [16] / Vera Dushevina (RUS) [16] v
Bob Bryan (USA) [2] / Kveta Peschke (CZE) [2]

What a treat to see some doubles matches. I love watching doubles as there’s always an element of ‘great mates’ playing a match. OK so obviously they’re also out there to win but somehow a sense of fun is also evident.

Wonderful too to see Martina Hingis who I saw many many years ago and, of course, the Bryan Brothers who took gold in the London Olympics.

Of course there is also a great amount of Abi-stalking.  She remains the best ball-girl and I was so very proud to be able to see her being so brilliantly professional again.