A Northern Journal

The weather has been amazing for over a week now. The very high pressure has meant we have had no wind. My parents visiting from the West Coast even managed to cycle three days in a row… in winter …. in Orkney now that is a rarity!

The open skies latterly have meant we have had some nights of frost, leaving everything glistening white in the mornings… even the wee ponies. I had photographed the wee ones the evening before with the Highland. Thorf wasn’t frosty although his colour could be construed as frosty, but the wee guys had a little layer of frost on them… not melting due to their incredibly thick fur. Foaly - Sigurd - had been castrated earlier in the day and had recovered very well, and by this time at night (11pm(ish)) he was back to his cheeky nosy usual self.

The next day everything was totally white. It was glorious and the peedie ponies had their blanket of frost on them. This is when I realise how well insulated they are. It is just a pity some of our houses aren’t as well insulated.

So Malf has had his goose… and eaten it. The whole of Christmas day he could be found in various places, looking all for the world like he was groaning with a full tummy (serves him right). He moved every once in a while to a new spot and could often be found just plonked in the middle of the floor.

Christmas present opening was decidedly boring this year. We failed miserably at persuading him to play in the pile of paper and he just lay down (and groaned ;>).

He was so full he even stayed put when put on his back on my knees. Purring was even a great effort.

Christmas Pony

Well, after having had a cold with a bad cough and the weather not being too great at weekends, I have managed to complete the ‘Pony Post’ in my local neighbourhood. Ended up posting a few the red post box way but managed to get most done on horseback. Have been doing this now for ten years and I was worried that I wasn’t going to manage this year. Thankfully the weather was nice yesterday and my cough subsided. Thorfinn was decked out in tinsel and bells and he dutifully behaved (as always) as we pottered down the road and visited our neighbours, and got a dram here and there - all very civilised.

After a final rush at shopping today, I got the final card delivered late this afternoon. ‘T’ got a well deserved carrot and a few pandrops and I got a welcome hot toddy. Thorf is one of the most amenable ponies I have ever known and will turn his hoof to anything I ask of him. He is a bit of a hero in our neighbour hood and everyone asks after him before they ask after me. I am glad I didn’t miss the ‘Pony Post’ this year!

Why is it that cats beg for food, even when they have been fed. Three out of our four cats manage to try to con one of us into feeding them again… even if the other has already fed them. The pure tabby (the one in the blog header), Malfoy is an utter thief. He is just over a year old. Got him to replace a fading Perdi(ta) last winter but Perdi (the calico cat) rallied and is still with us. Malf is a downright scavenger. A rescue kitten from Westray he seems to have kept some of the feral scavenging gene. The other day, whilst I was running a Dungeons & Dragons game he stole a piece of Christmas cake and yesterday he opened a pizza waiting to be cooked. He has learnt how to get in the flip top waste bin and has also raided the compost / green cone kitchen bin. Heaven knows what will happen when the beef is cooked for Xmas lunch tomorrow! Merlin, the tabby and white, is also quite good at trying to find food in the kitchen but at least he has the sense to look guilty when he is caught!

Well, At the second attempt, have managed to get started with this new location for Island Blogging. Started with  a username / email that I had planned to use for a completely different blog but got all confused so deleted the first attempt now losing out on using that particlar username / email for a different blog in the future. Technology!!! Have used Wordpress for my library blog but doing this through Island Blogging is throwing up some different aspects. Oh well. I will get used to it I am sure.

Hopefully, if the Christmas rush doesn’t overwhelm me, I will get some photos, etc uploaded at some point and keep you up to date with the ponies.