On Wednesday, we went to town and bought some hay.  Not a huge amount. Just in case.  You never know.  This is our first hay of the season, so first Daisy cleared and cleaned the area we always store it in.

We went backwards and forwards with wheelbarrows moving the bales from the van to the stable.

Her Mooch was around, getting under wheel and foot.  It’s currently her special skill.  Death by wheelbarrow.

Once stacked, we covered the hay with old duvet covers and/or dust-sheets as there are birds in the stable and I like to keep the hay as clean as possible.  Note our art installation of binder twine!  That’s at least two year’s worth.

More cleaning because we were now on a roll.

Madame Mooch outside looking resentful at not achieving death-by-wheelbarrow.

The hay won’t be used until the grass has almost gone.  If we can hold out until January that would be good.

Despite what others might tell us!

Iacs is ever the optimist.

Everyone is always claiming starvation.

They don’t give up but we don’t believe them.

The weather is deteriorating rapidly.

It’s not very nice outside so I spent the afternoon going through some of my Great Great Aunt Kate’s magazine/newspaper clippings and her own sketches.

Kate was very interested in fashion.  I have her “Book of Fashion” that she started aged 15 in 1894.

It is fascinating.

She mentions in her diaries that her little sister, Alys, likes to skirt dance.

This made me smile – “Development of the skirt dancing lady into a horse”.

And the comment at the end. I laughed.

Kate eventually attends The Slade School of Fine Art and studies under Henry Tonks and Philip Wilson Steer and her style becomes much more refined but her early interest in art is very apparent.

These are from when she was 16 years old.

And then there are the folders of magazine clippings and newspaper cuttings.  Kate was always shopping wherever she was living.  I am currently knee-deep in 1916 and it is the First World War.  Kate worked for the Belgian Refugees in Aldwych as Secretary of the Private Relief Fund.

Can anyone date these fashions from La Mode Nationale?  I would be most interested to know so I can include a better photo in the relevant diary.

My life seems worlds away from her’s.

It was a dull dreich day so as we didn’t feel like riding much and having done our chores, Daisy and I took the horse-van for a good run into town to collect hay and horse feed. Then we went on to do our messages.

Surprisingly, the street was quite busy so how I managed to take a photo of the place being empty, I do not know.  I saw many friends and stopped to chat.  I wear a mask outside in public and can’t wear my glasses so probably missed a few too.

But it was very dark.  A low November light.

There were some good shop windows.  This is Anderson’s on Commercial Street.

And this was utterly gross.  Yes, they are eyeballs and it is from a spectacle and eye-testing shop.  However, it did make me stop and look twice just to check I believed what I thought I had seen while I walked past!

I popped into Jamieson’s Wool shop and gently herded five more curly sheep into their new field.

Lerwick couldn’t decide if it was Halloween or Christmas.

This was our lunchtime view – eating the best fish and chips from The Fort Cafe whilst sitting in the Pier carpark.

Dreich means “(especially of weather) dreary; bleak” but Lerwick is always beautiful.

An old town trying to survive in difficult times.

I noticed Monster was sitting next to OH in a sort of Right-Hand-Of-The-Father way (only it was Left) and so I took a photo, looked at it and remarked “but you’re both not smiling”.

Monster, obviously understanding my every word, moved over.

He took the direct route.

So then OH smiled nicely for the camera.

And Monster smiled fatly and he was sitting on the Right Hand of his Father!

So that was the morning weirdness.

This afternoon took a slightly different form.  BeAnne and I were in the hill on our after-lunch little walk.  Monster thought he was being invisible but BeAnne spied him!  She ran over.

Monster decided on the stalking approach.

I call this photo “Cat, what cat?”

Meanwhile, Daisy was kindly schooling Klængur for me and Monster obviously was in attendance.  I like the way they both stop, waiting patiently for the “chicken to cross the road”, like this is an everyday occurrence.

It was all just weird.  Why are my animals like this?

Last week, when we moved everyone to their new field (about 1/4 mile down the road), it swiftly became apparent that two certain young Icelandic ladies had forgotten all they had ever learned about leading nicely.  There was “kite flying”, which is never pretty. So Daisy and I decided that, as this is an essential life-skill for any equine, we would gently remind them what was (and always will be) required.

Today, we drove over armed with the necessary (small bits of carrot, head-collars, lead ropes, a stick).  We had a bit of an audience when Daisy caught and we led Lilja and Sóley over the road to the opposite field.  The Shetlands were more than happy to keep well out of this.

While I held Lilja, Daisy led Sóley around and reminded her of her manners and re-taught her leading skills.

Lilja’s eyes never left Sóley.  They are very “attached” to each other. Hmmm……

Meanwhile, there was no Shetland audience participation as a neighbour had kindly cut up and apple and was feeding them.  A good diversionary tactic.  Waffle has been known to go over the fence to “help”.

Handover and I kept Sóley entertained while it was Lilja’s turn to have her manners refreshed.  She did not watch Lilja.

Which was interesting.

Daisy’s consistent and quietly insistent training worked very well on both Lilja and Sóley.  They learned what we wanted and we will reguarly be working with them.

I am very lucky to have her here.