The Old Men have turmeric in the form of TurmerAid.  All for different reasons.

This is Haakon’s bowl – he is 26 years old and he needs his TurmerAid because he is stiff and achey. His is mixed with Formula 4 Feet (a hoof supplement) and, because I am incredibly nice and please don’t tell Daisy, a wee handful of mix and some chaff we are using up.

Iacs has TurmerAid, plus chaff, because last winter he had colic and we very nearly lost him. It was very scary and I never want him to go through that again. Turmeric gives support to the equine digestive system.

And lastly, this is Klængur’s bowl.  I give him TurmerAid because he can be a total arse to ride, spooking at grass (ffs).  Turmeric is known to improve mental health.  Without TurmerAid, Klængur spooks at his own shadow.   It gets boring but TurmerAid really helps.  It does. Even I can see (and feel) the difference in him. He thinks “more solidly” if that makes sense.

So, there we are. My three buckets all ready.  All for different reasons and all very necessary.

And the three recipients.

These two (Iacs and Klængur) eat together because if they swap buckets, it doesn’t matter.

Haakon eats seperately and hates being aggravated.  God help anyone.

I stood back and let them get on with it.

Klængur finished quickly and did his usual bucket trick. I have no idea why but he always does it.

Haakon insisted his head was not coming out until the last bit had been eaten.

And Iacs looked into the middle distance and remembered when buckets were bigger and fuller.

Three lots of TurmerAid for three different reasons.  All I know is that is works very well and I would not be without it.

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Is there such a thing as too many photos of Lambie?

I think not.

Please note The Winning Smile.  Be still my beating heart.

Lambie’s “Monarch of the Glen” moment.

Or, as Daisy put it, his “Pillock of the Glen”.  She knows nothing.

Lambie has obviously had a slight altercation with the red container – aka our feed shed.

I am sure it came off worse.

He can be ruthless when he is in a mood.

Possibly my favourite photo of Lambie today.

And a surprising “Elvis” impersonation or was he channelling his inner Game of Thrones?

Sadly, today was slightly marred by Lambie’s utter loathing of Missy who was following me around like a devoted slave.

This was not to be tolerated.

Lambie hates Missy and says things like “There is only one little lamb in your life, Muzzah. Never forget” before he biffs his Nemesis down the hill.

Luckily Missy seems to be fairly indestructable and enjoys laughing in the face of danger.

I was telling Lambie off while he made this face.  Bullying is not permitted. He knows that.

And then ‘Ster arrived for the photo session.

My album cover.

Poor Lambie. He was unimpressed after all, there is only one Lambie.  He keeps telling me this.

Thankfully.

Her Maj was fast a-bye-byes in the shavings, where the horses are usually tied up indoors.

Monster patiently waited behind the door of our indoor school to “get her”.  That is not kindness and generousity in his eyes. That is plotting and scheming at its very worst, or best, depending on your perspective.

My flock of sheep being actual sheep in an actual field, all together. A rare sight.  Boyzens on the left, Girzlens on the right.

The daily flog up the hill to see Minions in their field.  It feels like ruddy miles because it is.

I took carrots.

“Did someone say carrots?”

“Because we love carrots!”

I went for a lovely ride on Klængur. Daisy rode Iacs and then I had a little potter on Haakon too.

So all good. The sun was shining, it was an excellent horsey day.

Last night the alert was given….. the Merrie Dancers (the colloquial Shetland term for the Northern Lights) were out.  Some friends told me and pointed me towards a northward facing webcam.

So this time, having learned my lesson from a few nights’ past, I had my camera kit set up and ready.  As you can see, it is all fairly glamourous staring outside into the pitch dark at the backdoor next to the vegetable rack and the floor mop.

I was just trying to work out where to point the camera.

I managed to miss the bit when they were doing well – dammit – the problem is I can’t actually see anything through the view finder so I am just vaguely pointing and praying.

And by the time I had got everything back under control…..

The clouds were descending, the dancers stopped dancing and then it poured with rain.  Still it is looking good for the next few nights so I will keep trying.

I remind myself of my moment of glory – taken in January 2012 when I was featured on the BBC website.  I know I can do this. I have before so I can do it again.

Anywho, also, now feeling fairly awful about leaving the little hedgehog from the other day, I then saw another (could be the same one) yesterday but all I had to carry it home in was my riding hat and I didn’t think that was a good idea.

Today I vowed to go and look for small hedgehogs, weigh them and decide whether to bring them home or not.  The plan is to fatten them up and release again before hibernation.  I drove around at dusk but saw nothing. I am leaving my kit in the car and will try to do this regularly.

I brushed my horse and, if you know me well, you would realise that this is something I don’t do very often. Hardly ever actually.  A bit like cleaning the house.  It’s just not for me.

There was a good reason for this sudden rush of blood to the head.

I was already tacked up when Daisy arrived back from work, so I waited for her to fetch Taktur out of his field, tack him up and then we went out for a lovely Sunday afternoon ride together.

I even brushed Klængur’s “chrystanthemum” bottom and trimmed his tail as its winter and I hate tails trailing in the mud and being stepped on.  That must hurt.

However, I did not brush the dog.  That would be one step too far.

We were all slightly less beautiful upon our return.

A sudden rain shower on our way home.

After the ride, we moved the Old Men to their Winter field which is across the hill – 5 acre “Clothie”.

They all love this field and it is perfect for spending winter in, as long as it doesn’t turn to mud. Then life just gets depressing. I am not hopeful.