A friend asked if she could bring her mother over to see the Minions.

Not trusting the Minions as a herd, especially with Lilja and Sóley close by, I decided to bring Fivla out of the field for the meet and greet.

I handed out a couple of brushes and put everyone to work!

Fivla was utterly perfect. I knew she would be.  She always is.  A good, quiet and trustworthy lady.  She didn’t put a hoof wrong.

Behind the fence – and, oh, I was very glad there was a fence and they were behind it – there was some horrible behaviour going on.

I had to tell them to stop.

Shameful.

Obviously attention seeking.

Meanwhile, Fivla remained her usual perfect self.   I think the visit was a success.  It was nice to see people again.

You can tell Fivla knows she is the bestest, goodest little Shetland pony ever.  (She has her smug face on – the others do not.)

Daisy had a riding lesson today, so she packed up the van (with help).

Got her noble steed ready.

And off we drove (luckily only 15 minutes away) to an outdoor manège.

Having shown Kappi the venue (he likes to see everything first), Daisy tacked up while I watched the previous lesson end.

Daisy was having a riding lesson with Hamish Cameron, a visiting instructor who comes up from Scotland to Shetland fairly regularly.

(Hamish got me back on Haakon after spinal surgery so we rate him highly and his lessons are excellent.)

Anywho, Daisy had a good morning. She said what she wanted to achieve with Kappi and off they went.

Kappi settled and found his concentration head.

He loves a good lesson and they both got a great deal out of it.

I just stood on the sidelines and snapped away with my camera.

…. and relax and rest.

A jolly good morning for Daisy and Kappi. They both did well and worked very hard.  Thank you Hamish.

Everyone else had galloped down to the bottom field.

Everyone else, except Kappi.

He was hanging around, waiting.

But I am just not sure what he was waiting for.

I did ask him.

But I was none the wiser.

Kappi wasn’t going to tell me.

So I left him with a duck and a couple of chickens as friends.  Kappi just wanted to be alone.  Fair enough. As long as he was happy in his solitude.

The others were in their other field, a long way off. Taktur was busy sniffing a lovely Icelandic lady-girl four fields away.

I did wonder whether Taktur was being annoying/a bore (he has form and that is why Haakon doesn’t share a field with him anymore).

In the end, I told Kappi he would have to rejoin his herd as I wanted to close the adjoining gate, so he galloped down the hill closely followed by Efstur and Dreki.

And it was then I decided that being annoyed by that pair of idiots was probably the reason he was in a different field by himself.

I don’t blame him for wanting peace and quiet.

A lovely day today.  Proper sun and we were proper hot.

After an energetic ride out on Klængur and Kappi, Daisy and I sat outside to recover.

Monster did not accompany us on our ride but enjoyed the sun and our company nonetheless.  This is his Spot.  One of many.

And then we went indoors for lunch and Monster found my Golden Paste Company box that had earlier brought us our essential supply of TurmerAid.

Just the right size for a large white cat.

The two dog/cat beds are now officially obselete.

After lunch, Daisy and I went to work at Turriefield – “an independent social enterprise growing fruit and vegetables for the Shetland community”.  First we visited the Minions, sitting on the banks of the stream.  Newt was thrilled to see his Daisy.

Obviously we social distanced at work.

However strange my world seems, somehow it feels right!

I had a hospital appointment so this time I dragged Floss along with me for moral support and afterwards we “did the Street”.

This is Jamieson’s Knitwear’s side window.  Very pretty.

And their main street window. Lovely.  I adore the colours.

Things were a bit livelier on the Street and more folk were out and about, including visitors.

Floss and decided to wear our masks all the time, even though they are only mandatory in shops (and on public transport).  I now have a lovely triple layer silk mask that makes all the difference – it is light and feels gentle against my skin.  I didn’t itch and I stopped wanting to touch my face half as much.

It was nice to see folk about but I am very apprehensive as today Aberdeen was put into lockdown and that is the only route, apart from visiting yachts, anyone can get to Shetland.  There seems to be no testing unless you have symptoms.  I may well be wrong, though.

Lunch was the best – freshly cooked fish and chips, wrapped in paper, sitting in the car overlooking the harbour.

Our lunch view.

Home and I had a peaceful half an hour sitting outside with my best little girly.

And some love and adoration from ‘Ster.

Sorry, this is my best little girly.  She was thrilled when we came home. Muchos excitement.