Since Loki’s arrival, it has been World War 3.  Loki wants to kill Wu.

This is Not A Good Thing.

Funnily enough, Wu does not want to be killed.

Wu is very sad about his Death Sentence.  He used to like dogs.  Ok, he couldn’t eat a whole one but he tolerates BeAnne and will sleep on the same bed as her.

Wu’s life is not prohibited by this Fatwa.  He is clever and has worked out that if he goes out all night, he can sleep all day on the bed.  He uses the Velux window and travels via the roof in all weathers.

We have not forced the Wu/Loki relationship but we come down like a ton of bricks on Loki if he even looks at Wu in a “funny” way.  Loki is not stupid, either. He is growing up and his quick temper has abated.  He thinks first now before biting.  He knows which side of his bread is buttered.

Wu is very tempted to be a family cat in the sitting room but he just can’t bring himself to join us.

So, last night imagine our surprise when he boldly walked into the sitting room, plonked himself on the sofa and went to sleep.

This is unheard of and Loki, to be fair, behaved beautifully, enough for Wu to relax.

This morning, I have asked Wu whether he will be returning to the sitting room.  He is not sure.

Then I asked Loki whether he intends to rescind his Fatwa and he says he will try his very best as he wants to be A Good Boy.

When I asked BeAnne whether she would make everything worse (ie wind them all up), she denied all knowledge of this type of ‘haviour.

So we shall see.  Let’s hope this is a new chapter in our family life.   All eyes are on Loki.

I looked out of my window to see this enchanting sight.

Four little Minions lying flat out while Taktur and Klængur guarded.  This idyllic scene lasted until Storm woke up for the changing of the guard and then it all collapsed.

Let’s give Storm a new name, shall we?  Annoying – because he went round each Minion and deliberately caused trouble.

Poor little boys. They were having such a lovely peaceful rest too.

Now this is a first – real evidence of Tiddles initiating proper playing.

The sight of this makes even my stone cold heart melt.  Tiddles has found his sense of humour (as well as a sense of revenge – which is so important, nay essential, in a Shetland pony!)

Waffle went off back to his very important job, where is on-call 24/7.  He is Taktur’s “mini-me”!  They are very good friends and Waffle spends much of his time following Taktur about dreaming about the day he will be as tall and noble.

(Call me wrong but I haven’t the heart to tell him).

A bit of a duvet day today.  I popped over to Sandness to see my girls and give them the now-expected carrot.  Funnily enough, they approve of this routine hugely.

It is a wild windy, rainy, snowy, haily, sunny sort of day.  If it comes out of the sky, it has fallen on me!

Hetja was on good form.  She is not fat-pregnant and, if I had not had her blood tested, I would almost doubt she was going to have a foal.  Maybe she is one of those lucky ladies who stay the same shape and size all through pregnancy (*** cough Kate Middleton cough ***) et voilà, a foal appears (although I hope for Kate’s sake she has a baby!)

Back home to the lads.  It is going to be cold tonight so I wrapped up those that needed it and opened up the stable too.  Kappi is determined to make that silage bail his own. I will probably find him tomorrow morning with only his hind hooves sticking out!

In the stable Haakon was grudgingly babysitting The Minions.

I sat in with them for a while.  Storm was in a funny mood.  He pushed past everyone, not letting them near me and asked for a hug.  I suppose he just wanted his mum to himself.

So I made this.

Enjoy!

My Land Rover is dead. It makes very squeaky noises when driven so I booked it in to spend the last few days at the garage where they freed the steering and topped up the power steering fluid.

Bjørn’s (my neighbour and trainer) 4×4 car also died and is being mended. This weekend he needed to move his ponies as they are due to foal, need moving, etc.

I phoned my garage on Friday to see if my Land Rover was ready and I was told to collect it and to drive it around this weekend so they could check the levels (I am assuming of the Power Steering fluid).  Knowing Bjørn needed help, I offered and we have spent the last two days moving ponies.

Here are a few photos of his herds. I like Bergli ponies.  They are never difficult and always very sweet (Waffle is a Bergli pony and, when we first rescued him from his subsequent owner, Waffle was the only one we could catch).  So Bergli ponies are always easy, an absolute delight to be around.

I have had such fun, these past few days.

This is Alex – a fairy tale stallion who, while I have been waiting for Bjørn to bring another pile of ponies to move, has entertained me with his moving hair-do!

He is a dream and he makes me laugh!

The boys are wonderful.  They are just so handsome!

So back to normal tomorrow.  The weather is threatening but this was a good reminder that Shetland ponies actually need to be Shetland ponies.

There is no mane and tail conditioner to be had in all these islands.  Believe me, I have looked.

I need to brush, yes you heard me, brush everyone as spring is here and coats are falling out.

I like to use something as, after a long hard winter, manes and tails can leave a lot to be desired – split ends, mud, tangles, etc.

So I asked Forumland, looked in my cupboard and decided that coconut oil was the way forward.  It is something that is always in my kitchen and I often use it for cooking.  Coconut oil has rave reviews as a hair care product too.

All the ponies came up to be fed and, after their grub, I put a penny sized lump of oil in the palm of my hand, melted it and put it on manes and tails.

This stuff is amazing.  I will never buy conditioner again.  Coconut oil is the way forward.  All the tangles instantly disappeared.  The hair has become stronger and it worked very well.  The horses loved the smell and followed me around waiting to be done.

Note, Iacs’ silly frilly.  It is now positively bouffant.

Tiddles was transformed into a gorgeous boy.

His mane is gorgeous, silky and easy to brush.

And he new it.

Tiddles from Oreal – because he is worth it!

The boy was transformed into a vision of loveliness.

So now the way forward is coconut oil.  I am going to see if I can buy it in bulk!  I can’t recommend it highly enough.