Well yesterday was a total disaster blog-wise so I am trying again. Apologies. It was out of my control.  Anyway, today, the photos have loaded fine.

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I found Lilja and Sóley exploring behind the drystone dyke (wall) that act as shelter in the harsh weather.

Lilja guessed I had brought a carrot.  She was correct, of course.

Sóley waited by herself for a while…..

….. until her mother, Hetja, did that special mother where-are-you-my-child whicker.

And little Sóley duly appeared.

She is a very precious treasure.

Hetja is the best mother I know.

She loves her foals. I am sad Hetja won’t be having another one but she is getting on now and, after this year’s retained placenta, I would hate for her to have more or worse complications.

Hetja’s sweetitch is finally clearing up too and she looks so much better.

Midges are rare in Shetland but I am much better equipped to deal with them so Hetja has some peace.  I also have to hand a variety of unguents, lotions, potions, concoctions as well as knowledge.  It was a vertical learning curve.

Little Sóley is loving her life with her big sister and her mother.

She is very relaxed and happy.  They are one big happy family – complete with Dad (Taktur) shouting at them two fields away when he gets a glimpse.  Of course, they all ignore him and Hetja determinedly takes them away.  Taktur then he gives up and goes back to his little herd of boys and shuts up, thankfully. Shouting at the ladies at 05:00 is tedious.

I love this photo.  Sóley means buttercup in Icelandic!  Perfect.

I have been making needle-felted sheeple all afternoon and took a break to write the blog but…… I can’t upload any photos of darling little Sóley with her sister, Lilja.

Here isn’t Little Sóley behind the dry stone walls (you can see just her ears. Oh, but you can’t because WordPress won’t let me upload the photos).

And little Sóley being groomed by her Mum.  Lots of very nice (and they are too) photos of our foal, Sóley from Thordale with her mother, Hetja, and her sister, Lilja.

So, I am sorry and please check back in later because I might be able to upload the photos by then.  They are really jolly good and I wish I could just get on with the blog because the shop has run out of sheep (got a phone call this afternoon) and I need to make a good pile this weekend to send to town for sale.

So here we are (and I may have had gin tonight as I type this) with my photos of the wonderful and truly inspired Vegetable Creations from the Cunningsburgh Show.

And I have to say I chuckled my way around this section, full of admiration at the exhibitor’s ingenuity and creativity.

The best imaginations and artistry at work.

And you don’t have to go big to be clever.  Sometimes less is all you need.

For me, it is the expressions.  The swallowed-a-button faces are wonderful.

There were three birds in a tree – exceptional and folk stopped to admire.

A briilliant galleon with aubergine and courgette fish.  Perfect. That aubergine whale is brilliant.

Now I might be wrong, but I do think this chap featured in the Walls Show a few days previously.

And this guy was perfect.

And there were gasps from the crowd when they saw the fabulous cockeral.  I was very impressed.

So, it was another memorable day at this year’s Cunningsburgh Show.

I see the vegetables I pack at Transition Turriefield on a Thursday with new eyes and imagine the artistic creations I could make.

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So, we had been in all the tents and sheds to look at the exhibits and now it was time for a wander around outside.

There was a huge sheep section – all different breeds – don’t ask me, because I know nothing.

All I do know, however, is that sheep breeding is taken very seriously up here.

By now, it was a hot afternoon and I wish someone had been round with a bucket of water for the sheep.  They did for the cows. I saw them.

This spectacular ram was having a lovely time chasing lady sheep around a large pen while the judges watched on.  I love the ram’s lecherous grin!

The vintage tractor display was splendid and had a flock of small children  You could see them playing “tractors”.  The ultimate dream at that age.

Over to the Shetland pony rings – two of them.   One for standards and one for miniatures with a judge in each.

Some had given up and were having a well deserved snooze.  It’s a very long day.

As we wandered around the judging was coming to an end and various champions were announced.

This is Wilbur.  He was in the Pet Section and we had a little chat.  The lovely bow tie was an inspiration (says she who is now busily searching the internet for some).

And I made a discovery – there are donkeys in Shetland!  You have no idea how fast I raced over to introduce myself.  There were two in a pen.  I asked the owner about how easy was it to keep donks in Shetland only to discover that I have been seriously misinformed and that, as a breed, they do fine up here.

If I had only known…….. just imagine what could’ve been.  I adore donkeys.  I smile inside when I see them.

“The Cunningsburgh Show is organised by the Cunningsburgh & Districts Agricultural Society and is the largest agricultural show held on Shetland. The show takes place every year on the second Wednesday of August.” – from their Facebook page.  The first show was in 1935 and this year was their 75th.

I love a good agricultural show and today’s was no exception.

The crafts were amazing. I was full of admiration.

Wow!

Huge and very beautiful.

And now as I am into felting, I could appreciate even more the skill and hard work that goes into every piece of work. I loved this.

And adored him.

There was the statutory Wall of Wool.

Incredible Fair Isle knitting – I love the colour combinations.

Some beautiful shawls.

Onto the Poultry Section.

It was a hot day and many animals were asleep.

Produce.  Now this is the right colour for a proper egg yolk.  Ours look like this.  No additives just nature.

It is all in the presentation.

Horse and Pony classes were going on in two separate rings at one end of the show field.

There were at least five Icelandic horses taking part.  Well done to all.  It was lovely to see.

The show ground was getting busy as the day went on.

We went into the flower shed.

More gorgeous colour.

And the smell of flowers was incredible.

On the opposite side of the flowers were the tatties.

Shetland Blacks

And even six cooked potatoes on a plate is a class on its own.

We loved this. As you can see “Carrots Three” is the class.  Sadly this entry did not win.

And you can sort of see why but a good effort none the less.

The cake section was innovative.  This represents the “Sooth-End Synchronised Swimming Team” – brilliant!

A superb display of vegetables.

Someone can grow fruit very well.

So, that’s the first part of the show. More tomorrow…… and yes, you guessed it, there were some fun Vegetable Creation entries.  An excellent day.