Poor old Bibble had his operation today.  I have been spoiling him pre-op, like giving him leftover soaked fibre-block as a treat. He basically wants everything the Minions have despite having access to 50 acres of lush grazing.

Today, I put Bibble by himself into the wee paddock before the vet and vet nurse arrived for his operation.

Moral support then appeared too and Bibble seemed calm and happy with his lot.

I had scrubbed the small stable as much as I could and, as Bibble was being operated on standing up, so it didn’t have to be too perfect.

Bibble was heavily sedated and “relaxed” so that he would “let down” and was a total jewel about the whole procedure.  There were midges everywhere so we wiped him and sprayed ourselves with anti-midge.

The offending bit was ligatured and promptly fell off onto the floor. It will be sent for histology, etc and hopefully that will be that.  Bibble will be kept in for a while and then back out into his wee paddock.  Just now, I left him eating the Minion’s fibre-block, which he adores so fingers and toes crossed for Bibble.  Antibiotics and painkillers/anti-inflammatories for the weekend.  He was such a good boy.  Everyone said so.  Fingers and toes, folks, please. x

Shearing for all today.  They needed it.  The weather is very hot.

Madge, of course, was awarded “Fattest Sheep I (my shearer) Have Ever Sheared” Award.  She is large.

And Lambie gazed adoringly.

There were the usual arguments afterwards as they then couldn’t identify each other.

But I am glad everyone is now sheared.  Boy, it’s hot.

Lambie is even more spotty underneath all his fleece.

And Barrel is very, very black.

As is his mother, Maggie (who is looking furiously at Pepper out of shot).

‘Bert is getting paler and looking old.

And ‘Ster was much happier.  The girls, Edna and Madge, vanished into the back hill field.  They did this last year and hopefully will come home in a few days.  They obviously need some alone time.

The day became hotter and hotter – seriously sweltering by Shetland standards – and Lambie appeared at the door of my shed in distress.

He was breathing fast and heavily, almost panting.  I was worried.

But he wasn’t letting Harrel in.  Nope, this is Lambie’s territory.

Pepper and Ted were tolerant, though Ted left later on to sit outside staring at Lambie.

To calm Lambie down, I gave him a good scratch with my back scratcher (an old fork from a carving set) and spritzed him with my plant spritzer.

He loved it and I am sure it helped his misery.

No, sorry, Harrel.

So, I made a sheeple while Lambie calmed down and came back down to earth.

Harrel went and found himself a shady spot to sit in.

Yup, I sucked my teeth again and brought home Tiddles (who was on his own so a sure sign) and Albie (who is suddenly fat, there’s no denying it – did this explosion happen overnight?)

Again, the Welcoming Committee were out in force.

Most of them.

Upon expert advice, I am not going to increase the size of the wee paddock/dust bath.  It is sufficient.

Storm is, for the time-being, staying where he is at Leradale. He is showing no signs but with this sudden onset, especially with Tiddles, I am not holding my breath. And while Storm continues to chase me down the hill for his food, I can see he is fine.

Bibble, of course, is staying put. Well, you just never know when you might need a Bibble, obviously.  Such a “help”.

The little shed is much loved too.

And Pepper is putting in the hours too.

In a small way, I am glad Waffle has company his own age and size.

But I am sad they had to come home with laminitis again.

I have tried to explain to Tiddles that this miserable starvation is for his own good and please don’t get colic.

I am not the most popular person around here, though.

I might have to provide toys.  It will of course be supervised playtime only.

I’ve been sucking my teeth for a couple of days now about Waffle. I would find him always by himself and not very enthusiastic or walking about much.  And today I saw him in a typical laminitis stance (sort of stacked out), so I went back with the van and brought him home.

Before he came back, I lugged my collection of hurdles to make a small dry pen area attached to a little open shed so Waffle can have some shelter if he wants too.

The old folk were pleased to see Waffle.  I am hoping they will pop back occasionally to keep him company.

The hay is soaking but I gave him a small unsoaked net to be getting on with.

And Himalayan salt.

Along with a huge bucket of water.

A rookie mistake.  When I went to check on him a few hours later, I met this sight.

Meh!  Waffle!

So I brought in two different containers – the gate hanging variety – in the hope Waffle can’t throw them around.  I bet he tries.

So he washed his head at me instead!

A quick trip to the vet surgery to collect more antibiotics for Bibble and, upon my return, I found the water buckets still standing and Bibble had volunteered to be Waffle’s BFF.

I thought that was very sweet of him.

It was lovely and warm this morning so I asked Pepper if she wanted to go swimming in the  loch next to the Minions’ field.

I didn’t have much to throw in to entice Pepper in, but I walked into the loch in my wellies, hoping she would follow while coaxing her in with bits of dried horse-poo or dried moss, which all floats very nicely.

And Pepper bravely went in genuinely thinking about retrieving them, but she would turn back just before she was out of her depth.

I tried a few times.

And then Pepper noticed her Nemeses (pl. Nemesis) – greylag geese.

She hates them.

Her aim on any walk is to make them take flight, and if she sees any, she deliberately runs after them to achieve this.

I urged her to “get them” and that spurred her forward to the deeper part of the loch.

But then Pepper chickened out and turned for the bank.

So close, so very close to actual swimming. Next time I might just go further into the loch wearing some old boots to see if I can get her to follow me.  It is warm all week and I want to get her swimming.