The Minions have not been forgotten.

They argue with each other behind the fence in their huge field and the girls go and visit them every day.

Daisy, who is in charge of the feeding, decided they could have some silage while the snow lies and huge bales are carried down to the potentially “starving”.

However, there is still some grass sticking out from under the snow which the ponies could find if they wanted.  Or they could even dig.  They are Shetland ponies and therefore very resourceful.

But their greatest resource is their charm and Silver was in a very good mood, according to Flossie – taker of the photos.

He came up for a chat and smiled sweetly, working that field like a pro!  Of course many carrots will have been distributed too.

One day soon, hopefully, I will be able to leave my pit and go and see everyone.  The snow is melting now and I am missing all my little chaps.  BeAnne has yet to leave my side.

Daisy, Flossie and my OH are doing all the chores while I dwell in my pit not being able to help even slightly.

They have dutifully gone over to Leradale, sometimes twice a day, to make sure everyone has silage and, more importantly, water.  Their water supply has frozen solid in this weather and water is a must.

Every day the family have lugged haynets full of silage and containers full of water and I know it is very hard work.

There is also the hardfeed to give to Brá and two foals as well.

It is all received gratefully.

And Hetja gets to wash up.

It is a token gesture really as she is also a heffalump or a good do-er, as we say in the trade.

Or fat, as we say in real life – yes, we do!

I love Dreki in this photo!

Without my family, none of this would be possible. They are being wonderful.

Photos by Flossie, by request

The day before I took to my pit, when I was feeling absolutely fine and not coughing my guts up, Bjørn, our trainer, popped round to give Daisy a riding lesson and then offered to take look at Efstur.  It is always to have a second opinion and to know whether I am on the right track or not.

Efstur is a sweetie.  Very easy to work with.  Not a mean bone anywhere.  Just sunshine, smiles and lots of willingness.

First, Bjørn asked me to stand him up.  This is a show thing and one I am not particularly good at.

Efstur has been my best friend all winter so he didn’t really understand when I wanted him to look less interested in me and more of a superhero.

Yes, I know his headcollar is way to big for him but it is not really serving a purpose so it doesn’t matter.

We worked on this standing smartly special skill.

And sort of managed after a while.

Then we loosed Efstur and asked him to move around the indoor school and show us his natural gaits. There was trot, walk and a lovely tölt appeared.  All very nice.

Efstur from Thordale is two years old this January.  He is still a colt. His castration is undecided and, as he gets on very well with Taktur, then he can stay a colt for a while longer and hopefully benefit from the stallion muscle development.  He is also has a BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction) of 114 and is 5 gaited.

There is a good description of BLUP here

This is Daddy.

Sire: IS2002187662 – Álfur frá Selfossi

Dam: IS2002287901 – Brá frá Reykjavík

Whatever the future holds for Efstur, I am sure it will be exciting. He is such a nice chap.

This is the view from bedroom today. The snow has arrived, which doesn’t seem too bad but the windchill is horrid – minus 9 celsius.

Today has not been brilliant.   I can live with all the other symptoms except for the interminable headaches which make me miserable.  The coughing is not much fun either.

I am lucky, though, everyone is pitching in with the animals. The girls my OH have gone out all day distributing extra silage and making sure water is available.  I know the animals are in capable hands, which is a huge help and relief.  I don’t have to worry.

I haven’t left my pit since yesterday. I can’t ever remember feeling this awful whilst being concious.  I drift in and out of sleep and feel so ill when I am awake.

Of course, I have my nurse on duty who wants the duvet far more than she wants to be with me.  On the left, those are my socked feet sticking out because BeAnne always puts up a good fight and there is no budging.  Not never.  I gave up long ago.

Later on in the day, BeAnne decided to sleep with her head down the bed.  Those are feets sticking out.

But she is my constant companion and it is nice that she bothers – in her own little way.

The resemblance is strking to this painting by Paul Doyle called “Spoilt”!

I tried to eat some scrambled eggs but the thought was better than the actual eating.  BeAnee was happy to wash up.

Symptoms:
Nausea was yesterday, that has gone but I have no appetite.
Unceasing and unresponsive headache on front of head, side of head and back of neck.
Photophobia – yesterday I couldn’t even turn on an ipad for the glare.
No internal thermostat – yesterday I was cold to my bones.  Today I am either too hot or too cold – there is no middle ground.
I ache all over
Endless bloody coughing.
I sleep a lot.

I can live with everything but the headaches.  They are wearing and horrid.