Harry is not a fan of our Shetland weather.  He loves his little shed and possibly any shed he can hide from Maggie in, while she shouts her head off for him looking for him.

But he is a sheep and he has to live in a field, at least during the daytime.

So, my neighbour and friend, Monika, knowing that the weather is going to be nastier in the next few days, came round with a beautiful hand-knitted lopapeysa (an Icelandic wool sweater that are water-resistant) for Harry!

It is stunning and I will admit we both had our doubts as to whether it would fit or not – I thought it looked enormous, but once on, we both immediately could see that the sweater was a perfect fit and Harry looked wonderful.

Maggie was suspicious. She knew her little boy smelled all wrong.

Harry, on the other hoof, told his Mum that he loved his sweater and it was perfect for him!

While Maggie knew Harry was her’s, she wouldn’t let him drink, so we caught and held her while Harry had a proper drink.  Then I took off his coat, and wiped it all over Maggie so that it stopped smelling of new jersey and became something she was familiar with.

And that did the trick.

Harry has worn his wee gansey all day and he is very happy in it.  Being an only lamb he has no one to run about with and keeping warm. He tends to get cold, and hunchy, very quickly which is not good for him.

The call for tea-time!

I have been checking on Harry all day. He doesn’t notice his coat or mind it one bit.

And this is the final proof.  Harry is happy and Maggie is happy as well.  A huge thank you to Monika.  What a perfect present for Harry.

(The sweater is only for day-wear. At night, they both come in to the small paddock and Harry takes to his shed while Maggie starts shouting for her breakfast at about 3 a.m!)

This morning we took Lilja and Sóley home.  We were hoping that things would settle overnight but it was very apparent they were not making friends in their new field.

Once home, we gave the young ladies a good brush (got rid of their winter coats) and put them into a paddock to rest – so then they shouted endlessly for any friends.  Dammit!

We decided Haakon, Iacs and Klængur might fill this role.  How wrong we were.  Klængur started attacking the girls so I evicted him.  He is now living with the Taktur and his friends (Efstur, Kappi and Dreki).

He hates me.

Lilja and Sóley (asleep behind Lilja) seemed more settled with the old men.

Well, so I thought. I was hopeful until I saw Haakon chasing the two girls away. I now hate everyone except for Iacs who is the only well-behaved horse in our herd.  For the moment, as it is a big field, I am leaving the old men with Lilja and Sóley in the hope that a) Haakon is too old to chase the girls away and will give up and b) things might calm down.  If not, we will have to think of something else.

Floss and I went over to “be Minioned” in their new field as a distraction from all the politics at home.  I am so bored of it.

Another delight was Harry this morning who made an old tyre his home – he was very happy there.

I wish everyone would sort themselves out. I have had enough and I hate seeing Lilja and Sóley being bullied. They don’t deserve this.  Bloody horses.

Today was a huge effort.  We moved everyone everywhere – well, it felt like it anyway.

First up were Lilja and Sóley who moved back in with their mother, Hetja and Brá, as well as another Icelandic mare and two tiny Shetland geldings.  They live over the road from us, at my neighbours’.

That is Brá in the background.  Hetja was furious about her daughters returning and is refusing to have anything to do with them.  Hopefully she will get over herself.

Lilja and Sóley are here for the summer to learn their herd manners and go back down to the bottom of the heap. Lilja was getting very up herself with the Minions.  Lilja will also start her training with Daisy and myself.

Then the Minions all went over to their summer field.  They went in 3 loads – with the help of our very kind neighbours (the ones with Hetja, etc) who offered their horsevan and selves and spare headcollars.  It cut down on a lot of driving and time too.  We each took 3 ponies and then went back for Fivla and Vitamin who had been left with a bucket of food to keep them going.

Then we took our neighbour’s gelding home so he could have some fun time with our lot.  We started him off, while we were moving everyone else, in the same field as Dreki and Efstur.  When we came home, we added Taktur, our stallion, and Kappi.

Yes, there was some loud screaming but they pretty soon settled.

Taktur is thrilled to have a new “friend” and the other three are being allowed to join in slowly.  It is all a matter of horse politics. We check on them all regularly and watch the relationships develop and statuses change.

Her Maj was thrilled when we came home.  Bouncy-bounce!

It is still very cold.  We had a brief moment when we all thought, sheep included, that Spring had arrived but no, Spring departed and we are back to a cruel north wind and some harsh rain.

Recently Harry has been looking “hunchy” and I spoke to my postie (a sheep expert) and was advised that he looked cold.

So, with the help of food, Maggie and Harry followed me into the little paddock behind the house that was Lambie’s original shed (the one with wifi and/or radio).

Harry has spent most of today asleep.  I also gave him the lick bucket as I reckoned sugar would give him energy.

Maggie is very unimpressed at this relocation and has not stopped complaining all day.

She misses the rest of the flock, who she always studiously ignores, though I did find her sharing a rock with ‘Bert the other evening.

I spent some time sitting in the shed with Maggie who frisked me for all the Animal Crackers I had about my person.

Harry pottered inside for a while.

Maggie is mostly outside and Harry is eating and drinking but he has spent most of his day asleep, using the shed as shelter from this miserable wind.

This is the view from my desk window.

The forecast tonight is rain, so I am glad Harry will have shelter.  I am almost considering getting him a wee coat or making one using BeAnne’s tankini as a pattern.

Meanwhile, Maggie is furious and glares balefully through the window while she chews her cud at me!

Tough, Maggie, look after your son.  Harry comes first.

Yesterday, Daisy rode Dreki. I was leading and Daisy was riding.

• “Thems is feets….. where do they come from, thems feets? Efstur said they would appear and they did!”
• (Who knows, Dreki, who knows!)

We stopped for they traditional family photo and then Daisy said “put the rope over his neck, walk alongside (just in case) and let’s see what happens.”

Nothing – zip, nada, diddly-squat.  Dreki was a good boy and he walked around the school, staying on the track (mostly), listening to his rider and trying to learn this new language we were teaching him.  We were all very pleased.

So, that’s the first solo flight achieved. Tick.

I love this photo. After the ride, while Daisy “did feet” (ground tied and picked them out), I was outside.  Here is Dreki noticing Harry for the first time, who was in the process of sitting down outside the indoor school.

“OMG, he is so small and teensy. I don’t think I have ever seen anything like that before!”

And now, today, on my walk, I found Maggie had put Harry in a hole.  It is so cold at the moment (that ruddy north wind never stops) so she wanted him to be warm.

So sweet. He looked like a plant!

On my home (45 minutes later), Maggie had sat down next to her little flower.

Funny little chap. He fits right in.