Today, when we woke up, it looked like Narnia outside – surprisingly deep snow everywhere.  So we fed everyone at home, had breakfast, chopped carrots, filled haynets and buckets and drove over to Leradale.

And the snow had all gone.

The buckets were distributed. I was on Lilja and Sóley duty.

Floss was with Vitamin and Fivla.  Minions lurked hopefully.

And the field looked like this.

So we shared out the carrots (only fair) and took the hay home again (very unfair but no one actually needs it and at nearly £7 a bale, I am not wasting it – this is gold-dust hay complete with encrusted diamonds).

Meanwhile, back at home, Maggie has been getting to know the rest of the family.  She feels threatened by BeAnne (seriously?), so we have to be very careful with her.  They are supervised and today Maggie was told which side her bread was buttered.

She adores Taktur – what’s not to love?

And then she met Monster – I had resurrected my ancient, but beloved, little camera to see if it had benefited from its holiday and decided to work again.

Monster took to his bed in disgust.

So lots of snow, and then no snow.  I was going to take photos of the snow, but it had gone by the time I was ready to take pics!

Well, little Maggie is slowly (and I mean slowly) getting used to the others.  We are in for the long haul.

I would be lying if I said she was the brightest star in our firmament but if we chip, chip away I think we will win.  Madge and Edna have given up chasing her away (like far too much effort).

Maggie also loves food and sees it as her God given right to be fed at least six times a day.  I may have Mug written somewhere about my person that I can’t actually see!

As the snow comes and goes, Maggie is beginning to relax and be “one of us, one of us”.

She is also meeting the rest of the family.

Meanwhile, in other news, Lambie is a Weirdo!

As is Monster.

And ‘Ster.

Dreki found that feet are really, really strange and appear out of nowhere – who knew?!

And this is My World. Enjoy.

One minute it is snowing and we are living in blizzard conditions and the next minute it all vanishes.

But while the snow was here, intrepid-me went out with my big camera and took a few snaps….  Enjoy.

Dreki (who would not stop following me around).

Kappi with a world map on his side.

Here at Thordale, we always try to colour coordinate.  So important, we think?  Neigh, essential (see what I did there!)

Taktur.

Front end.

Middle end.

And back end.

As you can see, while the Icelandic horses didn’t give a damn, it was not much fun for me.

Dreki again.

And again….

And again.  He particularly suits the snow.

And, so you know, it was bloody cold out there. When I take photos, I can’t wear gloves so please appreciate the pain and suffering I went through for you!  There may have been a hot chocolate involvement afterwards.

The weather is giving us a slight break (we have been watching every forecast all week) and the snow melted overnight.  Today I drove Daisy, with Taktur and Kappi in the van, down the road to have riding lessons outside with Hamish Cameron, who has come up from South for a few days to teach.

First up was Taktur.

The theory being that if Taktur was tired, he would be less of a pain-in-the-arse waiting afterwards.

So Kappi did the waiting.  He was a good boy, though he got bored, and ended up standing with me while I took photos.

Meanwhile, Daisy and Taktur were getting on very well with Hamish.

And this was Hamish’s first time of meeting Taktur too. He had heard about him but never seen our stallion in action.

My only comment was “he has a nice trot” and then left Taktur to show Hamish what he could do.

An added bonus of some good “hair” shots too.

(just so incredibly handsome)

Then it was Kappi’s turn.

We tied Taktur behind the van with a haynet because the next lesson’s participants were also arriving.

And, yes, of course, it was a mare.  17hh of a lady. And I will say Taktur behaved beautifully. He thought about being an arse, but I reminded him about his track record with ladies, and he decided to pretend she wasn’t there. Wise move, my boy.  Wise move.

I couldn’t stand ringside with my camera for very long as I was tasked with keeping Taktur out of trouble.

But what I did see looked very good and I know Daisy enjoyed herself, learned loads and now has aching legs!

So that was all good.  I am exhausted. I have forgotten what it is like to actually go somewhere!

Floss and I drove over to Leradale.  Everyone was very pleased to see us.

It might’ve been the three large haynets stuffed full of hay that we distributed in piles all along the side of the derelict house.

Or the bucket of conditioning cubes I took, placing a large handful in every pile of hay.

Or the bucket of carrots I also had about my person which was then dished out onto the hay.

Whatever it was, the little ones got on with the job of eating rather than arguing.

I am not sure why Sóley was so determined to talk to me. I had long since fairly distributed every calorie I owned.

All we could hear was munch, crunch, munch.

We also brought fresh water in case everyone had forgotten where the large expanse of water actually is located.

On another topic, ‘Bert was miserable being shut away from his friends and had gone on hunger strike.  So, after a massive breakfast (you can see a theme here), I opened the gate, read the Riot Act to Edna and Madge, muttering things like “Your Last Chance” and let them get on with it.

And I am slightly, if very tentatively, hopeful that they are doing just that.

Today I watched the sheep all sort of sit together chewing their cud, which is a good sign.

I do so want them to all get on.  My life would be perfect then (that, and finding my glasses – I have ordered a replacement pair so they will probably turn up!)