The rugs for the two bigger Minions, Waffle and Silver, arrived yesterday.  They tried them on and then refused to take them off!

They look like soldiers or regimental mascots in their smart, clean (ish) uniform.

(though Silver quickly rolled to personalise his rug).

There is a cold wind outside and these hardy Shetland ponies refused point-blank to go outside.  They all wanted a “duvet day”.

Fair enough, I thought. They had been outside all night and it wasn’t particularly pleasant so I distributed piles of silage and left them to it.

(I did pop my head around the door this afternoon to see them all asleep – awww!)

The two “hardy” Shetland sheep decided to spend their day in their second-best shed.  I caught them eating the hen food!

(Boysenberries!)

And as for The Great Outdoors?  Well you can keep it.  OH moved a quantity of mud off the track to the field which, although is better to walk through, depresses me every time I see it.

The Icelandic horses have taken up permanent residence on Silage Bale Island.  They refuse to move even though there is hill grazing not very far away that they could easily reach.  They don’t have to stand on the bale 24/7.  No, honestly, they don’t.

I spent the day doing this and that.

This = riding Haakon.
That = taking photos of Bergli Shetland Pony Stud‘s ponies.

Now, this photo shows where Lambie gets his ingenuity from.  Lambie loves food.  This ram, on top of the silage bale, is Lambie’s father (if he were mine, he would be called Puzzah, as I am Lambie’s Muzzah!).  Sadly he doesn’t answer to this.

Anyway, if Lambie had to share his food, no doubt he would use this method of standing on top of the silage bale.  Luckily enough for Lambie and Ster, I devotedly take buckets of food to them twice a day where they can eat all the dried peas first and leaves the cheap bits they don’t  like!  Fussy little buggers.

Bjørn and I spent the day doing all those things that need to be done when it is not raining.  While turning the van around, I spied the Bergli foals having a little bit of a sit in the afternoon sunshine.

Little darlings.  They are so fluffy and nice.

After a fantastic ride on Taktur (Bjørn) and Haakon (me) – (Haakon has never been better) – we went to visit the mini mares, many of whom are pregnant.

The light was failing but I managed to take a few photos.  This time of year, we are all feeding our ponies.  They need it, especially the pregnant ones or the growing ones.  An expensive hobby.

One day Spring might appear.  I think I can safely say, in Shetland, that we are all looking forward to it.  Winter has been long and the ground is very wet.

We go from day-to-day these days.

Everyone, including my little Minions (this is Waffle, by the way, who hates the mud, the rain and just about everything about winter these days and I don’t blame him – it erodes us), is finding winter far too long and very difficult.  Come on Spring – get a trolley on!

However, Tiddles is not doing too badly.  He has an accepting way of living.  What happens, happens and he gets on with it as long as there is me (Muzzah) to give him a nose kissey.  Tiddles knows I will always do my best for him.

Iacs (this is his moustache) is on permanent grub-watch.  I am fed up of him flattening everyone to get food, so he is now tied up and fed last in attempt to make him see the error of his ways – (sometimes I feel like a useless small sparrow against a window).  You would think Iacs has never been fed.  Still, he has a lovely little moustache so I have to forgive him as it is very cute.

Preggy Lady (new name – I will admit I struggle with Brá (what kind of name is that?) – is doing well.  She has fallen into an easy routine that mostly involves food. Sometimes I think my whole life involves food. 

The wind blows but it is quite warm and Haakon, of course, looks noble and fantastic (I do love my old horse – he is my soulmate and all I ever want).

The silage bale is in the field.  Chrysanthemum bottoms are everywhere (and I spelled chrysanthemum without needing to go back to change it – get in!)

I went to see Lyra (as in Lyra-Lyra-Pants-on-Fyra) this morning.

She has wintered well with her friends and it has only done her good to be with girls her own age, as opposed to Les Grandes Dames, who she was very bored of.

Every time I see Lyra, she reminds me of her half brother, Indy, my dearest stallion.

She  has a certain charm and unique  beauty like her mother, (Vitamin who lives with Delia at the moment here) as well as her brother, Indy.

This darling girl lives only for Daisy (my eldest daughter)’s return.

The rest of us are mere servants in Lyra’s life.  She tolerates us.

(and don’t we know it!)

On the way home from seeing Lyra, I found a wonderful stack/selection/pile of  (is that the right collective word?) of icicles.

Today, temperatures have risen so they are busily melting off from the peat hags (an overhang of peat) into the burn (stream).

They noisily melt into the burn while remaining incredibly beautiful.

I always look out for these icicle stalactites to photograph – I have a thing for them.  They are an amazing piece of nature.

As the temperatures are slowly rising, the snow and ice is now thawing so I went out with my camera to capture some of the icicles (avec BeAnne – my constant companion).

Ice fascinates me.  The patterns, the way the light is reflected, thawing, the unique shapes the fluctuating temperatures create.  

I could go on. If you want one for a desktop background, let me know.  I am happy to give you the original.  Just send chocolate!

The herd are happy enough finishing off a silage bale.  Surprisingly, it has not lasted long but I am insisting on a clean plate before I let another be dropped off (and no leaving the bits you don’t like under your fork either thank you!)

Luckily for everyone Iacs is around and finishes everything even if you were saving that bit until the end because it was your favourite!

Les Grandes Dames are enjoying the quiet weather (sadly, soon to change back to wind and rain) and are happily grazing in the far field.  They come home at night and go back to the stable with Brá for endless hay and no hassle.

It was so nice to see Storm playing with Esja or is that the other way round?  He is such a sossage!

This kind of weather makes everyone happy and settled, including me – I am thrilled if anyone leaves the bale and goes off to find grazing.

Two quick photos of my Boysenberries.  They spent the early afternoon with me, sitting in the sun while I absorbed my dose of Vitamin D.

Tomorrow evening, we are back to normal – wind and rain.  Yuck. It was a brief, and very welcome, respite.