Advent Calendar 2025

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Here is my 2025 Advent Calendar (we haven’t had one for ages so I think it is time).

Click on the appropriate date number and up pops one of my photos. It may take slightly longer to show because it is a larger picture (1280 x 1024 pixels) but it is given with my love free to you for your own personal use.

Thank you for all your support this year.  You have no idea just how much it has meant.  xx

I will try and add this as a page on the top bar but will probably make a mess of that.  If I fail I will just keep doing a link to the appropriate advent window (if I remember, hopefully – no promises!)

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Quickie Blog

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A quickie blog today. I have given myself the day off and am going to go and see Wicked: For Good this afternoon on the big screen at Mareel, the cinema in Lerwick. I am very excited as I loved the first film in this series.

Anyway, everyone is fine and well and enjoying their space and freedom.  My horse and pony care is going by the theme of “less is more”.

The ponies get their freedom and daily breakfast and that is it.  They have shelter from the contours of the land and the drystone walls and 35 acres to find food in.  They seem happy enough and don’t miss track life or their containers.

The old horses and ponies are over the scattald (open hill) in a 5 acre ungrazed field with old buildings (sadly no roofs) to use as shelter.  They are doing well and don’t seem bothered by the bad weather.  No one has a rug on.

I went around everyone to feel for ribs and can honestly say this part of anatomy does not exist.

So, that’s me. I’m off to be a normal person who goes out and has a life accompanied with my weight in Haribo to munch quietly through all afternoon.

 

More Rørosmartnan 2017

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I have a bit of a headache (probably from fighting with the weather this morning – I am just thawing and drying out now).

Anyway, I didn’t take any photos today as we were de-worming/fluking sheep and none of them helpful.

So, in the spirit of going through more of my photos from our trip to Norway in 2017, I found the bit where we travelled by horse-drawn sleigh from the encampment to the local village.

Upon arrival, we found all the horses were resting up after their hard work during the opening procession.  They had blankets on to keep them warm and were given food too.

      

We chatted, made friends, wandered about the camp and then it was time to go.

The horses were hitched up and our drivers made us very comfortable under huge sheepskin rugs and we sat in the back of the sleigh.

It was like travelling through Narnia or being the Snow Queen.  This was the home of every fairy tale.

We were accompanied by lots of singing, jingle bells and laughing.

  

I could not have loved this time more.  So beautiful and perfect.

After a while of sedate travel, we reached our destination.

The light was beginning to go by now and the horses had worked very hard.  It was time for their rest for the nigh. It was a memorable journey.

A Rough Day

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Today was rough (74mph wind recorded today in Fair Isle).  I started my morning with the sheep as they were close by but I couldn’t find Dahlia and Gussie because they like to spend their nights outside in another field.  They hadn’t turned up for breakfast so I just fed the ones who were around.

After nearly being blown over on a couple of occasions while feeding the horses, I went back and put up two haynets for the sheep so, if they decided not to go outside (and no one would blame them), they would have food to eat.

I couldn’t see the Shetland ponies either and it was certainly no weather to go looking in.  Later on in the morning, I spied them huddling by a dry-stone wall and Dahlia and Gussie were close by too.

They came in and I gave them a late breakfast.

This was much to the rage of the hobbitses-sheep who would quite like another one since I had mentioned breakfast again.

I was glad I had found D&G as I worry more in this weather.

I think Maggie was pleased to see her hill friends too.  She spends a lot of time with them. Maybe it’s a black sheep thing.

Dahlia gave me a lovely smile.

And so did Gussie-Dustbin (his new name).

When I went back outside the ponies had come closer and were now asking for their breakfast, which I luckily had with me, so they ate it and bounced off again.  The weather is calming down now. I have run out of outdoor clothes. They are all soaked through.

Happy Little Chaps

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I couldn’t see the Shetland ponies anywhere when I went into the field with their breakfast.  So I called and they appeared over the hill……

It is good to see everyone move well and look so happy in their new found freedom.

The ponies quickly found their buckets. All except Albie, of course.  He just has to share Waffle’s, much to Waff’s annoyance.

So I dragged over another bucket.

And everyone was happy, though Waffle probably thought Albie should share his now bigger portion.

Tiddles has his own private space.

And Newt’s back leg is quietly poised to cause as much annoyance as possible.  I should’ve moved him.  I know what he likes to do – kick out at anyone too close.

At the moment, I am going by the theory that the ponies won’t notice the filthy weather ahead (the next 24 hours – F10 with rain, temperatures dropping) because they have 30 acres of field and grass to play and eat in.  When I got the sheep home this evening, I couldn’t see the ponies anywhere so that’s a good sign.