I was walking to the car this morning, only to see my two horses flat out looking rather dead!  As we had been on two very fast rides earlier, I guess it was inevitable.

Feeling slightly concerned that I had killed them both, I went over to check.  A bijoux “chattering” of starlings flew past and that woke the two snoozers up.

I think they were exhausted though and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Haakon has now worn through his (rear) hoofboots with his enthusiastic piggy-pacing. There is no stopping him.  He won’t be told and bounces on the spot if I try to slow him down.  OH is trying to mend the boots with fibreglass to see if we can get a bit more use from them. The house stinks.  In the back of my mind there is a memory from my childhood.

Haakon refuses to act his grand old age – 26.

Klængur, on the other hoof, went out with Taktur and the pair of them wound each other up trying to be slightly in front.  It was never-ending and only when we had turned for home, and fast-tölt raced they both gave up for a while, probably out of exhaustion.

But they deserve their sleep and I crept away.  I don’t like being “in their space” while they are lying down.

While I was clambering elegantly back over the fence, Klængur got up.

He asked Haakon if he was getting up.  The reply was a resounding “no”.

I am sure I could hear the laughing as I left!

On our way out of the door to go and “do veg”, I saw Dreki sitting in the grass like Ferdinand, the Bull –  the book, never the film.  Don’t ever mention the film.

A few hours later, Daisy moved the boys into their night-time field and I quickly walked down to the bottom of the hill to take action shots of them all galloping downhill.  It is such an impressive sight.

So they didn’t.  They all stood there, at the top, and watched me.

Eventually they started to move off and I was ready.

It was a half-arsed attempt.

But, with some encouragement, Kappi did a bit of a canter.

Swiftly followed by Efstur.

Dreki (who is sporting a very strange forelock – I will investigate tomorrow and it could be a result of the unforgiving bastard midges last night) did his little descent.

And then Taktur took a deep breath and galloped.

Oh wow!

Man on a mission.

Taktur really does put his heart and soul into it.

Such a wonderful stallion (*** swoon ***) ❤️

Today I received a lovely parcel in the post from some across-the-pond friends.  The contents were wonderful and hugely appreciated by us all.

In the box were presents for all the family, including the horses (appley treats that smell like real apple), tennis balls for BeAnne and catnip fish for Monster plus muchos lovely things for the hoomans.

The box was also included in Monster’s appreciation.

This is Monster now a bit zonked out.  He is such a druggie!

I also spent the day watching hawklike the lightning threaten.  Apparently we had a huge lightning storm last night which, luckily, BeAnne missed as we have blackout blinds in our bedroom.  Both she and I were blissfully unaware until this morning when we discovered our internet down.  A good few hours on the phone to Plusnet who denied all knowledge stating everything was fine their end and could I just find another router to test the system with and so I duly up-ended the house, found one only for them to say it was actually an outage in Edinburgh!  The rest of the morning was spent putting the house back along with the spare router and yes, I grumbled.

Anywho the thunder/lightning warning has apparently been stood down for Shetland and the sky looks like this.

I have to say I am not too convinced.

My day started well. I walked over the hill to collect Haakon, Iacs and Klængur from their field as we were going for a ride or two.  I had brought headcollars and put them on the chaps.

I stupidly thought to myself “I trust these three, they know what they are doing, they will walk (as they always do) through the hill and home” and opened the gate.

But no, to a horse, they sniggered, kicked up their heels and went off into the infinite hill.  Iacs even did a happy little buck!

Daisy and I got them back with some persuasion and then went on our ride(s). *** sigh *** – Why don’t I ever learn?  There was definitely something in the air today.  They were very fast rides!

And then, after a marathon of cooking this afternoon, I decided I had earned some peace and quiet and went to sit with the sheeps.

‘Bert immediately plopped himself down beside me.

And we tooks selfies together – Bert’s such a dude.

Little Missy Madam spied me in the field and immediately came over.

She is a very inquisitive little girl.

and she likes to nibble.

Certainly one of the herd and we all adore her.

BeAnne sat behind me waiting to go back inside.  She is not a huge fan of sheep anymore ever since Edna told her what she thought of dogs. To be fair, Edna had just had Missy so was not in the best frame of mind.  BeAnne now tends to steer well clear.  Probably wise.

As you may, or may not know, I am a crap gardener but I like the idea of growing things (ditto for knitting and sewing – crap at them too).

So, today, I went with a friend to Lerwick to collect her treasured (and huge) Kaffir lime tree which she was giving me.  We took the van, gave the tree a massive prune, and drove it home.  It is now living in my she-shed as that is the hottest and sunniest place.  I am very excited – we all adore Thai curry and this is an essential ingredient.

I have decided we will eat the greens in the tray – a microleaf salad of some description and then I will concentrate on growing weird plants like ginger, galangal, ginseng and turmeric on my windowsill, possibly reclaiming the very useful table again.

This is my home-sprouted ginger just beginning to appear.  I am very proud of myself.  This is an achievement.

Outside the two courgette plants are doing their best and we might even get a courgette or two to eat which will be a gardening triumph.

I also have golden thyme kept in a prison of wire as the birds nearly ate it all.

My pink fir potatoes are a complete mystery.  Despite being planted on the same day, they come in three sizes.

Left to right – Medium, Large…..

And far right – small.  I have absolutely no idea why.

I told you I am not really a gardener.  More like someone who likes the pretty pictures on the seed packets and then wants an “instant garden”!