Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. -Mark Twain

I'll give you two guesses where you can find all of these wonderful titles. Have a good look at them. Did you spot the Biochemistry of Silage? Who among you found Horse-Shoeing in Your Right Mind? The Small-holder's Manual? Microbes and Man? Applied Dog Behavior and Training?

All of these intriguing titles and more (much more!) can be found at my new place of employment. Did I mention I'm now a librarian? Okay, Library Assistant. And not just any library, mind you, but one of the UK's only colleges devoted entirely to the Land-based studies. What are land-based studies, the Americans are grumbling. Well, I'll tell you. You got your agriculture, forestry, and countryside management. Your floristry, landscape architecture and design, and your sensory gardening. Somebody's got to fix your tractor, so we've got training for farm mechanics as well. Then there's the equine unit in which you can get your Master's in Stable Business Management (horse racing or riding school specializations, of course) or else train to be a riding instructor, a groom/stable hand, or in something mysteriously called equitation and maybe someone horsey out there can explain to me what that means. There's also the Veterinary Nursing department where you can train to be a vet nurse, or get your Bachelors in Veterinary Business studies. You can learn to work with lab animals, train guide dogs, become a farrier, a blacksmith, or if construction or joinery's your bag there's courses for you too.

All the girls wear their jodhpurs and riding boots and I have to admit I feel a little out of sorts in my boring old office wear. Truth be told however, so far I'm quite enjoying my new job. Being a librarian is a fiddly sort of profession that suits my selectively perfectionist persuasion. I especially like talking with the students, it's a good mix of kids - the farm machinery boys are only there for 12 weeks and are a bit rough and rowdy and I'm always a little surprised when one of them checks out a book. On the other end of the spectrum are the oh-so-serious Equine Science majors who never leave the library and beg you to let them check out just one more book when they've already gone 4 or 5 over their 10 book allowance.
Speaking of equines, who's that out my office window? We haven't been formally introduced but I hear he's called William. Or was it Harry? I'm quite certain it was one of the princes anyway. All of this horse business has finally prompted me to read the Horse Whisperer. Why didn't you tell me it was so good? It's about time I read the damn thing and now I can't put it down. I'm even seriously considering riding again since I'm so surrounded by the horseys day in and day out. I inhale the alluring aroma of horseshit all day and listen to the clip clopping of their shoes out my window and occasionally Prince Charles here gives me a hearty ole whinny.

I haven't ridden in years. My family had quarter horses and paints when I was a teenager though I'm ashamed to admit how quickly I lost interest once I turned 16 and got a car and discovered boys. It didn't help that every time I got in trouble for something involving the newfound cars or boys, the punishment was always the same: The entire weekend up at dawn stripping stalls and hauling manure out back in a wobbly wheel barrow in the pouring down rain. It sort of killed the romance of horses for me. Particularly when my parents went through their 'we're going to be horse breeders' phase and would have as many as 17 or 18 horses at any one time.

If I'm honest, I'm a bit intimidated by dressage and equitation and show jumping and the like. I've only ever ridden Western and I was hardly disciplined about it. My favorite thing to do (nevermind that I once paid dearly for it with a torn Achilles tendon and a plaster cast on my ankle for 6 weeks when I was 12) was to just plain hop on the horses while they were out at pasture. Even better if I was barefoot. There was something so wildly free and exhilaratingly sensual, even at 11 years old, about riding bareback and barefoot with nothing but a halter and lead for a bridle, or sometimes less. Plainly at the mercy of whatever whim the horse I was riding would take. Which mostly meant my holding on for dear life as they tried desperately to buck me off or hoped that if they ran fast and hard enough under the one tree on the edge of the field with the low branch they might just be rid of me and get back to munching on that fine, green grass. Damn, I had balls back then. (What happened to those, anyway?) Somehow I find the English approach so aristocratic and antiquated - though I know plenty of riders who themselves are neither of these things! Somebody talk me into it, I dare you.

I saved the best for last here's my favorite shelf of all. I especially like the way cheesemaking, trapping, squirrel control and beekeeping are all in one convenient place. Truly one stop shopping.