It was a lovely New Year’s Day morning so Floss and I spent it outside with Lambie and Lambster (and BeAnne).

They make a lovely flock-pack (should I incorporate a sheep and dog group to be politically correct?) and you can see just where the woolly ones are heading – straight out into the scattald (open hill) to escape for the billionth time.  Stupidly, I still have this optimistic dream that my sheep will be happy enough eating the grass around the house. Apparently not.

But they did not know about OH’s new gate defence.  This morning it was tried and tested (a plank of wood to make the side of the gate smaller).

Lambie was incandescent with rage.  He was relying on this little-known escape route (pahahaha) and spent a good five minutes trying his hardest to butt it open.

Luckily, even he knows he is too fat for the other exit route.

Poor Lambie.  So, to make up for it, we spent the morning feeding him carrots and taking beautiful portraits of him (note the luxurious eyes).

He is very splendid, as is Lambster, who has grown, I think.

Haakon and Iacs, were loafing around hopefully, and watched on with their usual nothing-ever-surprises-us faces.

Lambie did lots of running too. I was trying to photograph his silly-billy head shake that he does when he is very happy or plotting an escape.  He does not have the same grace as Lambster, who can do amazing cartoon bounces.

Lambie moves more like a flolloping mattress.   If a mattress was going to run, it would run like Lambie – read Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.  Anyway, Lambie is my very definition of flolloping.

I love his face in this picture – he is trying to be more aero-dynamic!

How can I be so soppy about a sheep?

A brief respite today, weatherwise, so Daisy and I went to check on Lyra.

Lyra is living 4 miles down the road in a huge field with two other fillies her own age.  Since Daisy’s departure to Norway in August, I haven’t actually managed to get very near Lyra.

For a small second I thought Lyra would not talk to Daisy either.

She managed to be aloof for almost a whole minute, successfully making Daisy feel like a neglectful owner.

But Daisy knows how Lyra thinks.

And very soon, Lyra remembered that she adored Daisy above all else.

Lyra is wintering well.  She is a very nice looking filly.

She has a very beautiful and expressive head.

Lyra is very similar to her mother, Vitamin, to look at in many ways (though I see so much of Indy’s cheeky personality in Vitamin – now she really knows how to work the system).

So that is us for another year.  I hope you have enjoyed the Blog this year as much as I have enjoyed writing it.  Never a chore (well, hardly ever).

 💖 💥 ✨ 💫🎈 🎊  🎉 Happy New Year  🎉 🎊 🎈 💫 ✨ 💥 💖

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened”

Anatole France

And it was difficult, I can tell you.

Lambie and Lambster did get out to their daytime lodgings – there is lots of shelter and grass, so they were oblivious but everyone else stayed indoors.

Everyone helped to muck out the boys in the indoor school and then the girls in the stables.  They were fine, if bored, and we fed, watered and put out more hay.  The horses said they wanted out but, in truth, I think they would have rushed back inside if they knew what it was really like.  At one stage I was walking outside down the long side of the indoor school thinking “well, it is not that bad – they can go out”.  I then turned the corner and met the storm full force.  It flung me against the container while someone threw a bucket of water at me.  With that, I realised that no one should be out in this.

BeAnne was very snuggly this morning.  This is her night-time bed with accompanying vintage cot blanket.

She followed me everywhere outside and, after she had dried, I brushed her.  You can see her Yorkie relatives shining through.

Loki and OH managed a walk in the storm which he described as “not too bad” – (wind behind them) but coming back was “almost impossible”  It was also “very refreshing!”

Wu, to the best of my knowledge, is vexed with the weather.  This is his disgruntled face.

(and this is a previous smiley face – just to prove he doesn’t always have a face like a slapped arse).

Tomorrow, weather-wise, should be much better.

I wanted to go town today as I was having my annual between-Christmas-and-New-Year food panic (of the animal variety).  This time of year, I like to always have one and a spare of everything I am using regularly.

Everyone equine had been inside last night as there was a bad storm.  They were fed, thrown out into their respective fields and the stable and shed quickly mucked out.

I needed to wrap a parcel to send out so I delegated the task of taking photos for the blog to Daisy.  The light was good and Daisy wandered around the field happily snapping away.

Apparently the light looked particularly good on Iacs.

Personally, I think Haakon looked much better and more beautiful.  It emphasised just how “well” he is doing this winter.

The little boys were on the other side of the fence in another field.  How do they do this?  They go under the fence, obviously.  It is their chosen route for travel.

Les Grandes Dames were making the most of the muted winter sun as well as just being outside.  They will all be indoors for a while again now – another big storm is on its way tonight.

Meanwhile, Taktur (and Kappi) were back in the field over the hill because someone (Taktur) cannot stop noisily letching at the girls.  He runs up and down fences threatening to jump so he will spend the rest of his winter over in Clothie.  If the weather is horrid, the boys will obviously come home and go into a shed.

He looks so lonely but it is his own fault.  He only has himself to blame.

Yesterday, when I crept into their field, I found Hjalti nodding off.  He likes to sleep a lot.

I put this down to growing.  By my calculations, then, he should be 18hh at least by next week.

Also, being perpetually annoyed by The Minions who never stop, he is pretty much permanently exhausted.

zzzzzzz…….

ZZZZZ…..

Hjalti is also his father’s son so he has to wake up when he sees someone because that is what his Dad does, even if his eyelids are telling him something different. When I took these photos, I tried not to disturb him – I wanted him to sleep and make the most of the rare winter sun.

This is the point of no return…. Zzzz….. and he lay flat and went to sleep with his Mum standing over him.

Hjalti is a credit to both his parents.  He has his mother to keep him on the right side of the  tracks and she does, big time.  He doesn’t move without her permission and even then, good manners are required because that is the kind of mare Hetja is.  I have never known Hetja to behave badly ever so her son is certainly not goint to.  She is one of those dignified mothers who exudes class, without ever being asked.  Everyone defers to Hetja – even the Minions (yes, I know that is hard to believe but they do behave when they are with her).

Gorgeous Himself, aka Taktur has manners that only the Royal Family could dream of.  He is a gentleman and Hjalti is most definitely his son.

I love my foal and I love his parents.