It was a beautiful sunrise today.  Really stunning colours.

And it was nice to have the sun beginning to shine as I gave everyone their breakfast.

Even Haakon was enthusiastic about walking up the hill – we’ve been having a few arguments about this recently.  He wanted me to bring him his bucket.  Jog on, I said, you come up here. The walk will do you good.   I think it was the ice and snow that was putting him off.

I sat on a step guarding Haakon while he ate, as he had arrived later than the others and I knew they would pick on him.  Pepper sat on my knee.  We watched the sun rise together.

Magical.

The Fiery Patterdale Terrier ❤️

I took this quick photo of Gussie wearing his breakfast.  He is revolting in a sweet way.

And here is the sun this afternoon, just as I was going into my shed to make another little sheep.

Not that I am obssessed but it is a rare sight at the moment.  Tomorrow we’re back to wind and rain again but at least it will be much warmer.

There is still snow and lots of ice around.

Our track is just solid and scary to negotiate.

But the thaw has begun, albeit very slowly.

I title this photo “When you go outside without a hanky and you wonder whether you can blow your nose in your horse’s mane!”

Don’t worry, I didn’t. I found a manky hanky in my pocket.

The big horses are all fine. They will be pleased to see more grass again but dig away eating very little from the haynets we leave out for them.

Their choice, I tell them.

And the silly frilly lives on wild and free.

For some reason, I kept thinking “And Peggy” when I took this photo.  Kolka is coping well in this weather and I am pleased.  Her teeth, in old age, seem to have sorted themselves out (fallen out) so she finds eating easier.

Later, as I came out of the shed, having played flute duets for two hours, I noticed tonight’s sun starting to set.

I was trying to get a good photo of Silver with the incredible colours behind him.  He wouldn’t help and climbed down from his perch, coming in for his bucket of slushy nothingness.

A quiet day today, which was a lovely change.

I see Gus-Gus and Dahlia most mornings.  They turn up for their breakfast.  Pepper is always pleased to see her friend, Gussie.  Dahlia less so, though she and Pepper have reached an agreement and Dahlia is less fierce with her.  I reckon Dahlia has realised there is really no point in protecting her son.  He is an independent little chap who loves his grub and treats.  He also likes to wear his food.  It’s his thing.

I was busy with my latest invention – two gutter pipes put together to make a drain for the puddle water that I have to empty daily at the moment.  Dahlia was intrigued with my efforts and ingenuity and came over to have a better look.

Gussie wanted food.  He always wants food.

So I told them to go into the sheep shed, eat the hay and help themselves to the licks.  They have all this in their own shed too but other folks’ food always tastes better.

Of course, Gussie tried to work his charm on me.

I told him he was a scruffy little Herbert.

While I was working away, I looked down to find my coat was being chewed.

Honestly, Gussie, that’s not food!

I left mother and son to the licks and haynets, had lunch and went into my own shed to make more sheeple.  At least they are slightly cleaner.

One thing I’ve learned this winter is to never get in the way of Vitamin and her bucket.

In the afternoon, just before it starts getting dark, I like to have everything ready so there are no arguments.

The ponies had come up from their grazing and were pacing the perimeter fence.

I shouted for Vitamin as she was not by the gate and she knew.

Oh yes, she knew.

As you can see there is a black rope with a clip on the fence as belt and braces in case the gate opens by “accident”.

I was fiddling about trying to open it when Vitamin said “sod that”, pushed through and past me cantering (yes, 30 years old and she canters) into the shed for her bucket!

Swiftly followed by a trotting Tiddles and Fivla.  I shut the gate feeling somewhat flattened by the dinner rush.

When I reached the shed, I found Tiddles in his pen eating, Fivla in her’s and Vitamin pacing up and down like a ravenous fire-breathing dragon.

She was in no mood for reasoning as she pushed Fivla off her bucket.

At the opposite end of their shared pen was another bucket for Fivla.  Don’t feel sorry for Fivla, she does the same to Vitamin when the mood takes her.  They are both old bags these days.

And in the container paddock, this little lot had their scoop of slushy nothingness while I shut them in for the night.

And also, don’t get in the way of Newt and his bucket.  He has a very nasty kicky little arse on him.  He hasn’t quite dared kick me yet – more luck than judgment on my part. And, yes, there are many bowls of slushy nothing but Albie insists on sharing much to Waffle’s dispair.

It was good to see the little boys playing this morning, while I trudged round poo-picking (or trying to work out what was possibly poo or not in the thawing snow).

While I wandered around the field (and I use that term loosely – a bog, or swamp would be more accurate) with rubber gloves and a bucket, I watched the ponies having fun.

It was particularly good to see Tiddles having fun.

He is officially disgusting and when he came inside later, I dug through my rug libary to find some stable rugs as I was convinced he must be freezing.  But no, he was completely dry underneath the mud, snow, dirt, god-knows-what….. so I towelled some of it off and left him eating his haynet.

If I had a pound for every time Albie knocked over my poo bucket I would be rich!

Anyway, the topic is me being tough.  I decided that as long as I could see green grass, I was not going to put out haynets.  Nope, get used to finding grass again.

I texted Daisy and she replied “stay tough” so I repeated this to Iacs.

And then it snowed.

And I had to change my mind.  Haynets for all then.