I had a wander round the field this afternoon with my camera.  Everyone was milling up in the top field ever hopeful the food fairy would pop by (I had popped by earlier, before my flute lesson, with buckets of stuff according to the size of the waistline).

I didn’t know Iacs could wink!  (**** busily fills in form for Iacs Has Talent! ****)

Everyone was on good form.  We have had some hellish storms recently but, mercifully, we have come through so far unscathed.

The two remaining Minions (the other two are Hjalti’s designated entertainment committee), are like little boys arguing in the school corridor during break time.

I let the Boysenberries out into the big field as they had been cooped up in the old veg garden for ages, according to Lambie who has never shut up!

They seem to have bonded into a happy(ish) little family, though Lambert is prone to bullying.  Lambster is a devoted disciple of Lambie.  He follows him everywhere and looks to him for guidance.

Lambster met Storm and all went well.  The Minions (Shetland ponies) do chase the Boysenberries (sheep) a bit but they will soon settle down again.  Everyone hates change or new additions.

Storm is looking fabulous these days.  If the weather is really bad, he wears his rug and he is managing to keep the weight on much better this year.

Can one become a sheep-bore?  Apparently I can!  Do I care?  Nope!

Yesterday, I went on my daily visit to see the Ladies and gave them a mineral/feed lick specifically made for Shetland ponies and Shetland sheep.

Though, on retrospect, I think Vitamin, despite what she says, does not need anything extra.  She is not so much round as triangular!

This is Delia’s face when she spies food.  She can be an old dragon when it suits and, despite her venerable age, she is still very determined.

The ladies respect each other’s food in this herd.  There is no arguing and Delia is happy to share with anyone – not that anyone would dare push her out of the way.

Everyone had a turn with the lick.

This is Delia’s happy face – she enjoys her food and eats whole carrots with the best of them.   A dear old lady.

I expect when I return tomorrow, there will be inroads into the bucket and probably teethmarks as well.

I wonder whether the manufacturers of the lick would be interested in using this photo for an advertisement?

Oh yes, and Lambster (today’s name – we are just trying it on for size), is coming along beautifully.  I spent a good 30 minutes sitting on a foldy-up chair in their shed singing along to Radio 2 playing “Only You” with Lambie gazing into my eyes, Lambert sulking outside and Lambster having the side of his face stroked.

They should rename that song Only Me!

And then I had to leave, evict the sheep into the wind as OH came to tell me he could see the roof leaving its’ moorings in the gale.  A pity.  We were all getting along swimmingly.

This is, well, this is another Shetland caddie lamb.

I need a name.

For those of you who live near me on the sunny Westside, then you may possibly have seen him in your travels.

Anywho, he lives with us now and I went to collect him this morning.

He reminds me of the sheep in The Little Prince by Saint-Exupery – a classic book.

He is very photographic.  The camera loves him.  His colour is katmoget – Having a light coloured body with dark belly and legs and a moget face. The reverse of Gulmoget – http://www.shetland-sheep.org.uk/

BeAnne is not sure whether she loves him just yet.

As a storm is on its way (go away, please), I brought Lambie and Lambert in early.  They look huge beside him.  Ginormous.  Like fat western kids.

I am hoping that my little herd will all bond soon.  The newbie does not have to be tame, just follow the others when required.  Obviously, when and if it ever stops raining, I will spend some time trying to get to know him.

So please think of a suitable name that will complement Lambie and Lambert (perhaps with an L theme).

Well, here we are – November and the sun is shining. Today, I can say that Loki goes out with me when I go riding.

BeAnne is an old pro at this.  From her early years, she has always trotted alongside and enjoys going out with me when I am riding Haakon.  He is not fast and they are old friends.

Loki is keen and always wants to be at the front, but I can call him back or ask him to wait, if needs be.

We all go along the single-track road.  If there is traffic coming, you can hear it clearly – I would not do this if it was a noisy windy day, or bad visibility.  The only car we did meet was driven by a friend, so we stopped for a chat while Haakon rifled his car looking for biscuits.

The dogs love going out and are happily gallop alongside.

Loki wore a training collar in case of emergencies.  To be fair, it is not switched on but he doesn’t know that and he listens more to me.

The view at the top was stunning, as ever.  The clouds were looking threatening but surprisingly nothing actually materialised.

And so, home.  Yes, those are sheep in front and no, no one chases sheep in our house.  If nothing else, Lambie and Lambert have taught everyone that this is Not A Good Thing.

So, I am very pleased with Loki.  It has taken over 2 years but I can confidently say we can do this.  Even a life-long Shetland crofter, who we met on our travels, was impressed to see Loki coming home with a rabbit in his mouth.  He could recognise a useful dog when he saw one.

Well done Loki!  At last.

Do you remember the creepy waterbed-like spot in my field that Flossie jumped up and down on?

Apparently it is known as a “Turf Blister” and they are quite rare.

So the other evening, when the sun was setting, my OH and I went into the field to burst it as the ground had become even more wet, and I didn’t want a horse to put its hoof through, or the water to move downslope to create a landslide.

We also have underground streams and sinkholes in the scattald (hill) surrounding my croft.  This is can be an unstable peaty environment.

And Yes, I worry.  And yes, everyone else laughs at me!

I will confess that I was slightly disappointed of the lack of the geyser when my OH put the heavy iron rod in.

Interestingly, what came out was almost clear water – not liquid mud.  The rod went down as far as bedrock – OH reckons it was an underground rock bowl that filled up and pushed up the earth above it into a blister.

I have searched the internet for other explanations but can’t find much that is similar to what we had.

The “blister” slowly went down overnight and has now sunk back to being slightly concave.

And the sun set rather beautifully too.