It is my last day in Shetland before I go south again to Glasgow for surgery on my ankle scheduled for Monday.  I was going to ride but Haakon came out of the field with his eyes on stalks and my waters started to churn.  I just didn’t feel I had the strength to ride him while he was on edge.  It was a cop-out, I realise, but when he is like that he doesn’t concentrate and his brain and legs go wobbly.

So I threw him back into his field and asked Floss if she would like another shot on Bimble, this time.  Bimble is also known as Iacs and is Daisy’s Icelandic horse.  The only one in the whole world who doesn’t tölt or pace.  But he is also the safest horse in the world and that makes him invaluable.

Flossie was very enthusiastic, remembered most of what I had said and even tried a sitting trot.  I love her “concentrating face” and her beaming smile.

Bimble was brilliant.  He did everything asked and with no scary bits too, bless him.  Floss loved it and wants to do more if she can.  The irony is that I have been waiting 17 years for this day and now I am out of action for ages.  Bum.

As it will be a while before I see any of the horses and ponies and again, I went out into the field to say good-bye.

Floss and Klængur seemed to have bonded, which is lovely.  I think she is just envious of his hair colour!

Haakon showed Taktur who is boss of the herd.  This confirmed my theory that he was in a funny mood and I am very glad I didn’t ride him.  When my waters churn, I am usually right.

I will miss my darling boys.  I wonder if they would be able to come and visit me?

Obviously, I will have BeAnne, and that is a blessing, but that is all as Loki doesn’t know how to go upstairs and Jack is too old to manage.  Wuss has taken up residence in another part of the house.

So now I hand the Blog back over to Flossie with her very capable writing talents while I am away until Thursday.  Think of me walking in and then being wheelchaired out.  Two general anaesthetics in under a year.  Life is a bugger sometimes.

You remember how we took Vitamin and Fivla to Lerwick for an afternoon of meet and greet in their Fair Isle sweaters?

Shetland ponies in sweaters go to Lerwick

Well, a few days later, les girls appeared in the one and only local newspaper – The Shetland Times as a cartoon.  When this happens, you know you have arrived.  It has only taken me 16 years to achieve this accolade.

So I had to buy the original, didn’t I?

And then I thought it wasn’t very fair for me to have the original and for Jo to not have one in her house, so I commissioned the artist, Smirk or Stephen Gordon to draw another one and this time in colour – my thoughts being the sweaters were in colour.

And here is a translation from the Shetland dialect (for those that don’t speak the lingo)…..

“Festivals, you wait for one and three to come along at once, you know”
“Yes”

“It’s all very well being Shetland’s world media stars”
“yes”

“but they might have given us….”

“Some trousers”

I am so happy.  I love it and I hope Jo will like her’s too.  This is a bribe for all the winter work she is going to have to do while my foot is in plaster.

Smirk is a brilliant artist – if you want to contact him, here are his details.  I can thoroughly recommend – http://www.shetlandartsandcrafts.co.uk/smirkink.html

Today was a day I thought I would never see.

Last night when Floss came to kiss me goodnight , she mentioned that she might like to have a shot at riding.  She said she had been thinking about giving it another go before I wrote my blog yesterday.  I was speechless.

Riding is not something Flossie does, ever and that is her choice and I have always tried to respect it.

This morning arrived and I said I was going to ride and, again, Flossie requested to ride.  We decided on Haakon as he will listen to me in the arena and rarely breaks out of walk unless asked.  I also trust him the most even if he is speedy.

I put a headcollar and rope over his bridle to make grab-ability easier for me but it became patently obvious very quickly that Floss had remembered most of what to do and I took it off as it was irritating.

Once Flossie had got the measure of Haakon and his speed, she  (I think) enjoyed pottering around the school.

I even talked her through a basic dressage test in walk which she and Haakon achieved very nicely.

Floss hasn’t ridden for years.  She did so well on Haakon and it was so lovely to watch them both together (*** sniff ***).  Haakon is not easy.  He wanted to just walk around me in little circles but she got him going beautifully and listening to her rather than watching me.

Of course, then it was BeAnne’s turn and she showed Floss, and me, just how it is done.

Surprisingly, Flossie wants to have another go tomorrow so we will use Iacs.  He loves new riders and, if Floss thought Haakon was barrel-like, then she is in for a surprise.  We might even attempt trot.

But lots of broccoli stalks to Haakon for this morning.  He was such a good boy and I trusted him to look after Floss, which he did beautifully.

A wonderful day!

My poor little BeAnne has had a lump removed from under the skin on her jaw yesterday.  It was a cyst that kept filling up with fluid, despite being regularly emptied with needle and syringe.  So I booked her in at the vets and they got rid of it under a general anaesthetic.  Needless to say, I was a complete nervous-nellie about the whole thing and I am very glad to have her back.  They wouldn’t let me stay and hold her paw either (probably just as well) though I did get to stay with her and hug her while she had her pre-med.

Walks are on a lead for a while and she hates her “lampshade” collar but it has to stay on in case she rips her stitches out scratching at the inconvenience.

Flossie said she looked like one of the Pixar animation lamps – ahem!

Meanwhile, the washing machine is on overtime as I catch up from my weekend away and start to think about my next foray south – to hospital on Sunday.

I am well aware of all the clocks in my life ticking whilst getting louder and louder.  I am trying to ride everyday because as from Sunday, that will be it for at least 3 months.

I expect Haakon will be very relieved, though.

Floss and I went into the field this afternoon.  She sweetly offered to be my new groom for the next few days and likes the boys, especially Klaengur.  It is lovely to watch as she is not really a “horsey person”.

She caught Haakon for me …

…. and even picked out his feet when I asked her.  This is not a favourite job as she is used to uncooperative Shetland ponies so was rather surprised when Haakon just held them up for her one at a time without being asked.  He knows the drill.

I always offer Flossie a ride and she always says rather sheepishly “perhaps another time”.  I would love to see her ride but would never force her.

Everyone is fine.  I am trying to make the most of my horsey-fix every day as I can hear that clock ticking and then there will be nothing.  I can’t even see them from my bedroom window.

This weekend away, I drove our guests to visit Falkland Palace in The Kingdom of Fife, about 20 miles away from St Andrews, so the perfect day trip.

A favourite place of Mary Queen of Scots, Falkland Palace is now run by The National Trust who are doing a very good job, though they don’t let you take any photos of the interior, which is great pity.

The interiors were magical.  The chapel had its own peaceful serene quality like nowhere I have ever been in but it was the gardens that captured our hearts.

We wandered everywhere and this is where I discovered Daisy’s new talent…..

She is quite good at taking photos with my third best camera (second best is in Germany having a hair removed from the lens)……

Especially butterflies….

I, on the other hand, am barely average at taking photos of butterflies and am also very jealous.  Butterflies are fairly rare up in Shetland or, if they live here, I don’t notice them or capture them on film so to see them fluttering about on flowers and shrubs that are not constantly moving in the wind, is very rare and special.  Daisy and I were both captivated.

We wandered about the gardens trying to out-do each other finding various plants to photograph.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and probably one of my best days ever.   This is my idea of happiness.

In the late afternoon, we met up and sat on the garden benches chatting to each other.  The smell of the rosa ragusa bushes were intoxicating.

We even saw a mouse who we named Ludwig as we misheard our German friends chatting and thought they had named him!

So, now I am considering whether to get Daisy a good camera of her own for her 21st birthday or would it be a waste?  Dammit, this is a fabulous photograph.  She is very talented.

not jealous, not jealous, not jealous, not jealous …..