We have just been through our first gale of the Equinox, Storm Ali.  The wind blew hard(ish) and there was lots of rain so, after battening down the hatches, putting out new candles, checking all the animals had everything they wanted, we went inside and weathered the storm.  It was noisy but not destructive.

So the upshot is that I haven’t been out taking any photos today.

At a loss for the blog, I went through some on my iPad and found the Norwegian boat, Statsraad Lehmkuhl, a three-masted barque rigged sail training ship that had berthed in Lerwick – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statsraad_Lehmkuhl.  I had popped into town last week for a meeting and ended up eating my fish and chips looking at this beautiful boat.  The light was going but she was still very beautiful sitting in her mooring.

Then of course there is Her Maj who is doing very well, having finally forgiven us for leaving her in June for the Icelandic Horse British Championships.  It has taken a while and she now eats her food and stops looking resentfully at us.

In fact, BeAnne even smiles.  I love my special little dog.  She is the other half of me and we need each other very much, though I mostly go for my daily walks on my own or accompanied by sheep.  BeAnne rarely offers to come along unless I drag her along on a lead. I think daily walking is good for both of us.  My back has certainly benefited these last few months and I am almost back to normal, even riding Haakon every day.

And lasty, Monster Chubblie.  He has chins.  ‘Nuff said.

Hopefully tomorrow will be back to normal.  Well, as normal as it gets around here!

The Minions are very photogenic, sometimes.

On this day (yesterday), Albie was wearing a piece of stick in his hair as he wandered towards me to say hello.

Albie has this terrible habit of rushing over with his ears flat back which is very off-putting if you don’t know that he making himself more aerodynamic to get to you quicker, rather than be nasty. Never nasty.  He is not that sort of chap.

Ooof, leetle Newt (his Russian accent is very strong these days).

I just want to hug him because he is the cuddliest pony ever, in theory.

And he also has a little squishy very snoggable nosey.

In practice, Newt tolerates the cuddling.  Remember his Book of Revenge?  Well names are written down, twice for some people.

Ah, Storm.  My cool dude.

He never changes.  Always silly but reliably silly.  An acquired taste.  Only-a-mother-could -love-him type and I do.

Dear Waffle is in team GB for the next Olympics.  His class will be eating – Eating for Britain!  Jeezo, he is fat.  I am secretly hoping for a harsh winter so he can shiver some of his belly fat off.  You could lay six place settings on his back, including full regimental silver, and comfortably seat people round him for dinner!

Silver is not much better to be perfectly honest.  Fatty, fat, fat!

Dearest Tiddles.  Sometimes he is very aloof and then my best friend.  It depends on which side of the bed he got out of in the morning, I guess.

Vitamin is a “wide load”, a large lady getting ready for her Shetland winter.

Fivla and Vitamin remain the best of friends.  They stand together like Agnetha and Frida.

It will be interesting to see if little Lilja wants to rejoin her mother, Hetja, and Brá in winter or stay with the Minions.

“If you go out, we will follow.”

“If you go and stand in a field, I will follow (shouting all the time so you know I am following you and will appreciate this devotion.”

“Seriously?”

“Just who or what is making that godawful row?”

Ok, does anyone want to play “Spot the Cat”?

Poor Monster, or Chubblie as he is affectionately known, is a very determined chap, though sadly not invisible.

He never stops shouting at us.  He is very vocal and his days (and nights) are spent either telling everyone he is home and where is everyone.

Today, Monster even followed us in the indoor school whereupon he proceeded to watch me have a riding lesson from Daisy, shout from every corner of the building, make pretend sick noises to get attention and then cover himself in sand until he eventually turned himself a different colour.

I think Chubblie is definitely one of us.

First there was Waffle and Tiddles.

Like some storms ….

…. it didn’t develop into anything.

Then there was Newt and Tiddles (seeing a theme here?)

They had great fun annoying each other.

“I bite you.”

“No, I bite you back.”

“So I bite you again.”

“and so do I.”  Ad infinitum.

These two were went along like that happy enough at the minimum level of “ferocity”.

And lastly Albie and Storm.  Surprisingly, Storm did not start it, which is unusual.

Storm was being the sensible adult while Albie chewed at his face.  Since when did Storm start being sensible?

I stayed with the boys for a while watching them annoy each other and then it started to rain, so I tucked my camera under my coat and went home.

They are good photos, though.  I love seeing them play – it means everything is alright.

So I bought some essential gear from Fleabay and Flamazon.

• A studio light with a diffuser thingy on it, which I managed to successfully, after a few attempts, construct myself (/feeling proud).
• An ipad mount for my camera tripod.
• A teensy-tinesy shutter remote which I thought I had lost for a while but was actually in my pocket.

I set up my “studio” in the stable and dug out of storage the girls’ stables for their Breyer horses.  Their father made it many years ago and I wanted to use it as a set.

Obviously, my “Best Girl” was on hand to help.

As were my muses.

And so I made Another Little Film.

Along the way, I learned not to stand in front of the camera and keep on taking photos.  I do not have an invisibility cloak and had to retake a whole section minus myself.

I also have to find out why the film was out of focus sometimes since I didn’t touch the camera once.  Most odd.

Afterwards, I took my actors home as I didn’t want any resident stable mice to get them.

My “Best Girl” had gone to sleep.

This is home for the sheeple.

And this is home for Teddy and Her Maj.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my paltry efforts.  I am learning and it is fun.