We have visitors fresh off the boat today.  Poor things looked fairly bleak as they arrived first thing having suffered the full force of last night’s storm.

There was a brief moment in today’s weather when it stopped raining and they went out for a brisk Sunday afternoon walk with the dogs.

It has been pouring with rain on and off all morning and the wind is beginning to die down now.  I was wondering whether the horses would be using the available dry stone walls as shelter but apparently they were all out eating.  Their field is big – 20 acres at least.

I asked them to take a camera.  A new set of eyes for me.

I love this photo as it shows the efficiency of Taktur’s coat – the way it goes into points so the rain does not actually touch his skin or make him cold.

Everyone was fine and very interested in OH’s bag of carrots.

Our visitors first met Klængur and Taktur when they came off the boat just over a year ago, having travelled from Iceland.   They said the horses looked “well fed” and happy.

As Nick is a horsey person, I am going to ask him to put a headcollar on Taktur and/or Klængur and bring him to the house for me so I can have just one little chat.  Purely for medicinal purposes, you understand.

In my opinion, horses should be included in the British National Formulary (the book all UK doctors use for information/doses/side effects/interactions of prescription drugs) and dispensed four hourly or as required to make me better.

The sun came out today and it was beautiful.  My OH (Other Half) suggested I sat outside so he put a chair out for me by the sheltered front door whereupon the sun instantly vanished!  I politely suggested he moved the car as I didn’t consider our old Yaris much of a view.

Now this is a view….

Add some horses and, of course, it would’ve been perfect but dogs are almost as good.

Jack pottered out for a pee and a quick hello.  He has aged very quickly since Celt’s death.  It is  difficult seeing him like this.  Celt all over again.  He is completely senile, nearly blind and very deaf too.

Loki has settled with us.  He is a strange dog.  He is clever but has no dog-skills.  He doesn’t know how to behave or play other dogs.  That huge bust-up with BeAnne last week has left me very cautious (I am still having problems forgiving him) and I am not sure what makes him tick.  Despite this, Celt was no saint at that age.  Many a bottle of whisky was despatched for his indiscretions but of course we have conveniently forgotten this as we remember him with a fixed halo.

I am still waiting for my Leica to come back from Germany so had to make do with this little ipod camera.  I tried to take, what my children call, a selfie.

My OH came outside for a chat and a coffee.  He even took his feet out for an airing in the unexpected autumn sunshine. I would even go as far as saying I was too hot at one stage hence my hat.

It is beginning to cloud over now.  There is a storm on its way that will hit us early tomorrow morning.

Here are some gratuitous photos of the Shetland ponies, just in case you need your fix….. I do miss them desperately.  I miss the giggling and wicked sense of humour.  Icelandic horses can be rather serious sometimes.

As you may be aware, I have been plagued with bad migraine-type headaches since my return from hospital.  Life has been miserable.

Today, I made a decision.  No more Fragmin, the daily injection of heparin whose side-effects are, guess what, severe headaches.  My GP is not happy about this and we have negotiated a deal that I will become more mobile, take daily aspirin and we will reassess on Monday.

So, I got dressed, hopped downstairs and have spent the day on my banana chair (a osteopathic recliner).  Fiona came round and did the best thing ever (apart from bringing me a pot of homemade blackberry jam) – she brought me Haakon.

Bliss.

He was a bit unsure of coming into the actual house as I have always said no to hooves over the threshold!

But with a little enticement, he came in for a chat.  You have no idea how therapeutic an equine nozzle snog is.  The smell, the warmth, the general horsiness.  I have missed this so much.

Then Floss and Fiona went for a ride.  Floss rode Iacs and off they pottered down to Watsness where apparently Iacs had 3 independent thoughts, which were neither indulged or encouraged.

But they came home safely and the horses were untacked and put back into the field.

Flossie said Iacs was in an unhelpful frame of mind.  Sometimes he can be deliberately obtuse (don’t tell Daisy) and it has often been commented that Iacs actually stands for I Am Completely Stupid.

The mud is back and winter is coming in the form of the Autumn Equinox gales next week.  We will batten down the hatches.

Anyway, back to me – I have not had a headache all day.  Now is this due to the lack of Heparin or the therapeutic horse breath?

A few days back a friend tweeted the following and we got into conversation.

What a dear friend.  True to her word, she and her son, Holden, turned up with a large box containing a ginormous slice of a the most incredible chocolate cake.  Apparently there was courgette in there!  I highly recommend.  She has a very popular blog site and said she will be putting up the recipe shortly.  I will be intrigued to look at the ingredient list.

Holden loved the dogs.  He introduced himself to Her Maj, but he adored Loki who loyally followed him around everywhere.

Meanwhile downstairs, Floss was diligently baking her coffee cake that I had requested (Request No 1).  I had a yearning for coffee cake.  She did brilliantly, completely with what we call “mouse’s messes” (my Mum, who reads this, will know exactly what I mean!)

Request No 2 to Floss was to take some photos of Wuss as I have only briefly seen him once since my return.  He lives in my proper bedroom but that is the other side of the house and to get to me he would have to actually leave the bed which is not something he is very keen on now winter has arrived.  I am almost thinking he might’ve lost weight.  Almost.

Request No 3 – Please take some photos of some Shetland ponies.  So Floss set out on her daily walk but this time down the road to our neighbours – Bergli Stud.  They have an extensive stud of both standard and miniature Shetland ponies.  I can’t see anything equine from my window so it is nice to see the little ones around and about.

I will admit that I am not getting on particularly well with this bedrest.  I am dodging 24/7 migraines and finding it very difficult, to be honest.  My district nurse said encouragingly today that I only have 47 more injections.  Nuff said.

Today was a write-off.  I woke up with a stonking migraine.  Ugh. I hate them and I have had them since I was born, though they have become less frequent as I have become older.  Yay.  But there has been one looming in the background for a while which saw its opportunity this morning.

So I stayed in bed and I haven’t got any further (not that I was going anywhere but I do usually get dressed to lie on my bed).

I spent the morning lying in a dark room, willing my analgesia to kick in.  Eventually it did and I hope that is the back of it.  I emerged in the afternoon, bleary eyed and fairly uncommunicative.

Floss, bless her, went out with some veg leftovers for the horses and apparently all OH could hear was “Ahem!” as they crowded around her. But she dished out the remains fairly and there was only one argument between Iacs and Klaengur.

I haven’t seen Jack since my return from hospital apart from out of the window.  He is so old and he can’t hear me when I shout to say hello.  He is too old to manage the stairs too and would loathe to be picked up and carried up to see me.

Apparently Jack attached himself to Floss and followed her home. He was on a dogwalk that he didn’t want to go on.  So she took him home again. He is too old for this kind of walking malarky.

I must try and get downstairs next week.  I want to see everyone. I miss them all.