The Simmer Dim Ride

“Simmer Dim” means Summer twilight and last night was the longest day.

This is Sandness at 22.15.

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We tacked up Hetja (Jo’s), Hreyfing (Fi’s), Iacs (Daisy’s) and Haakon (me) to ride to the beach, for a picnic.

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We made Daisy carry the picnic.

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And off we set.

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It was the perfect evening.  The sunset was incredible, getting better and better.

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The beach was almost entirely ours.

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And so we rode along the sand, listening to the waves and thinking it doesn’t get any better than this.

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Then we found a good picnic spot at the other end of the beach and got out our picnic.

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We had sausage sarnies, Pringles, chocolate and and bottle of pre-mixed Mojito (half white rum, half lime soda) which was passed round for swigs.

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There was a certain amount of scrounging.

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Actually, there was a huge amount of scrounging for everything, including the Mojito.

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Our horses behaved appallingly at the sight of our food and drink.  I think they tried everything too and pretty much liked it.  Iacs was very fond of the Mojitos.  Now why am I not surprised?

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(a quick reminder of our view – utter bliss).

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The last bits were eaten or swigged or shared.

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We packed up and rode round the village before going home.  If you heard hoofbeats last night in Sandness it was not the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

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Back to the field by 11.30 and we left the boys there for another adventure on today (teas at the hall).

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So this is how light it is at midnight once we got home.

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Simmer Dim is magical.  It makes Shetland very special.

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(all photos taken on an iPhone without a flash – sorry for the wobble)

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