Little Himself, aka Albie, is doing well.

He is still fed twice a day – once in the morning (1 litre of milk and a scoop of hard feed) and then again in the afternoon (1litre of milk).

I always tip up his bowl with my foot.

It makes it easier for Albie to get the last drops.

And then there is Storm who arrives far too quickly.

Albie is not keen on sharing his milk.  His little bottom whirrs round like the armed turret on the top of an army tank.  He is not afraid to tell anyone what he thinks!

None shall share.

(not even little blue-eyed Tiddles).

Then there is the statutory game with the milk bottle.  A necessity rather than habit.

Today, I brought Albie in as I wanted to try rugs on him.  The weather is going to deteriorate and Daisy and I have been thinking that Albie may be losing weight.  We settled on this rather nifty number.

It fits a treat and Albie looks very smart in it.

I took Albie back out to his field, where Storm was waiting for him.  He leads very well on a headcollar – always has.  Such lovely manners.

And then the Shetland ponies had to examine him thoroughly.

Very thoroughly, if he would just stay still long enough.

Funnily little ponies.  Look at Tor’s body language.  She doesn’t want anyone near her little foster boy.

She does care. I know she says she doesn’t but she does (secretly).

Today would be best described as dreich.

A perfect word that means dreary, weatherwise.

We didn’t see the sun today.  It never appeared and that and the clocks going back, made for an out-of-sorts type of day.

We have four ponies living in Sandness.  I have property there and, though they are far away, the ponies are checked daily.  The curtains twitch constantly and everyone seems to have an opinion.

Living in Sandness would be Vitamin – her of the famous Shetland sweater, though I seriously doubt she would fit it in it at the moment.  A tad on the fat side of life.

Lyra, Vitamin’s daughter, is with her.

Waffle is doing well.

As is Silver.

I think Silver is spot-on in his quest for perfection and thinliness (yes, that is a word – yes, you can go check and yes, it might not actually exist, so sue me!)

Waffle remains work-in-progress. I feel his pain!

It may be severely dreich today but Shetland remained beautiful and, while I was tad soggy, afterwards from my expedition, I went home to warm house and happy animals.

Life is good. I refuse to say otherwise.

Today is a day for celebration.

I can fit into my jodphurs again.  I bought them in Iceland in 2012 and I have managed to wear them all day, even riding Klængur today.

You have no idea what a big deal this is.

Those jodphurs have sat in a drawer for the last four years taunting me with their non-forgiving waistband.

Since my “little episode”, my diet has changed and I have lost some weight though no one, to date, has said anything so it could well be my imagination.  My leather belt has gone in 2 notches but, again, leather can stretch.

So, in honour of this momentous day, I have trawled through the photos I took during my visit to Iceland all those years ago.

 

Efstur’s Sire – Álfur frá Selfossi

The very definition of Awesome.

Strokkur geyser ready to blow!

And it blows.

Gullfoss 

And this was our first meeting with Taktur – he was a 2 year old.

And Esja – she was a yearling.

Daisy and I loved Iceland.  We need to return.

I may spend this evening searching for flights.

After all the vegetable packing and labeling over the last few days for The Food Fair, I thought I would have a quiet day.  So I paid bills and sorted out my in-tray (transferred it to the bin).

B⚡️O💊R💻I💰N💉G

It is also blowing a cold west-northwesterly gale so not a day for me to be outside.  This kind of cold wind makes my bones ache horribly.

Anyway, here a few photos from a few day’s back when the Boyzenberries were getting to know their field neighbours.

The Boyzens are always keen to chat to anyone.  They are curious far more than scared – even ‘Bert who has quickly fallen into our routine.

–

Efstur is now addicted to carrot slices. Ever the optimist, he hangs around, just in case because you never know.

However, this day Efstur put his teeth to other uses, like seeing if he could chew on the electric pole.  Gah!  No!

I shouted at him so he found different entertainment.  Not brilliant, but safer.

When the Boyzens came up to chat, Efstur was intrigued.  A woolly nose rest!  Who invented this?

While Efstur was creating a diversion, Hjalti was busy working on the escape route.

He had a little helper too.  Why?  Just why?

Sometimes I find this gate open and now I think I know how it happens.

It doesn’t matter.

We just then return thems that go walkabout.

That includes everyone.

Bert is getting better, putting on weight and very tame.

He plays shove with Lambie and follows me everywhere as he too is very partial to a sliced carrots.

He has two papilloma-type growths on one of his front legs.  I am spraying them with terramycin and am hoping they will go away on their own.

I am so pleased he is home.  I still tell him.

Yesterday, Lambie left the others (‘Ster and ‘Bert) to supervise Daisy’s training on Taktur.

As you can see, he watches everything and is very critical

Like most trainers, he is very good-looking too.

When Taktur flew into trot, Lambie was not that sure about the sand being thrown up in his face.

So he came to stand in the middle of the indoor school with me.

And his second Muzzah, BeAnne. She, also, takes a huge interest in Daisy and Taktur’s training.

For the wool experts among you, Lambie’s fleece is split into two types – carpet and Caligula curls.

This summer he sat on the dying embers of a bonfire so he is sporting a slight singed look now.

At the time, he didn’t seem to mind at all.

Darling Lambie.  He really is.  Folk don’t seem to understand that he has no panic button, the normal sheep adrenalin doesn’t exist in him.  If he was to run away, it would be to me so I could sort out the problem and I would.

Now, when Lambie was very little (this is a photo from Week 1 of his life), he lived under the stairs at night with Jack(et Potato’s) old bed if he wanted.  He was too small for it and couldn’t climb in.

Yesterday, he sat in a similar sized dog bed that lives in the school for BeAnne’s comfort.

It fits BeAnne nicely.

However, it does not fit Lambie at all!

If I fits, I sits!