The good weather continued on into Sunday, this time it actually lasted all day without a shred of wind or rain threatening to spoil my sunny mood. Just like most other parts of rural Scotland, everything shuts down on Sundays. In fact the one cafe on the island has maybe the shortest hours I've ever come across - 12 until 2.30 Tuesdays and Fridays. If the rain isn't too oppressive I might hop over for a visit tomorrow. It feels like such an =event= to go find a cup of coffee.
The small grocery shop/post office also has a tiny window for business on Sundays from 3 - 4.30pm, so I set off in the afternoon to make it there on time, mostly as I just needed an excuse to go out for a walk. It only took me 45 minutes each way. I find it interesting how our idea of what constitutes an acceptable walking distance changes so significantly when we're abroad. If I had my car on hand I wouldn't think twice to jump in and drive 3 minutes down the road, but without that option here a brisk stroll across the island sounds idyllic (the same goes for every other time/place I was a cheapskate and decided not to attempt public transport).
Along the way I met some stupidly adorable Shetland ponies, which looked so comically dumb standing at about waist height with their bulging barrel-like bodies and squat undersized legs. In hindsight I should have brought some carrots with me, but they came trundling over anyway when I resorted to just waving a fistful of grass at them. A part of me fantasised the whole way back on maybe just giving everything up to run away and start a hobby farm for a small herd of Shetland ponies (alongside the alpacas and Norwegian camels).