Tag Archives: MyShetland

Bed-Wars

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I popped over to see a friend this morning. She had asked me if I wanted a bed she had recently bought for her dog (a Border collie), which had proven to be a bit small.  I said, yes, please.  After all, there will always be someone in our house who can use it.

We placed the bed amongst the others and Ted liked the look and promptly plonked himself in.

Yes, this definitely had a potential lovely-dog-bedness feeling about it.

And Ted happily settled knowing this was now Ted’s bed.

Definitely Ted’s perfect bed for Ted and no one else because it belongs to Ted now.  Them’s his rules.

But is it, though?

The bed could now be Monster’s perfect bed.

Monster promptly made himself comfortable and, feeling a little too relaxed and happy, decided to make it his own.

He had a wash.

So, it’s Monster’s bed now because Monster has decided that is the way it will be (and now Ted hasn’t got his bed and I feel awful…. For a short while, Ted was so happy.)

Escape for the Day

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As Flossie hasn’t left the house since last year – just after Christmas to be precise – I thought we should have a day out.  It would do us both good. And I am also panicking about any potential snow dump that might happen.  After all, if there is a life-threatening snow storm about to hit the USA (please, all stay safe everyone) and mega-snow in Russia (Kamchatka peninsula), then I have to worry.

So I got the horsevan out (first offering up a prayer to the Gods of starting vans) and off we drove to Lerwick, sadly leaving Pepperpot behind.

It was cold, windy with occasional biting rain.  There’ve been no boats for many days so I couldn’t get some of the animal feed I wanted.   Never mind, we have enough for a while, no one is going to starve.  I did, however, get a big bale of hay so now we are well stocked with hay.

Everyone in town is gearing up for Up Helly Aa – held on the last Tuesday of the month.

 

I checked the sheep field in Jamieson’s and kicked myself for forgetting to bring any one. Never mind. OH will go in on Monday and I can send them in with him ready for the cruise ship full of tourists arriving specifically for Up Helly Aa.

We had a nice lunch – our reward for all our recent hard work – and then a quick nip around Tesco’s.  It was very obvious there had been no boats.

Apparently no one likes watermelon.

Or beetroot.

I think (but I could be wrong) the only local produce Tesco will sell here is milk from Shetland Farm Dairies.  There was absolutely no bread in the aisles – which is disappointing because there are at least 8 – 10 local bakeries scattered all over Shetland.  At least the local shops are well stocked with bread.

We went home feeling full (delicious lunch) and with a good supply of hay too.

Always Fair

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I left my pit to pop down to see how the little boys were fairing in this cold weather (wind chill today of at least -5℃).  It was the sort of freezing cold wind that makes your eyebrows hurt.

Anyway, everyone was surprisingly perky – I think it’s because they’re in their new-to-them field and they love it there.  They can also see the others too, which they like (not that the others care or want to be near them).

I had in my pocketses five Pasture Cookies, which I had brought thinking they could have one each as a very special treat.

I fed one to each of them and of course they loved them.

One for you, I said and a kiss on the nosey…

And you….. and you and kept going….

… until I reached Silver. I put my hand in my pocket expecting to find the last carefully counted out treat but nothing! I felt awful.  What to do?  I could leave Silver feeling a bit out of sorts with me and go back to the warmth of the house (my poor hurty eyebrows by now).  But no, I am not that person. Life should never be unfair and I would’ve laid awake all night knowing I had created an injustice. So of course I climbed back up the hill, telling myself all exercise is good exercise, found the errant Pasture Cookie and took it back to feed Silver.  Fairness for all!

Barrel vs. Bert

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When I went to feed the sheep their breakfast, I found Bert and Barrel knocking seven bells out of each other (fighting). It was serious.  Bert was almost unconcious, wobbly on his legs, his sides heaving while Barrel kept having another go, refusing to give up.  I separated them by pushing Bert into Lambie’s private diningroom (oh, the vapours from Lambie) and gave him a bowl of food.  Even then, Barrel was waiting by the gate trying to get in.

So I shut the door on them all and went to help Floss feed the horses and ponies.  We are currently in the middle of a three day gale with lashing rain and lowering temperatures.  I needed to think what was the best thing to do next.

I decided to separate them.  My plan was to keep Bert, Lambie and Ster back around the house/stable. They could have a Duvet Day with haynets while the others went outside to enjoy the revolting weather and Barrel could calm down a bit.

I took my bribery (rattly food box) and the rest of the sheep followed me into their field. Hastily shutting the gate, I shouted at Barrel to “cool down or you’re outside for life!”

Lambie, Bert and Ster now had free run of the place all day.

Later I went to visit them.

I sat down but Bert wouldn’t come and chat. But that was ok. He was happily eating the haynet.

Ster never left my side and Lambie came past for a scratch.

After a nice chat with Lambie and Ster, I gave them all a second breakfast which was received gratefully.

Bert happily tucked in.

The others have just come home, the weather is vile now and I watched Bert and Barrel in the shed together.  Nothing.  Apparently, they are now good friends. I think I will go out later to double check, though.

 

Rugs and Moving Fields

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These days, it’s a toss-up as to what and how much I can do.

But, as ever with my back, every day is a new oneand the pain is never the same (when it stays the same, I begin to panic). When I wake up in the morning, I can usually gauge my potential achievement level. Last night, I had definitely overdone things but today my back had forgiven me.

This is the last day before the gale, rain and possible snow arrive so Floss and I changed the rugs to thick ones on the old horses and ponies. Then Floss went to work and I went off to throw celery stalks at the Shetland ponies. I could see their field was not looking its best anymore and they were all a bit depressed. I hate that for them.

So I made a decision. I put a nice rug on Tiddles (ok, he’s wet but I can’t dry him and it is better than nothing), and then led him through the inter-connecting gate to the last field the old horses/ponies had been living in. They all dutifully followed. In this field, there is more shelter as it is in a valley with lots of very high dry-stone walls. There is also a bit more grazing. Nothing special, but it will do. The ponies were thrilled and I was left feeling that I had made a good decision. They will be alright in the next gale and I don’t have to worry about anyone now.

Then I went inside to work on the Diaries and I had some help. The head torch is to help me see the teensy tiny writing of August 1947. The help was very licky. Yuk!