It’s been hard work today.  The weather is not letting up and the snow is now getting worse.  These pictures are from early this morning when it was just windy and starting to snow again off and on.

Despite this, everyone is holding up very well. They all seem bright, chirpy and resourceful.

My blackbird is living in the sheep shed.  Sensible.

And the sheep are living outside – their choice, even though there are haynets indoors. I fed them hard feed twice today mostly to get them out of the way so the ducks could have two meals without an argument.

At lunchtime, I gave the Icelandic horse a good pile of hay plus a couple of buckets of water.  The gable end of the shed is very sheltered which makes it an ideal spot.

There was a bit of an argument – thank you, Haakon.

But Kolka made her presence known and got her fair share of hay.

Iacs went for a corner approach.  Sensible chap. He stayed out of the arguments.

Since then, there has been a whole lot of snow dumped on us and the outside water pipes are all frozen so we have to lug water from the house.

But I can sleep tonight without worrying too much because no one is cold and everyone is full of food and water.  We have done our very best.

And the Eggbox is a ruddy God-send, I can tell you.

We woke up to snow. Not a lot but enough to get in the way of everything we wanted to do. And it is very windy too so the windchill is making itself known.

The Minions are fine. Because of their escape, they now have masses of old long grass to get through.  I grudgingly gave them their breakfast buckets of minerals/vitamins, cleared their water bucket of ice and told them that was it.  Nothing else.  Get on with it.

The sheep have haynets and, though they valiantly went into their field for the day, when I found them huddling behind a wall in a vicious hailstorm, I told them to come home.  So they took one look at their lovingly made haynets and walked out again, ducking under a fence to find another field to eat.  I tried. I really did.

Pepper, of course, has been my constant companion in all of this.  Ted went straight home and refused to leave his bed ever again.

The ducky-wuckies haven’t really left their shed either,  though there are a faction that are made to stay outside by Dad.  Duck-Wars are going on because the girls are laying eggs – I have no idea why. Spring, it ain’t.

This afternoon found me, as per usual, in my shed stabbing away while watching Murdoch Mysteries when I stupidly looked up…..

…. and saw this. That would be Iacs trying to get my attention.

Somehow he knew I had three buckets in my porch which I had planned to give to him and his field-mates at tea-time.

So they had it for lunch instead because I kept seeing Iacs out of the corner of my eye.  He was very persuasive.

It’s been a funny old day.  Everyone knows the snow storm is coming.  I can tell that.

This morning’s sunrise was definitely an omen.

I was off to a meeting this morning, and on my way out of the door (twice – I forgot the sossage rolls I had promised), I scrambled over the fence and gave the old Icelandics a big carrot each just to check they were ok.

There was some feisty weather during the meeting but it was brief.  Things to come, I bet.

Afterwards I went into my shed to make a sheep.

Obviously the family came too and everyone had a dog treat.   Even Monster.

So we’ve battened down the hatches and will see what the next 72 hours brings.  It is not looking nice and you know about my obssession with the weather forecast (I have every app on my phone to see if someone is forecasting sun – ever the optimist).

This is the world’s worst film (I had my head torch on) when I asked the old Icelandic horses if they wanted to hunker down in the other field……   There was enthusiastic trotting which was nice to see.  I hope they stay safe and well through all of this.

I was just out of the front door with the dogs who were ready for their walk, when the phone rang.  It was my neighbour to say that the Minions were in her garden! Damn, I said. I will be right over.

So I shovelled the dogs back through the door, muttering apologies, and drove down the road to corral the ponies back into their field.

Only they were having none of it.  They cantered around the garden being very unhelpful. I could hear them giggling.  Eventually, the ponies went through an open gate back into the field and I quickly shut it, concentrating my efforts on catching Fivla and Vitamin who did not act their age one bit.  Bucking and farting.  Meh.

Once caught, I shoved them through the gate.  Meanwhile, Tiddles, who had not managed to escape, was hysterical trying to get to his friends.  Eventually he got the plot and jumped the burn (stream) to rejoin his friends.  Yes, the whole lot had jumped the burn that runs through their field.  Something, no other Shetland pony has done but today they all felt they had to.

So I left the ponies in the field they are not supposed to have or be in until March and told them this was it. This was all they would get.  It is supposed to snow for the next week or so, and I am not going to take hay. They can dig for the long grass they are living in and if they starve, well so be it.  I don’t care.  I tried my best.

I went back home and let the dogs out for their delayed walk.  We walked the already-started track system and I thought to myself I can’t wait for the Minions to move here.  Let them try that stunt again.  It will get them nowhere.

And, yes, of course if the snow is really bad, I will lug hay over.  Maybe…..

Move along, please.  Nothing to see here.

Just a woman walking her dogs and cat but first waiting for the cat while he tinkers with the brakes of her car.

Hmmmm. I am a tad nervous now.

When Monster finished his car mechanic course, he came along to join us.

Even walking over the mud which is worthy of a good whinge.

There was some running to keep up.

And a bit of stalking Ted just because it is great fun, and usually Ted has no idea.

We walked up to the derelict schoolhouse (mentioned as a school in 1878 records) in the field.

Pepper and Monster did a spot of hunting. Well, Pepper hunted and Monster looked on.

The croft of Clothie is exactly 5 acres with Stourborough Hill in the background and my croft (Thordale) with its big green shed to the right.

Pepper was very keen on looking at something. I have no idea what it was.

Monster adopted a more restful approach to being alert.

Again, Ted has no idea what was going on. He’s not that kind of dog.

One fat statue.

And then Monster clambered in an elegant Size 8 sort of way that did not involve falling off rocks or getting his feet wet or dirty.  I have no idea how he achieves this.

These two, honestly!

When we got home, we all noticed, to a horse, cat, and dog that the fencer had arrived to build a track for the Minions.

It will be around the edge of this field and I am very excited this is going to happen.

Because the old Icelandics insisted on standing by the fence making comments like “you’re doing that wrong”, I opened the gate to their hill field.  They disappeared over the horizon possibly never to be seen again.