Hello and a Happy Summer solstice to you all. I don’t know about you but I’m always slightly confused as to how it can be both Midsummer and the first day of summer, but, Wikipedia tells us that “Midsummer” refers to the various celebrations that occur around this time.
We’ve had a few celebrations of our own this month, both Pippin and Mr Boo have celebrated their birthdays with lots of carrots. It’s especially wonderful, to us, that after a few health scares Mr Boo has reached the grand age of 25. If you’ve ever wondered how horse years equate to human years there’s a blog post about it on Ko-fi “Horse Years to Human Years”, it’s free to read, no coffee or membership required.
We’ve also had a bit of naughtiness. Having been given permission to temporarily fence off the grassy track adjacent to our paddocks for extra grazing Madeline is really living up to one of her nick names, Madame Maddie MOO. For the first time since we’ve had her (14 years) she’s refusing to leave turnout and return to her paddock, even her dinner isn’t enough to tempt her. She’s actually trying to evade capture, of course she is failing because the track isn’t that wide so she can’t really escape being caught. You’ll be pleased to hear that Eggsy is actually being good about returning for his dinner. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that as soon as he’s finished he tries to return to the grass track. They’re a couple of trouble makers!
So far the month of June is living up to its name, or more accurately its reputation. it really has been a Flaming June this year. It’s glorious, the hedgerows are currently full of blossom, dog rose, elder and bramble, there’s going to be a good crop of blackberries this year.
One of our non-horsey hi-lights has been watching the starlings. Some of you will know that we feed a number of homeless cats, the garden birds, particularly blackbirds, benefit from this as they come flying in and feast on the leftovers. This month we’ve been visited by a chattering of starlings swooping in to eat cat food. You can quite understand why one of their collective nouns is “chattering” they are somewhat rowdy! And they have brought their fledglings with them, unlike their iridescent parents the young are mouse brown, it’s been fascinating watching them.
Hope the rest of June goes well for you all.
Love from
Eggsy Pony & Friends x
Ah the allure of grass to cause misbehaviour! Star barely acknowledges my presence because she's feasting on lovely green stuff! Happy Solstice Eggsy and friends xx