Battening down the hatches

I keep telling myself that we need rain.  The ground is too dry and can’t warm up.  The grass won’t grow without it either.

While the rest of the UK seems to be up to its oxters in mud, it hasn’t rained in Shetland properly for weeks now.  I can go and talk to the horses in my slippers, which is not right for this time of year.

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Jo came over to help me move the lads.  The forecast is wind and rain now for the foreseeable so it makes sense to put them in to Clothie, my 5 acre field with shelter and some grass.  Indy went in to the school to make himself that bit more alluring.

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(I think I feel sick)

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Those that were considered untrustworthy had headcollars put on them.

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So that would be Iacs (easily led and tends to bugger off if he can, taking others with him into the open hill), Klaengur, Indy, and Hammy.  Haakon and the bebbies were trusted to follow.

I stayed behind with Taktur who needed feeding.  Haakon grumbled past but went on his way.

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BeAnne kept an eye and helped them too.

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It is not very far to Clothie but there is much potential for buggering off and the scattald is big, very big, like miles big.

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They all behaved, which was kind of them and went to Clothie with minimum fuss.

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I fed Taktur his new food – looks like cornflakes with conditioning cubes. Jo had changed his diet while I was away and discovered he likes this mixture much better.

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Obviously Chicken Wars is still on.

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BeAnne was of absolutely no use. All her chicken training has gone to waste.  She had better things to hunt for.

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Ever the lady!

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Taktur was a gent.  I took him over to Clothie on his own.  He never pulled, barged or had an opinion about being without the herd. He just followed me, waited while I opened the field gate, did a lovely turn on the forehand so I could shut it and take his headcollar off.  The Gods smiled when they gave me Taktur.

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I am sad in some ways about the oncoming gales and rain. The beautiful daffodils were making such a good effort.  They will probably all be flattened by tomorrow.

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Never mind, I will keep telling myself that we need this rain.

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2 thoughts on “Battening down the hatches

  1. Kim

    Okay, chicken wars made laugh out loud. 😀 I am so very jealous of your daffodils. Normally they grow like weeds around here, but this year all I got was a small batch of mini-me’s. The surprise was that in the middle of them up popped a tiny hyacinth. No idea where it came from as all I planted was daffys. So cut (or have someone do it for you if it’s not on your allowed list) your daffys and put them in a vase or 3 inside and think of me.

    Reply
  2. Martine

    My LSH was in Cork during the week and “enjoyed” 95 mph winds and lashing rain.
    Hope it passes quickly for ye.
    I would be so like Kim and pick all the daffs… they’re just going to be mush tomorrow anyway.

    Reply

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