A lovely day today.  Proper sun and we were proper hot.

After an energetic ride out on Klængur and Kappi, Daisy and I sat outside to recover.

Monster did not accompany us on our ride but enjoyed the sun and our company nonetheless.  This is his Spot.  One of many.

And then we went indoors for lunch and Monster found my Golden Paste Company box that had earlier brought us our essential supply of TurmerAid.

Just the right size for a large white cat.

The two dog/cat beds are now officially obselete.

After lunch, Daisy and I went to work at Turriefield – “an independent social enterprise growing fruit and vegetables for the Shetland community”.  First we visited the Minions, sitting on the banks of the stream.  Newt was thrilled to see his Daisy.

Obviously we social distanced at work.

However strange my world seems, somehow it feels right!

I had a hospital appointment so this time I dragged Floss along with me for moral support and afterwards we “did the Street”.

This is Jamieson’s Knitwear’s side window.  Very pretty.

And their main street window. Lovely.  I adore the colours.

Things were a bit livelier on the Street and more folk were out and about, including visitors.

Floss and decided to wear our masks all the time, even though they are only mandatory in shops (and on public transport).  I now have a lovely triple layer silk mask that makes all the difference – it is light and feels gentle against my skin.  I didn’t itch and I stopped wanting to touch my face half as much.

 

It was nice to see folk about but I am very apprehensive as today Aberdeen was put into lockdown and that is the only route, apart from visiting yachts, anyone can get to Shetland.  There seems to be no testing unless you have symptoms.  I may well be wrong, though.

Lunch was the best – freshly cooked fish and chips, wrapped in paper, sitting in the car overlooking the harbour.

Our lunch view.

Home and I had a peaceful half an hour sitting outside with my best little girly.

And some love and adoration from ‘Ster.

Sorry, this is my best little girly.  She was thrilled when we came home. Muchos excitement.

Silver: “Oi, Fatty, do you wanna play?”

Storm:  Yer, go on then.  Make my day!

So they did.

 

Boing!

Run away!

And off they galloped at tremendous speed.

Up they go!

And a lovely photo of Silver.  Pretty boy.

The others looked on a little bemused and definitely not joining in. Vitamin certainly had better things to do.   I think Sóley was quite jealous. Lilja never lets her play.

Meanwhile, Storm and Silver were having the best time.

Oof – the little fat bunchy bottom!

Storm was in his “elephant” (element).

The pair carried on like this for a while.  Round and round they went at full pelt in one direction and then another.

There was some spectacular “motor-biking”.

Plus a few dirty stops.

It was lovely to watch them play.  We left with smiles on our faces.

I had to go in to Lerwick today to get my hair cut.  I am trying to remember when I last went in and I can only think it was probably the end of March (for the last of our hay supply), so possibly nearly 6 months ago, which is shocking now I’ve worked it out.

And if the place was empty before, it was beyond deserted.

The only thing missing was tumbleweed and some haunting music.

Ok, I was there fairly early and even so, by the time my haircut was finished, most of the shops should’ve been open but they weren’t.

It was all rather depressing but I did my other messages – went into the wool shop to see if they needed more sheeple for their field.  Nope.

And took a few photos just because I was somewhere different.

I thought the whole ordeal was very stressful.  I even had to complete a government form requiring a witness for my signature just to get a hair cut!

So I quickly finished up, told myself I didn’t want anything else (I have to go back on Wednesday anyway for an NHS appointment) and rushed home to play with the ponies which was far more fun.

I think these days Lerwick will be emergencies only.  I can’t face it.

Ever since he has been little, Storm has always had a streak of naughtiness. He is the typical little boy who wears a school cap a bit too small for him and put frogs in your satchel.

So today Floss and I, taking my big camera, went to brush all the Minions as we had noticed their manes and tails could do with a good sorting out.

We were hard at work, on a relatively nice morning, when we noticed a dark grey cloud approaching.  It started to spit and then to rain as we finished Nos 5 and 6 (Fivla and Vitamin).  All who were left were Silver and Storm.  We decided to keep going as the rain increased telling ourselves it was “just a shower”.  I easily caught Silver and handed him over to Flossie to start and then went off to get Storm.

But no. Storm would have none of it, looked me in the eyes, kicked up his heels and very prettily cantered off down the field, giggling as he went.  The thought of “just leave him” passed through my brain, but Storm had his wicked look.  That was it, I had to catch him.  I walked round and round that field with my piece of carrot and headcollar and of course eventually he gave up and I caught him. But it was not easy and it was a battle of wills between us.  We both knew it.

By now I was soaking, but I duly led Storm back to the gate, tied him up and brushed him while Floss finished Silver.  Once finished, we let them go and, totally bedraggled and soaked, we returned home.

There are no photos of beautifully groomed Minions because my camera had to be protected under my coat!  These photos are old ones.