I had today all planned out nicely in my head.  Some riding, mucking out, feeding, walking the dogs, etc….

That went straight in the bin.

My back gave a ginormous warning twinge in the shower of things to come, with pain enough for me swear.  I am standing on the edge of the cliff now.

Feeling weak, I went to get dressed, etc, only to find Wu lying on the bed which he always does this time of day.  I stroked his side found a bit of something on his fur. I was picking it off, thinking it was abnormal, he is such a clean boy when suddenly, I saw his flank was ripped open down to the muscle.

Shit.  Quickly dressing, phoning the vet to make an appointment, rushing to shed to find cat box, lining cat box with washable vetbed, all the while praying to all the Gods that Wu would be co-operative.

I snuck up on him, piled him into the box and shut it.  Phew!  Drove like a mad thing to the vet who sedated him and stitched the inside bits.

Surprisingly, Wu was very good.  I did mention to the vet that Wu might bite but he just shoved his head into my armpit and said nothing (Wu, not vet).

Wu is home now and in a vile mood.  He is growling to himself upstairs and  I have left a bowl of lightly poached white fish for him and turned the heating on.

Oh, and meanwhile, Haakon and Iacs, who were mooching round outside the house as Haakon has a hoof abscess (bugger it), ran out of the gate when I opened it to drive home.  I managed to bribe Iacs back by rattling a bucket of barley rings but Haakon just stood in the hill looking sullen, so I thought sod it, and left him.

He came home eventually looking a little embarrassed.  So he is only lame when he walks but can bugger off at full speed into the hill when it suits him.

Meh!

Healing vibes for Wu please.

(and that is why, dear Readers, I was late putting up the Advent Calendar photo for today)

I have, as usual, been worrying about Stardust.  Under all that fluff, he is very thin and scrawny with a backbone sticking out and nasty little jagged hipbones too.  Ugh.

Having jumped wholeheartedly onto the rugging bandwagon with Storm. I perused Fleabay and found a very nice little 2′ 9″ outdoor rug for little Stardust.

It fits him a treat and I hope he will embrace his new rug wearing status rather than try and lose it like the goat coat (still not found).

Words have been had with the others about not laughing and pointing and, as usual, Storm was hovering about like a mosquito on a summer’s day trying to irritate.

He’s probably jealous that there is someone more needy than him.

I am very impressed with the fit of this rug.  I think I might buy another one so in his wardrobe Stardust will have a spare.

Suddenly I find you can’t have too many rugs because you just never know!

OMG, what am I turning into?  I am not this kind of person.  I tell myself, this is purely for health reasons, not any other.  He is not clipped or bathed endlessly or being kept clean for my convenience, Stardust is thin and he needs an extra layer to get through our rough unforgiving Shetland winter.

Phew!  I feel slightly better now.

My life is back to normal.  No more going into town for the foreseeable, I hope.

After their breakfast, I called my little boys into the big school and I took Storm’s rug off so he could roll (look at those gorgeous little feets all curled under and the belly, the belly – someone tickle that belly!)

I put the toy buckets out and Storm had a brief investigation.

He made a careful selection …..

And then played.

The next toy bucket was investigated by tipping it all up.

Once tipped, the contents were successfully looked at for potential.

Storm was in a very cheeky me-me-me mood today.

He wanted all my attention and when I was talking to Stardust, he bit him hard on the side, so I immediately sent Storm away to consider his behaviour and continued to talk to Stardust.  Storm came back a few minutes later and was much nicer after that.

Stardust is coming along very slowly.  He got the plot with hard feed today and waited in the little shed while I dished out the food in bowls outside.  He ate his by himself.  He comes to me now to be tickled, scratched and talked to and I managed to do a little brushing too.  His coat is not the best but he enjoyed the brush and let Waffle do some grooming too.  I was wearing a bobble hat, which I had put on my knee and Stardust picked it up and plopped it on the ground, so that was interesting to watch.  He interacts more with me too.

The boys then spent the brief light hours of the afternoon outside just munching away together as a herd.

Now that is my kind of day.  Not boring town.

A town day today to sort out some legal beagles.

I had my usual daily tasks to do first before I left so I woke early (even set the alarm), did my chores of feeding, changing rugs and mucking out while the sun rose ominously behind in an anvil shaped cloud.

Everyone was “helpful” to the point of Waffle taking Storm’s old rug off the gate and jumping up and down on it in a puddle.  His smile was spectacular and I didn’t have the heart to be cross.  I washed the mud off with frozen fingers in the water trough.

So, after my weekly flute lesson, I went on to The Big L.  Home of boats that are floating hotels, lights and alleged action apparently, if you read the local paper.

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The Christmas theme was upon us.

Except that unicorn gave me the creeps.

So now I am back home. I won’t have to do that again in a big hurry.  Everything was sorted and I had a quick whip round Tesco as well for a birthday supper for my OH.

(I will admit that I had totally forgotten his special day and bought a bottle of 16 year old Lagavulin to get me out of the dog-house)

Tomorrow, back to normal – filthy jeans, little furry noses and somehow it doesn’t matter if I smell of horses because everyone around me does too.

I hate town. I belong here.

Tis the first day of the Advent Calendar but not the first day of Advent, which according to the inter-superhighway is the First Sunday of Advent (the fourth Sunday before the 25th December). I didn’t know that.

As a true child of the 70’s, I have an urge to make one of these.

So, where has the year gone?  It galloped past when I wasn’t looking.  I think I took some photos, though.

But, to say thank you for all your support, help and advice, I have put together my Advent Calendar which starts today, 1st December.  The title on the top line is marked “Advent Calendar” and you press the relevant date accordingly.  There is no cheating, i.e. I am not that organised and am still making my final selection of picks.

I am in slight quandary as to what the MyShetland Advent Calendar should include, though ….

Do you want family?

Icelandic horses?

Shetland ponies?

General Thordale stuff

Shetland flora?

Shetland fauna?

Please let me know.

The pictures are in a big format so you can drag, drop and keep them as a present from me.  I thought they might make a good screensaver thingy.

So that is what I will be doing daily, as well as the Blog and I hope you like seeing the photos.  If you have any special requests, give me a shout and I will try and include them or send you a big version just for yourself.

Right, off to find my tinsel, 4 wire coat hangers and John Noakes…..

I can practically hear the fire engines as he lights those candles. 

And please feel free to share this with your friends and maybe even ask them vote (hint, hint).