It has not stopped raining all day.  As I type this, sitting with a large glass of white wine, I have just hung up my third totally drenched raincoat and woolly hat for the day in the hopes they will dry by tomorrow.

Not even the ducks are enjoying today.

And we turned the heating on to cheer ourselves up.

No one has done much, in the Sheep Department.  They just wander in and out of their two sheds deciding where to shelter.

There is green grass outside and, if anyone is hungry, they can go and find it. I am not putting out haynets for sheep this time of year.  I did tell them.

But there is always the possibility of the odd biccie in my pocket!

Especially for the lovely smiley sheeple.   Aww ‘Bert.  Be still my beating heart.

On the dogwalk, I opened up two pieces of old grassland for the Minions to graze.  I’m just back from leading Fivla, with Albie and Newt running behind, around the track to a place where the flooding burn (stream) was crossable, so they could get to the grass too.  They were very grateful.  I think they had taken one look at the flooding and decided against going over but I had taken one trekking pole with me and could find the best place to cross.  The rest had already found the grass.

Fivla was so happy she did a little buck and cantered off up the hill to the new grass.  I couldn’t photograph this as a) it was persisting with rain and b) I didn’t have any more hands but I did smile at the wee buck.  She’s still got it, I thought.

Storm was having a snooze this morning.

He wanted to get up but……

….. the sun was shining and, you know how it is, he was feeling more and more woozy…..

I love it when ponies lie out flat.

Can you hear the snoring?

Zzzzz…..

The others were about having eaten themselves to a standstill on their morning haynets.

Others were still determinedly eating.

I refuse to worry about their weight but am well aware we are now approaching the “Autumn flush” which is when the grass is highest in sugar/carbohydrates and at its most dangerous to fat little laminitic-prone ponios.

They will stay on the track until we are past this danger.

Having said that, I think Vitamoobag is looking spot on – really good, just right.  For 30 years old, she’s not doing bad.  Apparently that is the equivalent of 90 in human years.  Blimey!

The tables have turned and I’ve decided that, as Lambie refuses to eat in the shed, where he has gone for many months, he can eat in the poultry pen because then he can’t get out and steal everyone else’s food.

This system seems to be working quite well now.  Everyone can eat their breakfast in peace.

And even Lambie is not objecting.

But he has to stay in his pen until everyone has finished and walked away from the food bowl/bucket. Thems are the rules.

Later on, after some very successful flute duets, even if I say so myself, I went back outside to open the field gate, letting the sheep come home for the evening.

They were sitting around waiting.

And, as a treat, I took some animal crackers in my pocketses – possibly everyone’s most favourite food (the sheeps’). A lovely gift from a friend to Lambie et al.

It took me a while to spot the sheep.  Some were very well camouflaged.

Others less so.

And some were just sulking and I have no idea.  I did try to talk to him to find out but Lambie was having none of it.

Giving up, I walked home and everyone followed me.

Biccies for all and Lambie stopped sulking. I think he’s had a row with Barrel.  I sensed an atmosphere.

The weather is pretty horrid here and I spent the day swithering about whether to put rugs on the old ladies and Tiddles.  Part of me thought it was not that cold (around 13 degrees but lower with the wind-chill) and the ponies do need to grow their winter coats, and then there is the part of me that feels so sorry for them huddled and looking miserable in the rain and gale-force wind.

At lunchtime, I was strong but then I gave in and rushed out with the rugs for Fivla, Vitamoobag and Tiddles.

I think the ponies were grateful as they didn’t object and walk off while I was fighting with the straps in the F8 wind.

Hopefully at the end of the month, I have two 20′ shipping containers arriving  and these will be used as field-shelters for the ponies. First, I have to get the ground dug out, levelled with hard-core/quarry waste put down.  My aim is to make our lives easier in winter.

Everyone will be very happy to help with the building/construction work – now, why am I suddenly imagining small ponies wandering around with little yellow hard hats on?

So while my vivid imagination was working over-time, I put out more haynets as fibre = equine central heating.

I did a quick walk round the croft just to check if all the sheep had come home (they can scoot under fences in certain places) and found this lot sheltering.

It really is a nasty day, today.  Apparently it might stop raining next week sometime.

Not much today because I am mostly not able to communicate easily.

And I found that Pepper has a new “spot” – *** sigh *** – is nowhere out of bounds?

But it is deal for looking out at the world (playing spot the birdies)….

….. and/or it doubles as a dog bed (that can’t be comfortable, can it?)

Monster was comfortable in his woolly bed.

Very happy and snoozing having now left a pile of white fur on my iPad – more sighing.

And so I left to go to work at Turriefield.  Today was vegetable packing to get it sorted, weighed, bagged and labelled for the shops.

There was a lot of everything, including beans (poor Heike!) but we all pitched in.

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I took a bag of celery tops home for the ponies.  They were very happy.