I had a well-deserved (in my opinion) quiet day today. I spent the morning packing boxes, weighing and printing postage labels to send off tomorrow.

And the afternoon saw me in my shed making a “curly” lamb for a friend. My protocol is Earl Grey in my tea bowl watching Murdoch Mysteries while I stab away trying not to catch my fingers.  I am getting better at the latter.

The dogs came too as their monthly delivery of dog chews had arrived and they are working their way through the box.  One each, once a day.

Ted’s has recently had his quarterly wash and trim at the dog-groomers so he is now looking less like “a greasy Muppet” (Daisy’s words, not mine) and more like a gorgeous boy.

So handsome.

Both Pepper and Ted quickly finished their chews and were obviously looking for more.

I said “smile for the camera, please”.

And then I noticed them having a chat afterwards.  I wonder what they said.

It’s probably just as well I don’t know.

Now to make a trillion of these – I have a large order ahead to complete and only 5 more series of Murdoch Mysteries!

I’m not gonna lie, I love a craft fair, I do.

And anyone who knows me, will know I also enjoy selling.

But….. I have a standard. I only sell what I believe in so, imagine my suprise when I discovered our new tenant (at Finnigert) was a very skilled woodworker and, like all artists, does not enjoy selling his creations.  Obviously, I offered my selling skills to his wife and off we set this morning to grab a late cancellation table at a Craft Fair in Lerwick.

The Fair took a while to warm up, but folk eventually arrived.

And, yes, every child that walked past, I quoted my best Harry Potter Leviosa spell – ‘It’s leviOsa, not levioSA!’  One enchanting girl grinned from ear to ear when I said that!

It was easy – such gorgeous pieces.

They sold themselves.

There were obviously other tables and I had a peruse.  I need someone to knit me the fingerless gloves on the right! I could possibly obtain the pattern (I have fat hands, so you know).

I may have, at a previous Craft Fair, bought my weight in these chocolates – stocking presents, you understand.  The lady gave me a freebie, as I think she felt sorry for me as none of it was for me!

And I bought these for the tree – ideal as they are enclosed and a small dog/cat/other dog can’t eat them.  We are all hopeful for a Christmas tree this year as we  haven’t had one in two years.  Strategically placed Hygge branches are not going to cut it this year.

And home, via the local shop, to buy Frazzles, a bottle of whisky and a big bar of chocolate (the last two of which I will share with OH).  I am knackered from smiling and being nice, though it wasn’t difficult as the pieces I was selling were high craftmanship and I don’t say that lightly.

My little croft house sits below Stourbrough (pronounced Stoor-ber-ra) hill.   Sometimes spelled Stoorborough.

According to the internet, this hill that I see everyday is 173m above sea level and is 32nd highest hill in Shetland – we don’t have mountains.

I climbed Stourborough Hill once many years back riding Haakon.  It was quite the trek but the views at the top were amazing and well worth the effort.  Jaw-droppingly amazing.  But it was a huge effort for Haakon even then and I doubt I will ever do it again.  I had to get off and walk while Haakon picked his way through. At times he was climbing up the peat hags (cliffs) on his knees, and hauling himself over.   It was a very different landscape at the top and difficult to navigate.

Below the hill, in my field, we have a two possible Bronze Age ruins, though I am not sure really.  They are like house-shaped clearings.  No one has investigated them. I wish someone knowledgable would.

And on the other side of the fence, into the hill, is a rectangular shape – I have no idea at all what that is but it is very clear and different to the rest of the area.

However, the most interesting fact about Stourbrough HIll, is that “A striking feature of the production of axes and objects known as Shetland knives from riebeckite felsite, an igneous rock occurring in the form of intrusive dykes in granite country rock at the quarry complex at North Roe, on the Northmavine peninsula of Mainland Shetland (Ballin 2011a, b; Davis, 2012), is the occurrence of hoards of both axes and knives.

The most spectacular of the latter is the Stourbrough knife hoard (Fig. 3), composed of 19 knives, each placed upright and bookended by sandstone blocks. The hoard was found in eroding peat near the summit of a hill in West Mainland.” – The Role of Stone in Island Societies in Neolithic Atlantic Europe: Creating Places and Cultural Landscapes – Gabriel Cooney

Felsite knives in the Stourbrough hoard, West Mainland, Shetland. (Photo: Shetland Amenity Trust/D. Piquer)

I think (and hope) the knives on display at the Shetland Museum. If they are, I will go and pay them a visit one rainy day. A little part of me wished I had found them……. Haakon?  We’re going out. Come on old man!

This is possiby one of the best birthday presents ever – given to OH by daughter #1, Daisy, last week.

I spend my day, just positioning the sign around the house in strategic places.

Well you would, wouldn’t you?

Monster thinks I am mad and why does this sign keeps following him around the house? He has the best scary looks, though and I am there to photograph it.

I may have to get out more!

Well played, Daisy. Well played.

According to Eddie the Shipboard Computer (ie, my watch), it is going to be 2 degrees with a gale and rain tomorrow, and that is miserable for everyone.

So I moved the horses by opening the gate and shouting at them to come into another field.

They all acquiesced and trundled in.

And Haakon had a go at Iacs which was not necessary.

I have no idea why and I told Haakon that it wasn’t very nice to bite your cousin for no reason.

Iacs, being Iacs, let it go.  He is a glass half full kinda guy and I love him for that.

The horses quickly settled into their new field.

And I guess that means my obsession with the chemistry experiment ice crystals will have to go then.

I did a quick trip into town this afternoon with Ted for his quarterly hair cut.  While he was in being done, I went to Lerwick to Christmas shop.

Oxford Street it ain’t but I couldn’t help thinking the phrase “use it or lose it” was very apt.  With twenty days to Christmas, this is a tragic state of affairs for everyone on the Street.

It is very pretty, though, and Ted looks great – photos to follow.