Category Archives: Icelandic horses and Shetland Ponies

Looking So Much Better

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I went with my usual buckets at breakfast-time and found no one waiting by the gate so I had to shout, hoping I wasn’t in for a long walk looking for everyone.

The horses and ponies duly appeared – I think they had been sheltering in the valley part of their field.  The weather was closing in fast.

While I waited for the horses and ponies to eat up, I walked around thinking to myself that actually everyone looked spot on. Just right.  A good weight now.

Iacs looks lovely. I am very pleased with him.

 

Kolka again looks nice.

Vitamin is perfect.

Fivla might be a wee bit on the fat side, but she gets nothing in her bucket (a scant scoop of soaked beet plus her vitamins).

I think she knows this.

And Haakon at last is looking just right.

The summer grass is working it’s magic.  30 acres of this mixture of plants plus lots of exercise wandering around looking for it.

So they all chose to stand in the paddock and look miserable about the rain.  Fivla and Vitamin made a bee-line for the little shed and quickly took up occupancy.

They refused to let Kolka inside.  Nope, she had to stay outside in the rain.

A little later on, I took this photo when I was trying to take the dogs out for their walk.  I love Kolka’s face.  She is resigned to the knowledge that she will never get in the shed.  And how the rain poured.  The dogs refused to come with me and took themselves straight back to the house so I gave up and went back inside with them.

Different Sheds

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I felt sorry for Fivla this morning.

After her breakfast, I found her queueing outside the closed door of the little shed, along with Vitamin and Kolka.  I opened it up so they could go in and Vitamin nipped in whippet-like, swiftly followed by Fivla.  Good, I thought, they are inside and can get some shelter from today’s windy/rainy day.

And then Kolka barged in, possibly uninvited, and there was pig-like squealing which I knew came from Fivla as she doesn’t do social pressure.

To give her her due, Fivla stayed inside for a little while but, when I came back with my phone to take photos, I found her back outside again looking very disgruntled.  She just hates crowds.

Buckets collected, washed and tidied, I put all the sheep out into their field.  They lasted a couple of hours, until they saw a cyclist coming down our track and all, to a sheep, ran to the gate in pure terror, asking to be let out so they could cower in their shed.  I have no idea who that poor cyclist was as I watched him turn around and leave.  He was obviously not here to see us.

After letting the sheep out of the field, I found Newt alone in his residence.

The other ponies were long gone down the track looking for non-existent grass to eat.

Newt said he wasn’t moving and no one could make him.

So I told him he couldn’t stay there all day, and it was clearing up nicely now.

(I may have not been telling the truth – it’s been a pig of a day).

Fog, No Fog, Then Fog

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We woke up to Shetland covered in thick fog.  I know no flights got in or out this morning.

But, still, the horses, ponies, sheep, etc managed to find me.

There is no escape.

I’m sorry, but I don’t have much to say mostly because absolutely nothing has happened all day.

And, at the risk of boring everyone including myself, here are a few photos of my nothing day…..

The baby bunny I saw from the door of my shed – Pepper was on a dogwalk with OH so this little sweetheart made the most of the absence.

It was very cute, like one of those Chinese toy adverts that nothing like the real thing that arrives in the post.

These three Muscovy Ducks have taken to sitting on the outside table.  They meet me at the front door and waddle behind in the hope I will lead them to food.  I think they are Mum (on far right), son (middle) and daughter (left). They were the ducklings from last year.

So that’s me really. Not very enthusiastic at the moment.  Fog does that to me – mentally. It just sits and I lose all inspiration and thought.  But the wind is coming back in force tomorrow so that should liven things up.

Ted is on good form, though.

Sick Dog Day (again)

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I have a headache, so I will keep this short.

Monster “helped” me to fail to complete my morning quiz (NY Times Connections). In my defence, they were very weird words today – I hadn’t a clue and neither had Monster. He was absolutely no use.

Pepper was also having an off-day.  She woke me up at 4 a.m. being sick and I immediately took her outside. I then spent the remainder of the night hugging her in bed, while she shook and her tummy made alarming noises.  Poor little soul was very unhappy but she managed to sleep a bit while I was now wide awake, which probably explains my headache.

I have just about finished my daily chores, which are kept to the bare minimum because it is summer.  The Shetland ponies who live on the track, however, do have two haynets in the afternoon.

They approve of this routine and come racing up.

It is not easy, though.  The haynets are small-holed, double nets so the ponies have to work very hard for every piece of hay they can prise out.

Today Newt said he couldn’t be bothered with the hay and he is fat so there must be something on the track.  I refuse to worry.

And then suddenly Pepper felt better, raced inside the house for her tea and everything was back to normal.  OH says there are many rabbit corpses lying around (thank you Monster), so I have a feeling they might be the problem.

More sighing *** oh, Pepper ***.  Early night for us both, I think, to get rid of my headache.

Sorting Wool

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After a morning packing vegetables at Turriefield, I went over to my friend, Monika, at Collaster Croft to “skirt” my sheep fleeces.

(sadly without the help of Pepperpot who would only get in the way).

Monika took me to her shed, where she works, and has a lovely long table just perfect for this very job.  I had stored each newly sheared fleece in a hessian bag so it could breathe.  We got them out and laid out each fleece, one at a time removing all the nasty bits and debris.

It was interesting seeing what the wool was like and Monika took three fleeces for herself (Lambie, Dahlia and Maggie). She makes and sells handmade felted fleece pads, ideal for chairs etc.

Photograph – Monika Rudin-Burgess – Collaster Croft

Monika very kindly gave me this fleece pad made from Dahlia’s wool last year.  I adore it.  I already have one made from Lambie’s wool which is on my work chair in my shed (now something in my eye, sniff – so proud he has value or worth with his “carpet quality” wool) and also Edna (again, something in my eye, sniff, as this is the last piece I have of her).

Photograph – Monika Rudin-Burgess – Collaster Croft

You can find Monika’s work on her Instagram account.  She is very clever.

Anyway, out of my fleeces, I have the following available:
‘Ster – katmoget
‘Bert – moorit
Gussie – Shetland black
Maggie – Shetland black
Madge – white

This is ‘Ster’s katmoget fleece.  It is gorgeous.

Probably Gussie’s, though it could be Barrel’s.

If anyone wants a fleece, let me know.  I am happy to post anywhere if you’re happy to pay postage and a donation.  Just think, you too could have one of my sheep (well, the wool). It would be just like they were here with you!