Feeling now worried about my sheep’s mineral and vitamin intake (something I just took for granted as they have unlimited hay, grass, Himalayan salt and a generous daily handful of “sheep crunch”), I was told of the 5kg Horslyx Smallholder mineral block I could buy – it would help.

So I bought online and the block arrived the other day.  Up here everything for sheep comes in large amounts for flocks of 50+.  I wanted one for 5 sheep and this is perfect – 5kg – especially made for “the smallholder situation where reliance on forages from grazing, hay, haylage or silage form the greatest proportion of the ruminants diet.” – well that describes our set-up to a tee.

Wherever I go, I have Edna with me.  She is forever hopeful I will feed her and is also my best friend. And so she found me opening the box and swiftly decided that lick was her’s.  I left her to it for a while.

Edna was one happy sheep!

We stayed silent, telling no one.

Didn’t we, Edna!?

Once she had had her fill, I took the block outside.  ‘Ster was next up and straight in.

Lambie was intrigued.

And a “suspicious Aloysius”.

Honestly, Lambie get a grip!

Soon they were all in.

Lambie even tried it. Oh well done, what a brave boy!

They sort of took it in turns.  Now everytime I meet Edna she still looks covered in lick but very happy, if slightly sticky.  She is following me around the croft less too. That Horslyx Smallholder mineral block has her name on it!

Well, it has been a rollercoaster ride with James II.

This morning, he was pronounced dead.  It was a sad time. We all felt we had failed him and questioned our care and I asked myself where had we gone wrong.  We had honestly given it our best but obviously that had not been enough.  And so, we fed the horses, sheep, poultry feeling very depressed but, hey ho, life goes on and we need to keep going.  We were all miserable, though.

Coming indoors for breakfast and to get James II out of his cat-box to bury, we discovered he was actually alive!

Oh the joy! You cannot imagine just how happy we all felt.  We had been given a second chance.  Life rarely does that.

Ok, James II has not eaten since yesterday but he is still sound asleep in his box in the kitchen under the stairs.

I have been in communication with a Hedgehog Lady in the Isle of Man who confirmed this can happen.

We check James II regularly for breathing – which has calmed down since yesterday. I reckon he has gone back into hibernation.  Good choice not-so-wee James II!

Today has been a gamut of emotions for all of us.  I’m exhausted. I am not made for this.

Yesterday evening, cry for help from a friend and a hedgehog was dropped off with us.  Her dogs had found it.

Hedgehog was quickly named James II (James I lived with us many years ago and used to wander around the house at night, and was found snoring behind a cupboard!)

After a quick inspection, we put James II in a cat box with a towel, food and water. He (or could be a she, who knows) was breathing quite rapidly and so we decided to leave him to have some peace and quiet for the night.

This morning, James II was still with us and had eaten and poo’ed so that was a good sign.  We got him out very carefully with gloves and had a better look.  No immediate damage, though we were not happy with his left foot not being tucked up.  He curled up nicely and grunted a bit.  Poor little lad was clarted all over in mud but he was a good size and weight.

I quickly googled “can you bath a hedgehog?” and apparently you can so we watched a YouTube video first.

And in he went.

OH donated an old toothbrush and the bath-water was quickly very muddy.

A bit cleaner, we put James II back to bed and left him in the warm kitchen with food and water.

There was a bit more activity this afternoon.

So we thought James II could go out into a shed to live. The plan being to leave food and water out for him as well and he could come and go as he pleased.

We left the door open to his cat-box and left.

It’s nice in the shed.  Easy access but peace and quiet.

When I checked James II this afternoon, he was curled up and looking cold so I brought him back into the kitchen to warm up a bit.  He had his front foot curled inside himself, so that’s a better sign.  I think he possibly came out of hibernation too early (it’s been a warm) or was disturbed while in hibernation by the dogs.  Anyway, we’ll see how we go.

Lots of photos today.

This morning Daisy and I worked with Dreki.

Here is the boy himself, happily in his field with his mates.

He is :-

• Easy to catch.

• Easy to lead.

• Stands tied up nicely.
• Easy to groom.

• Likes people.

• Takes an interest.

• Easy to tack up.

(even when his bestie, Efstur, is shouting his head off, telling him to come back. Honestly, such a baby – whinny, whinny, whinny!)

• Leads nicely in the school.
• Reads body language well.

• Likes being told that he’s a good boy.

So then Daisy got The Bucket.

Rewards are given when Dreki doesn”t ask and stands looking straight ahead.  Absolutely no mugging is allowed.

Daisy stood on the bucket.

Reassurance.

Reward.

The bucket gets moved to the other side – Dreki has a good look.

Reward – the theory being reinforced is that good things happen to good boys.

Daisy stands on the bucket again.

And then its my turn.  I put down my big camera, fill my pockets with little bits of carrot and hold the lead rope.

Daisy stands on bucket and leans over Dreki’s back.  Feet off the bucket so he has all her weight.

Dreki has a look to see what on earth Daisy is doing.  I give him a piece of carrot.

We work on both sides.

And then, when Daisy thinks it is the right time (ie safe, and Dreki is happy with what she has done), she swings her leg over.

And sits up!  More carrot, Daisy just sits there, Dreki does nothing.  He has another carrot.  Off she gets.  We both say “What a good boy!”. Saddle off and we call it a day.

One more thing – feets – all picked up nicely, all brushed clean and picked out.  No fuss.

So that’s a first for Dreki – he has been sat on and was a very good boy.  Yay! *** sniff ***.

This morning, after feeding the Girlzens and the Boyzens, I made the executive decision to give them their copper boluses.  In Shetland, there is no natural copper in any soil or plants so copper is given, if required and after seeing Lambie’s behaviour, I thought it couldn’t do any harm.  OH had collected 5 large hard gelatin capsules containing copper oxide.

Well, all I can say it that Edna was a dream (she just swallowed it down – no applicator, no nothing, like a ginger-biccie!), while the rest required a rugby tackle, half Nelson and brute force with an applicator.  Madge can set her steel-like jaw to never open.  Hey ho.  It is done.  Everyone should be like Edna, that is all I will say and everyone but Edna hates me.

Meanwhile, the Old Men are on top form.  I rug, un-rug, rug according to the weather like a demented person who rugs.  Haakon has kept the weight on and I do notice that if I don’t bother with his rug then he instantly looks thinner, tucked up and miserable.  At that stage, my guilt is huge and I vow to be out with the rug the minute the rain starts.

They have a bit of an Abba moment.

And another.

For the next 6 weeks Bibble is my “Noble Steed” due to Klængur being on his hollibobs.   I doubt he will look so glass-half-full afterwards!

And so onwards and upwards……