A Northern Journal

Christmas presents unwrapped, paper all over the floor and Malfoy finds somewhere to go to sleep. Stretched out on a piece of wrapping paper felt to him, a very good idea but he was rudely awoken by an interloper into the household. “Pss Psss Pss”, I says to him and he blinks his eyes open to be faced with a papier maché cat. He blinks again not sure on what he has seen.

Out stretches a paw to give the newcomer a tentative blat, then shock and horror, it moves. Malfoy was very very unhappy as shown by his racoon like tail!

Well, you would throw a cat treat in here!!!

Gimmee gimmee gimmeeeeeeaow!

Good Frances went to fetch her ponies in on a cold and wintry evening. The snow lay roond aboot getting deep and even. Brightly shone the outside light and the frost was very cruel, when two hairy ponies came in sight desperate for their fo oooo oood!

Winter has (at long last) hit with a vengence. After what feels like months of continual rain the chill north winds has brought snow, only a dusting, mind you as most of it is being blown horizontal across the landscape, not being give the chance to settle properly. I woke this morning to the hail rattling the window and I looked out and my first thought was to get to the shops asap to get some food in… you know just in case the snow lingered longer. Next task was to clean the stable out but didn’t put the ponies out as  had the mad idea that I would go and deliver my local Christmas cards. This is an annual event where the ponies suffer the indignity of being tinseled up and adorned with jingle bells and we tootle down the road to deliver cards. With the forecast not looking good for Sunday, I made the decision to go for it.

Dressed in layers - 2 pairs of jodhpurs, 2 pairs gloves and socks, thermal layers, tee-shirt and fleece and padded jacket I mounted up (carefully - I hadn’t ridden for about 8 weeks) and we set off, with Sigurd trotting along side. Within a short time the horizontal hit, but luckily it was coming from behind us, as Thorf carefully picked his way down the road. No shoes on mean he has a little more grip in icy conditions, but even so, I mostly rode him on the verge. I have him trained to take teeny weeny slow steps if we do have to cross icy stretches. Nine households were visited, but we only lingered at a couple for any length of time one for a dram and the last one for a hot toddy which both Thorfinn and I enjoyed very much. I do wonder whether one can get done for being ‘drunk’ in charge of a horse, or could one argue that the horse knows his way home and was actually in charge! The ponies also partook of pan drops and carrots (spoilt or what?).

So, that’s the card deliveries done for this year and it is now time to get into the final preparations for the festive day itself.

Okay, so I had planned, long before now, to post further about the Rousay cycling trip and have even got most of it in a Word file (but not on this particular computer) - that will be for a later post when one wants to remember that distant hot summer.

So, where has all the time gone? Nobody warns you when you are kid, that as you get older the time scurries along at a rapid pace. Or is it just the fact we now live hectic, technology based lives which mean we need to have everything done yesterday? Have we had an October holiday or was that just my imagination? Is it really six weeks since we in the school choir have been rehearsing our carols for the school’s Christmas Carol Service? IS that really happening next Monday? Eeek! Have I really started letting the kids put up decorations in the library? Well, I had to as there are two weeks of term left despite my belief that my own tree in the house will not be going up until just before the day itself. HANG ON!!! It really can’t be Christmas two weeks on Friday! No way!

St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall around 4:30pm, Monday 7th December 2009