I have spent my day driving up and down the road to see the Minions.  It is 15 minutes each way. I’ve counted!

First was to introduce some visitors.  The ponies were on their best behaviour and enjoying the selfies so all was good.

And then second was for a visit from the farrier, which went suprisingly smoothly.  Even Newt was nice and almost co-operative and he can be a four man job when the notion takes him.  Today, luckily the notion did not and the farrier even commented that Newt was slightly better behaved.  So that’s a huge relief – all Shetland pony feet are now trimmed.

On my travels, now running out of petrol, I stopped to see a lovely lapwing chick.  They are very well camouflaged.  I have never seen one before.  In Shetland dialect, a lapwing is known as “Tieve’s Nacket” – I didn’t know this and have actually never heard anyone using it but I found a couple of sources online so I am being educated today as well.

One guard-parent was close by too.

No news on the foal front.  Hetja is showing far more now and changing shape. She rests a lot.  I am getting a little bored of the wait and I think she is too.

My favourite flowers are out.

The lovely orchids.  They grow everywhere in Shetland this time of year.

My very short film – no sound. I might try and do a longer one.  Might, mind.

The Minions are on top form.

Today’s fun was lying in a good muddy gateway patch and rolling.

Albie thought this was a great idea and decided to try and sit on Waffle!

Silly boys.

Enjoy the film – again no sound.  (I have no idea what button I have pressed but I can’t get any sense out of WordPress (blog hoster) today so apologies for the horrible set up. I am giving up – off to cook supper, wine and chips!)

Note everyone was having a rolling day!  Maybe it was the last of the winter coats coming out and they were feeling itchy.

I caught up with Dreki Dragon today.

I haven’t really spoken to him in a while.

I tend to let the young boys be boys as much as possible so they can learn from the herd and not boring old me.

The upside is that everyone is always pleased to see people. Dreki is no exception. He is a sociable beast.

However, I do notice that he is bit more reserved than his half-sister, Lilja or perhaps not as pushy.  Lilja has no competition in her field, though, while Dreki has to compete with the other youngsters, Hjalti and Efstur, all the time for anything.

Anywho, Dreki is 2 years old now and I was going to say going through his giraffe phase.

But then I see him from a different angle and he looks much more mature.  I suppose we all take a bad photograph occasionally!

Dreki is actually very similar to his Dad, Taktur in some ways, who is looking magnificent at the moment, thank you very much.

Handsome and he knows it!  Phwoar.

I like Dreki very much and if he promises never to trot, he might be a keeper.

Meanwhile Haakon is enjoying his summer holidays.  I am doing nothing with him, just letting him rest and get strong again.

He likes a chat and I led him out of the field to try some hoof boots on.  I wish all horses were as easy as Haakon.

I keep dreaming Haakon might be ridden again.

Misery, thy middle name is Lambie. It really is.

This is my poor not-so-little lad yesterday evening.  He came into my shed while I was making a sheeple using his wool from the batt I carded for the outside.

Lambie was cold and unhappy so I draped a blanket over him so he could show me just how miserable he was.

He wouldn’t chew cud and he just stood with his head on the floor.  ‘Bert was looking for him and kept banging on the door to get him.  I pushed Lambie out once and watched ‘Bert go for him, chasing and butting him round and round so I opened my shed door again and Lambie raced back in.  This was not good.

When I was going back to the house for the night, I put Lambie in a small overgrown ex-veg-garden and opened up the garden shed (his original house with wifi) and left him to it for the night.  He instantly started eating and relaxing so I think he hadn’t eaten all day worrying about being constantly hassled and was subsequently very hungry.  My poor boy. I hate seeing him like this – all clingy and depressed.

This morning, I gritted my teeth and took a meagre bucket of breakfast mixed with lots of TurmerAid (turmeric pellets) in the hope that it might help, ie just take the edge off everyone.  Lambie was limping too.

After breakfast and a nervous start, they settled down.

They have come in tonight because it is pouring with rain.  I filled up haynets and left them in together in their shed drying off.  No one is being pushed out and chased.  So let’s pray that’s the end of that because I worrry and even looked at the sleeping bags last night wondering whether I should sleep in Lambie’s shed with him to keep him company.

So I spent the best part of an hour waiting from some visitors who didn’t appear.

My view.

No shows are inevitable and to be fair apparently they emailed earlier in the morning and I missed it.

So, after the long wait and running out of phone battery, I drove off in a huff and went to see the herd by myself.  They were hiding in the dip of the stream using it for shelter.  It is very windy today.  I dished out carrots and a passing car stopped.  Some very nice visitors watched us, so I invited them into the field.  Win some, lose some – that’s how I see it.

Next up, I went over to spend the day with my “crafty” friend, Karen who had offered to help me “sort out” Lambie’s fleece.  Time for the big guns – the drum carder.

We were creating batts of wool from Lambie’s clean but grotty fleece.  I picked out the hairy bits and Karen “opened up the locks” (get me and my new found lingo) first before feeding it into the drum carder.  Then, once full, she unwound it using the most beautiful porcupine quill. I was entranced.

Et voilà – a carded wool batt of Lambie’s (clean) white bits.

Next it was the turn of the hand carders.  Karen showed me how to load them up.

And then what to do – much toing and froing.

Of course when she did it, it all looked so easy. I got into a huge muddle.

Karen’s finished hand carded result was a beautiful rolag.

Karen made it look all very easy.  I had a shot and made a complete Horlicks of it!

So back to the drum carder to make a mixed colour batt.

Lambie at his most beautiful.

And this was the misery that was waiting for me at home. Lambie is still very upset so spent the day with Daisy.  I told her while I was away that she was on babysitting duty!