A day of cold.  I ache therefore I am (recovering).

Freezing cold.  Watched by some….

…. and others….

… we loaded up the Land Rover and made some decisions.

It is bluddy freezing and will be for a few days more…

so we returned Whiffy and Vitamin to their herd…..

… and put out a bale of silage for them.

They were very happy to see food ….

and quickly found it (a Shetland pony talent).

Everyone should be alright now.

This cold is very…… well, cold!  I am still recovering from the last few days.  All will soon become clear, I promise (ie, our five minutes of fame)!

(this is a pathetic blog, I know, but I am exhausted, I hurt and I have to go out and do more in the pitch dark – I actually want to go to bed and die!)

We all started very early, as the sun rose.  It was a beautiful sunrise so I considered this a good omen for the rest of the day.

Yup, I still can’t tell you anything but we went to four different locations, looked at a few others and our stars were wonderful.

BeAnne stayed at home and was not happy.  Apparently she howled, so after our lunch break (back at Thordale for green soup (? flavour) and sausage sarnies), I took her with me for the rest of the day.

This was Location No 1.

Fantastic light and we worked hard.  It was frikkin’ freezing and my feet turned into blocks of ice.

Jo brought her son, Robert and he kept us amused, and diverted, from thinking about the cold by smashing ice over his head!

Then we gathered up our belongings and moved off to find our next location.

We drove around for a while, looking at various options and decided on a hill view.

After lunch, now with BeAnne in tow, we headed back to Sandness where the seals watched us in total bemusement.

The last shoot of the day was with Foula in the background.

BeAnne was now incandescent with rage as her skills had not been employed once..

Unhappy with their choice of models, BeAnne made her feelings very clear and set up an ambush!

Sadly, her pleadings for work fell on deaf ears (their loss imho) and she had to be restrained until the day was over (oh, the shame).

Oh yes, and I made Daisy brush her hair with the horse’s brush because I had left mine in the Land Rover and I couldn’t be arsed to walk back up the hill for it.

If it is good enough for our supermodels, it is good enough for her!

Well I can’t discuss today at all except it was hard work and my back hurts beyond all painkillers.  I have endless lists everywhere and I am thinking on my feet (not a good combination, really).

The stars of the show were wonderful and I love them to bits because they never batted an eyelid, took it all their little stride and I will hug them forever if we pull this off.  There was a great deal of bribery too.

The weather was most unShetland-like (ie, calm)

but with a very magical light.

Tomorrow we start all over again, at the crack of sparrows (definition) only this time I am taking a boat load of Tramadol with me.

I am sorry I can’t write more.  When I can, rest assured I will and then there will be picture overload too.

The next few days will be different from our usual plod.  I can’t say much but suffice it to say that today was set aside for preparation.

We had to brush les girls and make them look even more beautiful than they already do.

So, with the help of Fi, Jo and Daisy we stood in the Arctic wind brushing manes and tails.

At least I saw my gorgeous Gwendolinda. She is still just as nice as ever.

The girls were co-operative and we took Whiffy and Vitamin home with us for more tarting up as they are actually the stars of the show.

I am sorry, but I still can’t tell you what we or they will be doing but suffice it to say that this was the audience’s faces when we had a trial run!

After the dress rehearsal (and we had returned the eyes that had popped out!), Whiffy helpfully carried her bedding to her new field.

Both ladies were happy to be there and, after some rolling (goodbye all our good work), there was much galloping about, which was very sweet because Whiffy is not known for her speed.

Anyway, the girls can practice looking majestic because I think that might be a useful skill over the next few days.

And when it is over, we can all go back to normal again!