I walked the dogs today and went down to the Shetland ponies’ field to a) count fence posts as I am having wooden ones put in where I built the new track and b) see how everyone was doing.

They’re all doing fine, thank you very much for asking.

Though, I think they all look fatter but I won’t know this for sure until they are weighed.

How the ponies can be fat on virtually nothing remains a mystery to me.

I am now telling myself that all Spring grass is rocket fuel to them.  I was told this by a Shetland pony breeder whose father told her.  So any small blade of “rocket fuel” will not helping their waistlines.

Still, they can all move and spend their day listening for the slightest thing so that they can gallop up and down the hills regularly checking whether I have left some chocolate cake out for them, which I most definitely have not!

After lunch, Monster followed me to my shed, which was unusual but as OH was away, I guess he was bored and had no one else to annoy.

But annoy he did.  Monster sat exactly where I wanted to work.  It was like he knew.

He quickly made himself at home.

I was prodded, regularly.

And then Monster wanted to play the in-and-out game, which I totally refused to participate in.  I knew where that was leading.  “I am here to work” I told him, while he said he wanted to go out and then probably in and then out again, ad infinitum.  Absolutely no!

So Monster sat in the wool bags and sulked a bit.

Back again on my table, but this time I told him to SIT DOWN!

Everyone else knew what to do in my shed.

It’s not rocket science.

But apparently it is to some.

Then there was the shouting.

And then getting stuck in a place he had no need to investigate but did.

By 3.30 p.m. I had finished (I know not how) my hand-felted sheep and was ready to go into the house and got their tea early because I was fed up with the nagging.

Once done, I then escorted two ducks from the house who were looking at the porch as Real Estate!  “No, absolutely no!” I told them.  “This is not the place to lay eggs and make a nest!”  Imagine ducklings in the house.  Well, I can but I know OH wouldn’t.

Well, as I type this, that’s Flossie off on the plane going back to her home, job and life south.

It was lovely to see her and she was a huge help, as ever.

She gave my back had a well-earned rest from lugging anything heavier than a kettle.

Every job was shared so took half the time and effort which was also wonderful.

I think I can safely say we are all going to miss her.

Hopefully it won’t be long before she’s back. One word – Eurovision!

I spent my morning building a new track extension to miss out all the depressing boggy bits that appeared last year.  They really were very deep and Newt struggled to get across. I hated watching that,

Although, I had originally intended to just block access to these areas, I quickly realised that the ponies would lose a lot of grazing and it also took away the circular effect of the track.  Knowing my ponies, I also realised that the Shetland ponies would stay down in the farthest point refusing to move or come home to bed every evening.  I have watched their antics before.  To get them to come home is a lot of work and a lot of shouting.

Hence the track extension.  It took me a few hours but Pepper and I worked hard creating what I wanted et voilà!  We achieved a creditable and straight track that linked up with the far side.

Dear little Pepper was fast a-bye-byes all afternoon after “helping”. I didn’t have such a luxury and made a sheep instead.

Anywho, afterwards, I shouted for everyone to come home and surprise, surprise, they all galloped up the hill immediately which was good. They had a new piece of grazing (tis Monday after all) and I wondered if they would play silly-buggers.

Tiddles was tail-end Charlie but look at him go.  What a lovely trot.  That made me smile.  You have no idea.  When you think how he was just a few month’s back.

I’m not going to lie, but I am exhausted now.  Supper is warming up (leftovers from yesterday’s Thai banquet what Floss and I created) and I have the last of the gin too.

I will probably regret writing this, but the Shetland ponies are doing very well on my strict regime of utter misery and bare nothingness resulting in total starvation.

And they even enthusiastically come home when they are called in the evening.   No more messing around, which is much better.

I think one of the reasons is that there is very little grass out there and so they are hungry by evening.  They also don’t get breakfast anymore so I have a nice bucket of food is waiting for them all.  Food with no calorific content, but they don’t know that and it is filling.  Plus 2 haynets of soaked hay and another 2 later.

These days I am one tough Muzzah. I have to be.

And as the ponies all seem to be surviving and looking healthy, so it must be right.

Surely?