The car is all packed and ready to go south by itself to Aberdeen on the freight boat tonight.  I will follow on tomorrow night’s boat.

A certain little doglet knows something is up.

I wish I could take Pepper with me but, after much thinking, I decided that she  would have a much better start staying at home, keeping to her routine, and being a happy dog with everything she loves (except me) around her.

I am not sure about the future of this blog, to be honest. It is meant to be about my life in Shetland and all I will write about for the near future will be about living down south in Englandshire.  I don’t know how long I will be there so I can’t make any promises.  I do not have a return ticket. I think the best I can say is I will see how I go.  I am caring for my mother.  I am staying for as long as she needs me. This is not a holiday but necessity.

I will miss my family and animals and have left them all in the best of hands. It’s all I can do.

I’m going to miss my speshul boy very much.

These two are getting along very well these days.

If Monster says it is good, Pepper believes him.  Although not a huge fan of eating, Pepper is Monster’s No 1 Fan (with capital letters and everything!).  Without Monster, I doubt Pepper would eat, ever.

I am beginning to pack up the car for my trip south and I found Monster sat on the top like the blues and two’s going Mee-Meow, Mee-Meow (see what I did there, geddit?)!

The car goes on tomorrow’s freight boat (there is no room ever again).

And I travel, as a foot passenger, with a cabin (the first in two weeks) on Sunday night’s boat. On Monday I drive to Cumbria for the night and then Tuesday, I drive onwards, ever onwards,  south.

So today we moved the MInions over to Leradale which is much closer and far more convenient when it comes to checking them.

Ok, it is two months’ early but we can always put them somewhere else once I am home.

And they are all very fat and need to lose weight quickly. Leradale, once they have eaten the grass down, will do this very well.

Worried about everything? Yup but I have to let go and concentrate on getting south.

I had to leave my little Pepper-pot busy eating my wellies and the socks that live in them.  I mean how could I be cross with that face?  She is so sweet with more than a hint of wicked.  She’s currently taken to finding a shoe (preferably a slipper) and running through the house with it in her mouth, taking it to the garden!

I had to pop to town for various things – a car check at the garage as I’ve got to drive south on Monday (will say more another time), to get my hair cut so I look clean and tidy for this drive south, a food shop and lastly to top up my sheeple field (note-to-self, they need more white ones – now on my To Do List).

It was a lovely morning, really beautiful but as usual, the street looked deserted.  Wool Week has been and gone and the cruise ships seem to have stopped now, though there might be one or two late ones at the end of the season.

But as I went further down the street, I found out where everyone was – they were busy filming “Shetland”, the tv programme that has put Shetland on the map.

I asked if it was ok if I walked through, otherwise I would’ve had to go the long way round (up and down a few side streets), and was told it was fine.  I didn’t see anyone of interest – just lots of film people standing around looking important.  I shuffled on and got on with my messages.

Little Miss Pepper is on a vertical learning curve.

Although, utterly perfect, she has to learn what is acceptable and what is not.

I enjoy our daily walk in our fields  and I hope she does too.

I encourage Pepper to “look for the mousies” as hunting is part of her genetic make-up.

Although, we probably don’t have the kind of hunting she would like (foxes, badgers, rats. etc…)

When in doubt, Pepper sits down. I think she just met a frog!

But everything has to be investigated.

And off we race because a rabbit strolled past and went home, totally unaware of the small chasing thing behind it!

So Pepper sat down again to consider her options.

And I called her back to me with the help of a pocketful of Dreamies (small cheesey cat treats).

Pepper has a good leap on her.

But this can end up in a splat!

But, “never say never” is Pepper’s motto and she picks herself up and off she goes again.

A darling little girl who listens to her own voices, as my previous and much loved neighbour would’ve commented.

On the way home, Pepper talked to ‘Ster and then chased ‘Bert. We had words and I told her to “go home”.

So she did.

We don’t approve of the sheep chasing, even though they are my sheep. To be fair, Pepper did listen……. eventually.  So much learning to do.