You know that idea I had about letting visitors meet the Minions?

Yer, that one (my blog post about my great idea).

Well, it can’t happen. I can’t get public liability insurance for this venture.   No one can go in their field accompanied by myself.

Today, I was putting eye ointment in Newt and Fivla’s eyes (they go gooby in the wind) when some nice visitors from Switzerland stopped their car to watch me.

They got out of their car to take photos of the ponies and we got chatting.

I tried out my best school French and they replied in much better English.

They also showed me photos of their Bernese Mountain dog and we instantly bonded as we used to have one called Lotte, many years ago.

I am sad that insurance companies see my Minions as a “High Insurance Risk”.

I tried to do this the right way. I was honest but it is not possible.

So that’s it.

No visitors for Minions chats allowed because my “High Risk” ponies are gonna eat you.

I think this is about as “high risk” as we get, to be perfectly honest.

Nuff said. I tried.  The world’s loss.

En route from seeing my pregnant Icelandic mares I noticed in the next door field that all the black standard Shetland pony mares were fast a-bye-byes.  These are the beautiful Bergli Stud girls belonging to our trainer, Bjørn.

So, of course, being me, I climbed over the fence with my camera to take some photos as I adore seeing sleeping ponies.

I was barely noticed.

Well, no one moved – they just looked drowsily at me.

Everyone appreciates the Shetland sunshine – probably because it is such a rare occurrence this time of year.

Lovely long bottom lips of total relaxation.

Barely open eyes.

They were all very relaxed.

Meanwhile, along the road, some of my lot were enjoying the break in the weather too.

Albie and Newt were happily sitting in piles of pooh.  I dispair, I really do.

And Tiddles was “en garde” for the sleepers.  Like he would deter anyone.

Everyone happily snoozing so that’s all that mattered.  I love sleepy ponies.

I have a secret yearning for a little shed of my own.

Somewhere I can make my own workshop and not have to clear up after any project so that others can use it afterwards.  Space is a valuable commodity here.

One of the reasons my films are so short is because I only have at most a couple of hours to work in and have to clear up afterwards so that the area can be used for something else, like horses. I do find it very frustrating but am using the short time periods to learn the process of animation rather than launch into my epic film.

In the long getting-darker evenings, I peruse Pinterest looking for ideas and inspiration on how my little studio would look inside and out.

My Dream Workshop Cabin Pinterest Board

I might even put in Loki’s old enormous comfy dog bed for a certain visitor to recline in if he felt like it.

I might also have to make a cover for the bed, though, as certain folk are not 100% continent!

(yes, you Lambie)

One day I will realise this dream.  It is at the imagining and planning stage at the moment.  It will be definitely insulated, with an electric supply and wifi.  Probably wooden.

I need a shed!

I drove over to the other side of the island to drop off some horserugs for mending and afterwards I thought I would take the scenic route home and enjoy the autumnal colours.

The sea was very blue but the wind was described today as a “strong breeze”.

It is a north-westerly so there is a bit of a nip in the air.

All of a sudden Summer feels like a brief interlude.

The colours in the landscape have changed as quickly as the weather.  One day it was Summer, the next Autumn.  Too quick.

I drove past some Shetland ponies grazing in a hill park.  I quickly stopped the car and took a few pics.

They looked very at home in their natural environment.

Driving southward along the Lang Kames to “Halfway House”, there was a viscious squall coming across the hills.

And yes, we have trees in Shetland. Who knew?

This is a small copse in Kergord. I found this article on t’net, which made interesting reading.  It is about the tree management here.

I enjoyed driving around, listening to an audio book as I go, and seeing a different part of Shetland.  It was a nice peaceful way to spend an afternoon.

It was blowing a hoolie outside, with intermittent buckets of water being thrown out at us from out of the sky.  I had ridden Haakon (he is really trying hard for me), Daisy was bibbling about on Iacs and, as I was returning Haakon to his field, I suddenly decided to grab Hjalti and bring him into the school for a little training.  He was easy to catch and left the herd without looking back, despite Efstur squealing for him at the fence.

Today’s lessons consisted of the rocket science that is learning to stand quietly tied up.

Daisy continued with her bibbling.

Standing still is an essential skill to learn, so Hjalti pawed the floor for a bit, generally fidgeted while I ignored him.

Eventually I noticed Hjalti had managed to undo his rope but as he didn’t bother to do anything about it, I didn’t react or make a fuss.

And then it was Hjalti’s turn.  Daisy taught him to lead nicely.  It was more of a reminder really as Hjalti already knows the basics.

Hjalti was a good boy and did very well.  I took over and taught him “back, back” (walk backwards when asked) and “move over” (always useful).

I learned too.  Hjalti is clever.  Teach him something once and that’s it, he’s got it. This may be a good thing or more of a case of “be careful what you wish for”.

We didn’t do much and we didn’t take long. Hjalti is young and I don’t want to bore him. His  reward was a nice long roll in the sand.

So, that’s what Hjalti learned today. All useful foundation stuff.