Category Archives: MyShetland

Working From Home

Help has many faces.  Mostly furry ones.

My afternoons are spent productively while I lie on my bed trying to calm the sciatica. I am dictating two weeks per day of my Great Great Aunt Kate’s diaries onto my phone. This then transcribes them onto Notes and I transfer them to a Word document which I then correct and upload onto the WordPress site.  It is arduous but, as a method, it works fairly well.  Sometimes the transcription can be pretty random – “Malaga Tony” apparently is Mulligatawny soup – I howled with laughter at that one!

And then there is my help.

Icky-licky help who won’t go away.  She insists on the licking because she knows I can’t do anything else, like work.

Meanwhile in another bedroom on the other end of the little house, Daisy is working on her PhD thesis.

And, yes, she has help in the form of Science Cat.

Monster is taking a keen interest in Daisy’s work, which is lovely for her.

I hope you can all see the cat hair all over the laptop!  Monster is very involved.  Daisy is very important to him and so is her thesis.

No one gives up in this house.

Haynets at Night

Really crap photos today and I’m sorry – it has barely been light all day and the weather has not improved (still freezing wind and rain).

Daisy has now seen the set up and agrees with me that the Shetland ponies need something or else they just stand around all day looking rather bleak and miserable in a muddy spot.

So the new regime is to give them three haynets hung on the gate for to share.

The ponies came racing up when they heard of this new plan.

Note how Newt has to have a cheeky nip at Waffle as he catches up in the race to the gate.

Tiddles and Albie brought up the rear with enthusiasm.

Clever Silver had already taken up pole position and was tucking in trying to shovel as much down as fast as possible before the others arrived.

I thought it was very sweet (or optimistic) that Newt would rather come and talk to me than eat his hay.

I told him to hurry back and go and get his ration before it vanished.  I know I said I didn’t want to give out hay and I know the ponies are rotund, but they don’t get a lot of hay (Daisy sized portions, so small), but I can sleep better knowing everyone had a little something to keep them warm at night.  Temperatures are going down to around – 8℃ tonight (windchill) which is not much fun, as well as the the wind and rain.

Next One Arrives

I’m feeling exhausted so I will keep this brief.

This morning, I drove to Sumburgh airport to collect Daisy.

Flossie is going back home tomorrow and Daisy is taking over from her.  I am very lucky to have them.

Obviously, I was thrilled to see Daisy and so was Monster – Daisy is his No. 1 favourite human in the world, except during potential meal-times when it is OH’s turn.  Floss and I don’t get much of a look-in.

Meanwhile, Bed Wars continue mostly between Pepper and Ted.

Note how Ted can do the whole King-of-the-Castle without leaving the bed once despite Pepper’s best efforts to tempt him.

She did win later.

(I’m sorry this is so short)

Bed Wars (2)

The arguments continue and I am supposedly the referee – albeit an unwilling one.

Monster decided that all this arguing was beneath him and he will take over the world at a later date.  This morning, he contented himself with lying on the kitchen table (behaviour I try not to condone) while I made inedible soup for lunch.

This left Ted to reclaim his rightful bed.  Ted’s bed – look, it even rhymes beautifully.

Ted settled himself down for the day (you can almost hear him praying to his Gods that no one wants to take him on a dog walk but they did).

Later Monster continued to plot from his Fortress of Solitude located under the piano – he already has quite the property portfolio.

After lunch, Pepper decided enough was enough.  Having not ever been near the bed since its arrival, she picked it up and moved it around the room, like a professional Feng Shui Master trying to harmonize Chi for our improved health, prosperity, and well-being.

So the bed now has a new location – in front of the sofa, next to OH’s spot and Ted is very happy with this (mostly because he quickly reclaimed it) – and he’s even brought his much-beloved Christmas present too.  Love, indeed.

New problem, though, because now Pepper, having dragged the bed around the room, quite fancies it too,

And every time I look at this bed, I seriously wonder how it would fit a Border collie – the original intended recipient.

(Goes off to look at website wondering if I must seriously buy two more.)

Not Talking To….

We are not talking to Pepper today.  This morning she went a-murdering – two poor pigeons who were doing nothing awful apart from being in the chicken/duck shed probably stealing food.

We told Pepper that she has to think about her crime.

And she did try to.

And now I feel awful that I am cross with her.

Apparently I can apologise for being angry to Pepper whenever I want.  *** sigh *** (oh, that face, that little murdering face).