It may have become obvious by now, to the
close observer, that the adage “you can take the girl out of the country but
you can’t take the country out of the girl” pertains very well to the
YAMster. During my City Farm visit, this
manifested in the full.
Meet Custard.
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| copyright Yamini Ali MacLean |
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| copyright Yamini Ali MacLean |
When all the school parties that had been
enjoying the events of the day had departed at 3pm, she was brought out for
milking. Mark the farmhand, he of Viet
birth-right and “ocker” ways, applied the petroleum jelly and filled her manger
then set to the job at hand. He told me
of how she was an inveterate wet-nurse.
Other cows’ calves all came to her for their ‘extras’ – especially from
one who didn’t like feeding calves at all.
Result was Custard was getting thinner at the withers and thicker at the
teet.
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| copyright Yamini Ali MacLean |
Nothing wrong with her appetite though –
that feed had to be topped up before we were finished.
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| copyright Yamini Ali MacLean |
As I was the only one about, I asked to
take a turn at the milking. It is
probably close to 40 years since I last did that work… and for nearly 10
minutes I returned to my childhood!
Thank you Custard and thank you Calmsley Hill Farm staff, who were friendly and informative.
Of course, YAMarazzi has much more she could share with you, but we’ll
leave it at this for now.
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| copyright Yamini Ali MacLean |
Today, you see, is the day I am in the air,
flying to (or landed in) the UK. I shall
naturally be reporting on this in the very near future. However, I do need to round off my OZ visit
with a few more items. Technically I
will remain ‘in transit’ until such time as I find property and settle in. There will be a period of stability in
Edinburgh (I pray!) in which I can catch up properly with all my favourite
blogs and build up items to report. From
tomorrow, though, I shall share one more rather delightful spot in NSW…
How good of Mark to let you have a go. I did that, too, when I demonstrated (not milking!).
ReplyDeleteThat cow seems clean as a baby and there are no flies! Excellent.
Looking forward to meeting you, m'dear!
ReplyDeleteHari Om
ReplyDeleteJoanne - not on Custard anyway...Mark and I on the other hand were covered in them!!
Indigo - ..you're braver than I thought...hehehehe. Seriously though; likewise!
Oh my, Custard looks like a very sweet girl. I'll bet you had fun milking her. I did a little bit of that as a girl too.
ReplyDeleteThe name Custard for a cow makes me giggle! She looks very sweet and I really LOVE milk!
ReplyDeleteEven thought my grandparents were dairy farmers, I have never milked a cow in my life. Although I seem to know how anyway. I think. I have after all never done it!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, enjoy your flight (by the time you read this, you will probably have landed) and safe return to Europe! And if you need a little break from househunting and the like: come over for some rice pudding!
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteSQ - she was sweet indeed!
Taffy - yes, I thought it a great name for her!!
Mara - Thank you!!!