(sorry, no photos)

I am too hot to think or write anything.

I arrived safely after many hours travelling, waiting and more travelling.

Tonight I am staying with my sister in south London and all I can hear are distant aeroplanes  constant traffic and ambulance sirens. There is faint birdsong but I couldn’t tell you who they are.

Tomorrow, bright and early, we go to see my mother in the Home Counties.  The weather forecast says it will be between 20-24 degrees.

I think I will sit in the sink pouring cold water over myself.

Today, I have been busy ironing and packing to go south to see my family for a couple of days.

I have left my OH with specific instructions for the animals and hopefully they will all be here when I return on Tuesday.

I am very easily distracted – anything not to iron so we (2 dogs, 2 sheep and me) all went for a walk after lunch.  This time I took ‘Ster as I wanted to see if he had learned his lesson about wandering off.  He was as good as gold and, though he went to speak to the other hill sheep, he didn’t stay with them and came straight back to me when I called him.

‘Ster looks very dignified with his “new look”.

But he is very subdued and, after the walk, we all had a sit down and a chat.  Maybe he got a bit of a shock yesterday and hated being so cold.

Lambie reminds me of when he was a little Lamb or a puppet.  He still has his winning smile, though, which he goes round practising on folk to see if they will give him his favourite treats!

Continuing with my diversions instead of packing, I went to see Efstur, Brá and Hetja, taking some apples with me.

Efstur is getting braver and braver.  He wanders around, quietly followed by his mother and then Hetja.

I am not looking forward to my trip – the actual travelling.  It is hot in England and I will miss my family.  Not sure whether they will miss me, though!

Once I am south it will be fine but I find it very difficult explaining my way of life.  I don’t really fit in and these days I have very different priorities.

This morning, I fed a solitary Lambie his solitary breakfast and I felt very sorry for him.

At the end of my gate, the hill sheep were passing by, but I couldn’t see any sign of ‘Ster who, I thought, had joined them.  I shouted for him,

No reply and the sheep started to move off.

Ten minutes later, I shouted again – this time I had a reply and sighted a small, recently sheared, grey sheep running towards me.

Phew!

The breakfast allowance was quickly doubled.

Afterwards, I went indoors and made myself a coffee-to-go, grabbed my ipad and sat in the sheep shed, which is full of new straw/hay and out of the wind.

Sitting on the floor, I waited. ClassicFM was playing on the ipad – surprisingly, the sheep shed has good wifi.

It didn’t take long before Lambie came to talk to me.  ‘Ster quickly followed and we spent a good hour chatting while I massaged him (yes, I massage my sheep, so shoot me!)

After a while, the Boysenberries both lay down to relax and chew their cud from breakfast.

Looking at ‘Ster, I could see he was cold.

So, I covered him up with straw and ‘Ster went to sleep, listening to the classical music.

Lambie was fine and it didn’t take long before ‘Ster was fine too.

A straw duvet is very effective.

Sitting all morning with my boys, listening to the lovely music, was a very bonding experience for us all.

We had a few visitors and, of course, BeAnne never left my side.

I want ‘Ster to realise that home means warmth, friends and food.  The hill is just a place where the Wild Things Are and he is not part of that.

Yesterday, this was Lambie, BeAnne and Loki on their daily dog walk.

And this is today!

Can you spot the difference?

The boys were sheared.  It had to happen and today was the day.  They are both suffering in the hot (for us) weather and spend most of the day living in the shade feeling utterly lethargic.

First up was Lambie.

Chris is a professional sheep-shearer and he was wonderful.  I explained Lambie’s general outlook on life (ie, he is very speshul), Chris did the best job and Lambie didn’t struggle or mind at all (after all my worrying too).

Lambie’s fleece was huge and very thick.  I think he is secretly a dalmatian.

Next up was ‘Ster.  He was unhelpful to catch, but settled down quickly.

I like the fact that no one was tied up, struggling or panicking.  I was proud of my sheepie-boys.  They were well behaved…..

…. and just put up with a necessary chore.

Afterwards, we watched Lambie and ‘Ster get their heads around having no wool.

They seemed more active and happy in themselves – as if a big load had been lifted.

‘Ster then ran off into the hill (hopefully, he will come home) to fight Bert but Lambie stayed with me.

I must admit that Lambie’s new appearance is very drastic and rather shocking to me but I am getting my head around it.  He has still got the same sweet smile and character.

So, today is a whole new day for us all.  On a plus side, it is lovely to see Lambie au naturel, ie his actual shape. I can see that he is “well covered” and much happier.

At least Lambie’s sisters love him, even if ‘Ster has gone, for the time being.

So, who wants their fleeces?

Now I know I spent most, if not all, of winter complaining bitterly about the rain and just how wet and muddy everything was and how fed up we were of walking through knee-deep gutter (Shetland dialect for mud), etc…..

Well, it hasn’t rained since the night Efstur was born on 21st May – so that would be ten days ago.

Since then the sun has not stopped shining which, on one hand, is lovely and everything is drying up but, on the other hand, the ground has dried up and the water springs/hill streams have dried up too.

I like all my animals to have an unlimited supply to water.  Apart from gin, water is my preferred drink.

These boys are living at Clothie – my separate 5 acre croft.  It has its own water supply – a little well that is situate behind the derelict house.

There is a trench dug through the croft too letting the well run all the way through the field joining a bigger stream further along in the hill.

Sadly, it is not the best well (a high iron content) and the horses tolerate it when there is lots of water passing through but as it dries up, the iron becomes more concentrated and the horses don’t drink much.

I have started to take two buckets of water over with me, when I take Taktur his Handsome Prince food,

The buckets are empty the next morning.  This may because they were drunk or because Taktur likes wearing them on his head!  My jury is out.

So today, I lugged 6 half 25 litre containers of water over to fill the trough.

It is back breaking but essential.

Until it rains, I will continue to do this. My mouth goes dry at the thought of anyone being thirsty until I have sorted it out.