After the diet to break all diets, I am now on a diet!

My London/Bermudian friends have gone, I miss them desperately and life is boringly quickly going back to normal.

We had the best time and I loved showing Bermuda and Frizz My Shetland.  I have never laughed so much and we just went on from where we left off all those years ago at our posh boarding school.

Having them to stay here in Shetland was the tonic I needed to kick me up the arse, show me the way to recovery and to remember I always have friends out there (even if it is a long while since I last saw them).  Thank the Gods for Skype.

Anywho, our newbie, Anna seems to have settled in easily.  Instantly one of us.

This morning, I set her the task of cleaning up some of the horses of their winter fur which needed to be brushed out.

Bless her, Anna is a hard worker.  We like this and she understands BeAnne’s little ways too.  As I said, one of us!

Jo popped round in the afternoon and they both went out for a ride.  Haakon had lost a shoe so Jo rode Klængur while Anna rode Iacs.  We will try her out on Haakon tomorrow.

Trying hard not be jealous, I pottered around the garden, playing with my camera and then I went to bed for the rest of the afternoon to sleep.  I seem to have lapsed back again into resting and recuperation.

The boys are happy.  Iacs has a new little friend, Bozz-Bozz, and their relationship consists of Iacs just hanging on and generally chewing him to death.

Bozz-Bozz doesn’t mind a bit.  It is very sweet to watch and they think it is great sport.

Daisy wil be home shortly and then she can have her sillly-frilly back. I can’t wait.  SEP = Someone Else’s Problem.

Anna is our new helper.  She is here to stay for a month.  19 years old, has a good camera and today she went to see our new baby (plus les autres).

Today, I have been busy at home so I took the chance of “stealing” her photos from this afternoon.  I think they are fine and do a very good job of showing how much madame bebbie (yup, still no name) has filled out and is starting to look very nice.

Daisy, my eldest daughter comes home on Sunday from university so together they can look after the horses and ponies for me and I can go back to my recuperation, leaving my bed occasionally to drift around the garden with my new camera.  Anna is a keen photographer so, as an incentive, I have offered her the opportunity o have a go with my big camera.

What do I know about Anna?  She is 19yo and from Vermont and has horses, so can obviously ride but best of all, she can carriage drive.  She eats anything but is not too keen on mayonaise and neither does Daisy, so they already have something in common.

BeAnne adores Anna and Jack has got her opening and closing doors for him on a constant basis while he goes in and out of the garden about 100 times an evening so all is good.

We had a rather raucous evening, tonight as it was Frizz and Bermuda’s last night in Shetland, so Anna must be under a huge misconception that we all talk non-stop at the same time and eat far too much chocolate and mebbe wine!

Anyway, enjoy her photos.  I was so pleased to see little madame and now I can drive, I will get over to meet her soon.  I don’t feel I really know her yet.  There is plenty of time and Daisy is a sucker for foals too.

Frizz, Bermuda and I (old school friends from 1981) went on a road trip to the south end of the island to find a puffin – this was Frizz’s one request, along with hugging an otter.  We went with the puffin.  It seemed safer.

Every so often, I would shout “STOP”, mid-natter, and Frizz would swerve the car quickly off the road where we would all then leap out and take a photo of the view.

Today was beautiful.  Shetland made a huge effort and looked fabulous.  I was so proud to show off my perfect home.

Having not even reached our destination of Sumburgh Head, we decided lunch was in order so off we swerved to Spiggie Hotel for the most delicious and beautifully served food.

I highly recommend this place and the chips are to die for.  Proper chips too.

This is the view from our dining room table.  Pretty impressive, if you ask me.

And then onwards and upwards on our search for the puffin.  I think the Shetland beaches compared favourably with anything in the Mediterranean today and no, these pics are not photoshopped in anyway.

We drove up that terrifying road to Sumburgh Head lighthouse.

A gentleman we met said he had seen nothing but, undeterred, we searched, looked through the binoculars and found that Bermuda had hawk eyes!

She could spot the little bleeders miles away.

This is their regular haunt but they were very difficult to spot (don’t even bother trying – there are none in these pictures).

The views were incredible, we had a good laugh while we dodged the rain showers and squalls thrown at us.  I had the chance to play with my camera and find out what it could or could not do.

I am also sorry to say I had a bit of an Instagram moment which I am now completely cured of – never again.  Naff, that is all I will say.

And so we wended our way home, laughing and chatting. I didn’t flag once and am very proud of myself as this is my first real day out where I actually lasted the whole day staying awake.

Oh yes, and my guests were gobsmacked by the airport runways

(yes, one of them does end in the sea).

And so to bed.

I left school in 1981.  Off into the big wide world I went, straight into Nurse Training at one of London’s top five hospitals (The Middlesex Hospital, Mortimer Street) whereupon I parted ways with the majority of my school friends.  You leave school shouting “keep in touch, I promise” but that never happens.

I had booked to go south last November for a school union but never made it because of my back operation and had to sadly cancel the lot. Two school friends had also arranged to come back up with me on my return to Shetland.  This side of the deal they kept and are now here.

We have spent today talking and remembering our school teenage years together.  I shared my first dorm (dormitory) with “Bermuda” and sang and played music with “Frizz”.  My nickname was “Fran”.  And so, 32 years later, we still call each other by these names as if nothing has changed.  It just feels right.

I have my photo albums which we poured over at the kitchen table.

We all look the same, of course!  No one has changed.  I was keen on photography then too and now I am glad I have all my photos.

Obviously Frizz and Bermuda were introduced to the family.

Frizz brought me the most wonderful present – two cups that had obviously been modelled on Her Maj (simply stunning).  I burst out laughing.  They are perfection.

And then Bermuda amazed me with gifts (if you know me, you will understand about my recent love affair with See’s Candy, though I am slightly sad that I have to share this).

and the dogs and cats too!

There was also an amazing Bermudan Rum Cake which was incredible (we kept cutting small slices after dinner hoping no one would notice and the round is getting smaller and smaller).  This is a cake I must learn to make.

But, best of all, they brought me Brad Patt!

Anyway, it has been a day of memories, much giggling and saying “do you remember when……?”   Tomorrow, hopefully, we see puffins.

By Millhouse Independant (Indy PIng Pong to his friends)

Out of Muness Melinda

A beautiful black filly foal born this morning around 06.00 when no one was watching. Melinda was checked at 05.00 (nothing) and bebbie was up, wet and wobbly walking by 07.00.

With Tante Fivla for company in the field, they are a happy little herd and just getting to know each other.

Enjoy the photos.  No name yet.  Put your thinking caps on.

I hate her being an only foal so we will try and “borrow” another mare and filly foal to be friends together.

(and, yes, Melinda’s feet desperately need trimming but we didn’t; think it fair while she was so far pregnant to have to ask her to stand on 3 legs. They will be done shortly.)