My day started well. I walked over the hill to collect Haakon, Iacs and Klængur from their field as we were going for a ride or two.  I had brought headcollars and put them on the chaps.

I stupidly thought to myself “I trust these three, they know what they are doing, they will walk (as they always do) through the hill and home” and opened the gate.

But no, to a horse, they sniggered, kicked up their heels and went off into the infinite hill.  Iacs even did a happy little buck!

Daisy and I got them back with some persuasion and then went on our ride(s). *** sigh *** – Why don’t I ever learn?  There was definitely something in the air today.  They were very fast rides!

And then, after a marathon of cooking this afternoon, I decided I had earned some peace and quiet and went to sit with the sheeps.

‘Bert immediately plopped himself down beside me.

And we tooks selfies together – Bert’s such a dude.

Little Missy Madam spied me in the field and immediately came over.

She is a very inquisitive little girl.

and she likes to nibble.

Certainly one of the herd and we all adore her.

BeAnne sat behind me waiting to go back inside.  She is not a huge fan of sheep anymore ever since Edna told her what she thought of dogs. To be fair, Edna had just had Missy so was not in the best frame of mind.  BeAnne now tends to steer well clear.  Probably wise.

As you may, or may not know, I am a crap gardener but I like the idea of growing things (ditto for knitting and sewing – crap at them too).

So, today, I went with a friend to Lerwick to collect her treasured (and huge) Kaffir lime tree which she was giving me.  We took the van, gave the tree a massive prune, and drove it home.  It is now living in my she-shed as that is the hottest and sunniest place.  I am very excited – we all adore Thai curry and this is an essential ingredient.

I have decided we will eat the greens in the tray – a microleaf salad of some description and then I will concentrate on growing weird plants like ginger, galangal, ginseng and turmeric on my windowsill, possibly reclaiming the very useful table again.

This is my home-sprouted ginger just beginning to appear.  I am very proud of myself.  This is an achievement.

Outside the two courgette plants are doing their best and we might even get a courgette or two to eat which will be a gardening triumph.

I also have golden thyme kept in a prison of wire as the birds nearly ate it all.

My pink fir potatoes are a complete mystery.  Despite being planted on the same day, they come in three sizes.

Left to right – Medium, Large…..

And far right – small.  I have absolutely no idea why.

I told you I am not really a gardener.  More like someone who likes the pretty pictures on the seed packets and then wants an “instant garden”!

A friend asked if she could bring her mother over to see the Minions.

Not trusting the Minions as a herd, especially with Lilja and Sóley close by, I decided to bring Fivla out of the field for the meet and greet.

I handed out a couple of brushes and put everyone to work!

Fivla was utterly perfect. I knew she would be.  She always is.  A good, quiet and trustworthy lady.  She didn’t put a hoof wrong.

Behind the fence – and, oh, I was very glad there was a fence and they were behind it – there was some horrible behaviour going on.

I had to tell them to stop.

Shameful.

Obviously attention seeking.

Meanwhile, Fivla remained her usual perfect self.   I think the visit was a success.  It was nice to see people again.

You can tell Fivla knows she is the bestest, goodest little Shetland pony ever.  (She has her smug face on – the others do not.)

Daisy had a riding lesson today, so she packed up the van (with help).

Got her noble steed ready.

And off we drove (luckily only 15 minutes away) to an outdoor manège.

Having shown Kappi the venue (he likes to see everything first), Daisy tacked up while I watched the previous lesson end.

Daisy was having a riding lesson with Hamish Cameron, a visiting instructor who comes up from Scotland to Shetland fairly regularly.

(Hamish got me back on Haakon after spinal surgery so we rate him highly and his lessons are excellent.)

Anywho, Daisy had a good morning. She said what she wanted to achieve with Kappi and off they went.

Kappi settled and found his concentration head.

He loves a good lesson and they both got a great deal out of it.

I just stood on the sidelines and snapped away with my camera.

…. and relax and rest.

A jolly good morning for Daisy and Kappi. They both did well and worked very hard.  Thank you Hamish.

Everyone else had galloped down to the bottom field.

Everyone else, except Kappi.

He was hanging around, waiting.

But I am just not sure what he was waiting for.

I did ask him.

But I was none the wiser.

Kappi wasn’t going to tell me.

So I left him with a duck and a couple of chickens as friends.  Kappi just wanted to be alone.  Fair enough. As long as he was happy in his solitude.

The others were in their other field, a long way off. Taktur was busy sniffing a lovely Icelandic lady-girl four fields away.

I did wonder whether Taktur was being annoying/a bore (he has form and that is why Haakon doesn’t share a field with him anymore).

In the end, I told Kappi he would have to rejoin his herd as I wanted to close the adjoining gate, so he galloped down the hill closely followed by Efstur and Dreki.

And it was then I decided that being annoyed by that pair of idiots was probably the reason he was in a different field by himself.

I don’t blame him for wanting peace and quiet.