I have been wanting to write this since Wu died as I am asked whether Loki finally got our beloved and much mourned Wu.

He didn’t.  I promise you he definitely didn’t.

I received a lovely card from my vet saying that “the pathology was most likely that of a haemangiosarcoma of the spleen”.

From PetMD – “Hemangiosarcomas are fed by the blood vessels and fill with blood. Because of this, the tumor can rupture, leading to sudden and severe hemorrhage, collapse, and rapid death. Often, owners do not realize their cat is affected until the sudden hemorrhage or collapse.

Hemangiosarcomas of the spleen and liver are highly metastatic and malignant vascular neoplasms (blood vessel tumors) that arise from the endothelial cells, which line the interior surface of blood vessels. It begins as a large mass that develops in the liver or spleen, spreading rapidly through the blood cell routes, most frequently to the liver from the spleen, or to the lungs from the spleen and liver.”

I asked my vet over and over again, in as many ways as I could think of, if  there was absolutely any evidence of bruising or any trauma to Wu and I was promised that there was none and this horrid disease had nothing to do with Loki.

There was nothing more we could do and I am glad he passed away peacefully and without half the symptoms listed in PetMD.

This is the first time since 1986 I have ever lived in a house without a cat(s).  I find it very difficult but while Loki is with us, there will be no more cats, kittens or puppies.  It would not be a wise decision.

But this time, Loki was not to blame.

As I type, I am propped up in bed, sharing a bag of cheese n’ onion Hula Hoops (payment) with my supportive furry Staff Nurse, aka BeAnne Duvet Soufflé.

I had a batch of epidural steroid injections this morning NOT under anaesthetic (and also not by choice, I can tell you!) and now I properly hurt.

Anwyho, recently, I have been trying to think of ways to make some money from my photographs.

When we had the Shetland pony stud, I used to love taking photos of our mares, foals and beautiful stallion.

We also used to buy Shetland ponies train to harness and then sell.

So there were always plenty of Shetland ponies around.

I think my photos of Shetland ponies are different from the usual style out there.

But how to make money from them?

As you can see, from the “shopping” adverts on the right hand side of the blog, (Redbubble and Zazzle), I have tried to get my work out there.

On the face of it, these webshops seem ideal, but I get pence for the pounds my images sell for.

Some folk steal my photos – I track them down and, depending on what they are stealing them for, usually send them a furious invoice which of course is seldom paid.

I have looked into a virtual Gallery on platforms like Shopify ($29 per month) which is too much.

Which leads me to wonder whether there is actually a market for my photos.

Would anyone buy a download from my website to use for somewhere like Funky Pigeon  or Moon Pig?

So ideas please?  How can I make money from my photographs?

This is just a small selection of my Shetland pony photography, by the way – I have loads!

The daily lunchtime drill.

Floss is on point.

I am shovelling carrots as payment/bribery into Hetja so she won’t notice that she is not having a bucket of food.  To be fair, Hetja is very generous – never pushing or barging.  Just accepts her headcollar, three carrots and waits like the lady she is.  We have nice conversations.

Meanwhile, if we are clever, the buckets are carefully positioned so the little ones can eat in peace (mostly from each other).

Obviously, we do try to colour coordinate – purple for boys and pink for girls!

After a while Lilja and Dreki go and annoy each other.  Whatever happens, they are not allowed to go near Brá.  Hence Flossie on guard duty.

Then they swap buckets.

Lilja has the purple one.

Dreki cleans out the pink one.

Meanwhile, Brá eats her own food, uninterrupted – she is looking better for her daily bucket, which is good and the whole point of the exercise.

The two foals are still not finished and then they argue.

As there is no more food left, they usually play with the buckets.

“There’s a force in the universe that makes things happen……

And all you have to do is get in touch with it……

Stop thinking, let things happen …..  

And be the ball” or The Bucket!

Caddyshack 1980

I was asked how Fivla was doing these days.

Here she is today, in the snow, which was really joined-up hailstones that came in fierce sporadic flurries.

As you can see, Fivla is looking a bit more svelte.  Winter has done what winter is supposed to do – make fat little ponies lose weight!

Here she is just over a year ago (November 2016)

And here she is in her heyday!

I have it on good authority that Fivla’s weight is now “spot on” for the time of year.  Her neck crest has gone and I think (read hope) that she will be easier to manage, health-wise.

So, for the moment, all dieting is off (look at her happy face when I told her!)

It has been a bit of a long-haul, but Fivla has got her trimmer figure back.  She always was bit “broad in the beam” but I am not worried for her health now.  The winter fur does not help her new trim look, but you can feel bones under all that hair and not pads of fat.

As for the others in the herd, they are all fine.  Doing well.

Tiddles’ eye goop is all cleared up.  I haven’t seen them looking that clean for ages.

Vitamin is the boss of everyone and decides where they travel around their field.

Storm is happy annoying everyone and Waffle lets him.

Silver is always a little distant unless I sit down for a minute and then he comes up to chat.

So there we are.  Everyone is looking well and life is good.

That’s all anyone can ask for.

It is Sunday.  We run out of carrots.  It happens.  We get over it!

No, we really do!

After the boys went back out into their grot field to mooch about looking for grass, having eaten a full belly’s-worth of silage all day (oh, how they suffer!), I happened on a few carrots which I duly distributed as fairly as I could.

Everyone came up for a carrot or had a carrot thrown to them.

Some were a bit more cool about it than others!

(cool)

(aww)

Using the Power of The Mind

Slightly less cool (you can see where we’re going here)….

And then there are The Many Faces of Desperation.

And his cousin, “I really want one but then again there is the mud and I can’t be arsed” or Iacs, as he is better known.

I tried calling Iacs up for his carrot but, no, he couldn’t or wouldn’t so, in the spirit of fair play and praying like mad to Karma that I didn’t get stuck in the mud, I went over and gave him his carrot.  That mud is unforgiving and is not dissimilar to the Swamp of Sadness.

Meanwhile, the little ones don’t trouble themselves with petty worries and have a silage pile almost higher than themselves, a lovely shed and some green stuff, if they need.

At least I can sleep at night knowing Iacs got his carrot!  We are now out of carrots. It is official.