This is the face of someone who went a-visiting yesterday afternoon while I was away packing vegetables…..

And she’s not sorry she did it but sorry she was caught and brought home, though!

I am very ashamed of her.  I have been apologising to my neighbours.

Anyway, tomorrow is another day…… (a phrase often used around here so that we can all move on from whoever’s latest ghastly behaviour).

And little Miss Pepper promises she will behave (and I don’t believe her – we’ve been here before).

The wind continues to blow with intermittent horizontal rain showers and I managed to position the breakfast buckets so they didn’t blow around.

Iacs has this sussed – basically never take your head out until you’ve finished.

This is the time of year the little boys are asking for more hay. They already get one haynet at night – the theory being they won’t test the fencing because they will feel fuller and less desperately hungry.

But, as it has rained on and off all day, and the ponies have spent their time running up and down the hill to get to shelter (the container) as fast as possible.  Good exercise, I tell them.

While I cleaned the track up in a gale, I prayed to all the Gods that the ponies don’t break the fence. This is the time of year – the Autumn flush – when the grass has the highest sugar content and is most lethal.

Please no more laminitis is all I say to everyone.

This morning’s weather can only be described as vile.  Haakon’ and Iacs’s breakfast buckets blew away and I had to scrape up Iacs’ complete with what pills I could find and hope he ate most of them.  Everyone was very unimpressed with my efforts.  Fivla got nothing and left in a huff.  Haakon found a small pile of his breakfast and ate that off the ground.

Meanwhile the wind was blowing hard, the rain was horizontal and I was cursing.

The little ones all sought shelter in one of their containers and I said my mantra “thank the Gods for the containers” as I went to find Silver to give him his TurmerAid.

For once, Newt had been allowed inside but Tiddles wasted no time in telling him to consider himself very lucky and not to get used to it.

So Newt tried to bite him.  ** sigh **.  He doesn’t make life easy for himself.

I waited patiently while Silver ate and thought that it was very warm (read close) in the container while the wind and rain fiercely did their thing outside.

Once finished with the outside animals, OH and I went back inside to find a power cut.  The electricity had been going on and off for a while so we were not particularly surprised.

Luckily we are not 100% reliant on electricity so I could make my breakfast – porridge and coffee.

And after that, I decided to get on with transcribing my Great Great Aunt Kate’s diaries which have been on the back burner this summer.  1944 to finish.

Now there’s a sight I thought I wouldn’t see.  Sheep and Shetland ponies together, albeit Fivla, on their way out of the paddock.  The chaps and chapesses seem to have overcome their mortal fear of ponies, though I doubt they will ever mingle with the boys on the track whose behaviour (chasing Lambie when small) will never be forgiven or forgotten.  But I guess the sheep know that Fivla has not moved fast in her lifetime – she doesn’t do speed – so they feel safe and confident around her.  They are also getting better about the other horses too.  It’s a good start and nice to see.

I think much of this new behaviour has to do with Gussie and Dahlia who really don’t mind the horses and ponies and can’t see the problem (possibly Lambie hasn’t told them about the chasing thing then).

Not much going on here, otherwise.

I sort of managed to capture the lunar eclipse the other night.  It was very windy so this is the best I could do.

And then I took this the next night so one day after a full moon, whatever that is – waning gibbous, I have just looked it up.

These days I am spending a lot of time in my shed – typing out manuscripts in the morning, stabbing away at my felted sheep in the afternoon and evening.

And then there are the occasional visitors.

I told these two to stay here as they cannot be trusted – too many bunnies, so little time – and I like to know where they are.

I am currently working with two linked laptops.  It makes my work much easier and I have it all set up how I like it though possibly without Monster “helping”.  He is a huge distraction and I have the brain of a hen so easily distracted – ooh, look a squirrel!

I made Monster a space behind the two laptops in a lovely sun-catching spot.

And he did his own thing.

But Monster did come back occasionally to annoy and tell me his woes.

Eventually he settled and had a lovely sunshine snooze.

I will admit that I did occasionally tickle his paw because it needed tickling and I couldn’t help myself so maybe I was the one who was annoying.  I told you I was easily distracted and you must admit, it is divine.

Work was finished for the morning so we both walked back to the house together.

After breakfast (in very dull weather), I couldn’t see the Shetland ponies.  I asked OH, as he was coming up the hill after poo-picking the track, if he’d seen them and he replied “they’re all in the container, all except for Newt. I don’t know what he’s done.”

And OH was right.  The ponies were crammed into one container.  All except Newt and I had no idea what he had done to deserve this ostracisation but I am pretty sure he deserved it.

I never feel sorry for Newt.  Not even today, when he was trying his best to look small and pathetic.

I think it was Waffle who was making the rules and acting as doorman to this particular exclusive container club.

So I barged my way in with my scoopful of TurmerAid for only Silver (to boost his immunity to keep his sarcoids at bay) while Waffle maintained his guard.

I was still not even slightly feeling sorry for Newt.

Dearest Pepper went to talk and comfort Newt.

Only she understands his plight.

She has been hated too.  She understands (photo from last night after being caught chasing hedgehogs at the bottom of the field in the middle of the night!)

Then it was all change on the guard front and Tiddles and Albie took up their posts.

And so it is Newt’s lot to stay outside by himself even though there is a perfectly good container close by that is empty.

I suppose it is a case of “your name’s not down, you’re not coming in!”

So there! – said Tiddles.

I never did find out what Newt had done that was so awful but I can imagine.