It was a beautiful Spring day.  You could almost hear everyone breathe a huge sigh of relief while they watched the back of winter start to leave.

Today, I have mostly been concentrating my efforts on the electric fence, which the sheep are determined to ignore or destroy – they’ve discovered that the inner field to the track is full of lush grass.  They have no respect for my carefully built fence.

And this is the ponies’ ration of “grass” (and I use that term in its briefest sense) for the following week.

And yet everyone seems to be managing perfectly well on less-than-nothing.  How is that even possible?  The old ladies are long since lost interest in their diet and live in another field during day light hours.

And this is Stourbrough Hill that towers behind my croft – 173 metres high and an ancient place.  A group of Neolithic stone ‘knives’ (4000 – 2500 BC) all measuring about 15 by 10 cm, were found on the surface of peat (now in the Shetland Museum). I find that fascinating and remain ever hopeful we might find something lying around!

Our garden is full of daffodils and my heart is lifted by seeing the beginning of all the colour that will follow.  It has been such a long and difficult winter, you have no idea.

Surprisingly, the boys came in for their haynet at 3 p.m. (which was really 4 as the clocks went forward last night).  I thought it would be a battle.

But the mud is the same as ever and I am pathetically hopeful it will start to dry over the next week and keep going…. away.  Is this it?  Is this the beginning of Spring?  Yes, please.