Mostly Lambie

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A few evenings back, I went outside to find Lambie sitting close to the house, albeit in another field – you can see the gap behind him where all the sheep, except ‘Ster and Dahlia, elegantly crawl under!  I don’t mind. It saves me opening gates.

So I went to see if I could capture the famous Winning Smile.

It is Lambie’s best feature.

The next day was nice and I was on a rest break after mucking out the shed, so I went with my big camera and sat on a rock.  The ponies were miles away on their track.

But again there were sheep around so I peacefully snapped away trying to capture their personalities while they came up to chat, or not.

‘Ster who is feeling a bit better, thank you for asking.

‘Bert – he has a very good fleece this year.

Harrel-the-Barrel – read thug, a total opportunist who steals chicken food.

And my little Lambie.  Always enchanting.

Possibly a diva.

And an equilateral triangle.

He nodded off while I was taking photos.

And lastly, Gus-Gus.  No words just Gussie.

Iacs Today

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The vets from south (Ardene House Vets) were in Shetland and Iacs was on their list.  He sees them annually for a check up after his operation a few years back for penile squamous cell carcinoma.

Iacs’ appointment wasn’t until the afternoon so OH and I got on with another looming chore. We finished sweeping out the sheep shed and left it to dry.

Afterwards, I took some painkillers and went outside to sit in the sunshine.

It was a beautiful day.

Later on I received a message saying that the vet was on her way to us so I went into the field and led Iacs out so he was close by when they turned up.  Haakon followed too.

(I have no idea why Haakon has to stand like a giraffe).

I was already feeling windy about Iacs having a general anaesthetic at his great age so I had a chat with Daisy (who is Iacs’ owner) to decide what was the best way forward.

The vet arrived and we discussed the pros and cons of sedation bearing in mind his age (31yo) and possible complications (colic).  Because Iacs’ last examination had been clear, the vet gave him a good clean/feel and said it all felt very normal and no obvious growths.  Ok, she couldn’t see because Iacs would need a general anaesthetic for that and, as there has been absolutely no signs or symptoms, we decided to leave it with the view that if I observed anything over the next year, then obviously we would do something if it was considered necessary.

Colic is an ever-present enemy at their advanced ages.

So that is what we decided.

(and the vet said she wouldn’t have known Iacs and Haakon were 31 and 32yo and they looked amazing – I breathed a huge sigh of relief).

Some Piccies of Today

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A few photos (ok, more than a few) from last night and today with explanations of why I took them….

This is the face of someone who has been caught visiting a new neighbour recently – “oh yes, I saw her first thing the other morning” was what we heard.  *** sigh *** The thing is, no one even knows she’s missing!

Monster at breakfast lounging over my iPad, as per usual.  The bluebell is a nice touch.

The annual clean out of the sheep shed.  My poor back screams.

At last, blue skies.

My new business cards.

Waffle, while I was poo-picking the track.

Galloping down the hill – a favourite sport for Shetland ponies.

Tiddles’ being bouffant.

Brushed but still hairy.

Monster eating his supper in his usual spot tonight.

Meanwhile in Shetland

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Back to my weather obsession.  This is today in the UK.  A heatwave, apparently.  A bonkers hot one.

Meanwhile, in Shetland……

Weatherwise, it’s not great to be honest and seeing photos of folk enjoying the sunshine is a little galling while we are still wandering around in our big coats and wellies.

I even had to put the fire on in my shed for Pepper this afternoon while I made another hand-felted Shetland sheep.  She absorbed all the heat generated.  I could feel nothing.

Never mind, apparently the sun might arrive tomorrow, though not the high temperatures (which is good for the sheep as they really struggle with heat and their big fleeces).

I think we are all looking forward to seeing that yellow thing in the sky for more than an occasional glimpse, which is all we have had recently.

On a plus today, though, it has been an excellent spring for our bluebells.

And I now know where we planted the wild garlic – it was lost it for a while.  I shall now look forward to a Shetland heatwave – my definition being two consecutive days when it doesn’t rain!

 

 

All Brushed!

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Well that’s everyone brushed for the year.  Today I had help from a friend, which made things much easier.  First I caught Albie and tied him up using the one-size-doesn’t-really-fit-anyone headcollar.  As you can see, he got his nose out but it did the job for the time it was needed.

The rest of the ponies were all eating af the furthest end of the track – of course they were, so we walked round with our grooming tools and set about brushing each pony one at a time.

Next up, Tiddles.  He tried to have a tantrum about me brushing out his forelock and cleaning his ears.  I ignored it and kept going.

I title this – “when your mother brushes your hair”.  Très bouffant, Tiddles.  And note the clean lugs.  To be fair, he did come up and apologise later for his rage.  I kissed him on the nose and said it didn’t matter but remember I will always win.

I can’t really remember what order we brushed the rest of the ponies in but we did the lot and, again, they weren’t really shedding much hair as you can see from the pile once we had finished.

So I think we just brushed out the last of the very thick long winter coat leaving them with a spring coat which will soon fall out.

I did manes and tails too.

Another Mum hair-do.

Newt still resembles a small yak no matter how much brushing.  He actually behaved.

The sun quickly vanished and it soon clouded over and as it is still not very warm, I am not worried about their coats, especially as they are all like that.  Perhaps they know something I don’t like we are not going to have a summer.

Anyway, they all ran off….. giggling.

And Waffle galloped past me to catch up as he had gone the wrong way!