Tuesday 5 July 2016

Stubborn Cow

Brian mowed the lawn grass on Sunday and now the house yard is looking quite tidy and lovely in a wintery kind of way.
We bought a new mower last year and, as yet, I haven't used it. I suspect he wants to maintain the blades in good shape. ;)

While the sun poked through the clouds, I wandered about snapping photos. We're having a very wet winter and every drop is most welcome.


The leaves of this little Finger Lime tree were completely eaten by something the first time I planted it two years ago, so Brian dug it up, put it into a pot and placed it in the glass house. There it recovered and we planted it out in the open again in Autumn. It was covered in delicious little Finger limes which we ate with fish meals. I confess I wasn't very adventurous with them, but I'll try making more dishes with them next time they fruit. Practically all of the recipes I looked at were for sweet dishes, which I didn't want to make, or eat, so any suggestions for using them would be appreciated.






Yesterday morning, right at the end of milking the two cows, the milking machine motor threw a fit. It sounded like it was about to blow up and Brian was summoned from work. He confirmed my diagnoses and the only thing for it was to buy another motor from somewhere... in a hurry.
A quick look at suppliers of motors on the computer, and number one step-son (who happened to be on annual leave) made a quick trip to the City to make the purchase for us as neither of us could get away from work.
They both toiled at fitting the motor well into the evening, until it was running smoothly and I was confident to use it for milking this morning.
All was well early this morning, the milking shed and machine were all set up and ready to go. The cows were lined up in their regular order. Lavender is always first, so I opened the gate for her to walk up to take her position in the bales, but she got to the gate of the shed, stopped, sniffed, snorted and refused to walk into the dairy.
"Oooohh..... I'm not going in there," she said, "a stranger has been in there. I can smell him and I can smell his oil. Nope, definitely NOT going in there!"
She backed out and stood in the lane.
I tried to cajole her with bread.
I got behind her and used my gruff voice.
I picked up the "waving" stick.
I tapped her on the rump with the "waving" stick.
She walked a short way in, just enough that I could close a gate behind her.
That was a mistake!!
She turned herself around, saw that she was confined and took a flying leap over the gate.
She cleared it beautifully, except for her hind feet, which took the gate with her.
It was poetry in motion, but the gate is no longer a gate.
So Lavender got off without being milked, and must have been very uncomfortable with a full udder all day.

Daisy was too interested in the food she was about to eat, to bother about any stranger smells.
This evening after work, and with some temporary repairs to the gate, we both coaxed Lavender into the dairy by putting her halter on and leading her with a rope.
So I wonder if she will forget about stranger smells when it's milking time tomorrow morning?



9 comments:

  1. Super-cow! You will need to get Lavender a cape. Everything looks so beautiful and green at your place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Or a tutu Sherri.... she did it so gracefully. ;)

      Delete
  2. Ha ha, that was funny, Sally but I do hope Lavender gets used to the smell ;-) It is certainly nice and green at your place. I believe SA has had a lot of rain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This green has been too short lived for the past three years Chel, but lots of rain this winter and promising rains for Spring, so we should be green for much longer this year. Farmers are smiling again.

      Delete
  3. Lovely to see your garden with all it's nooks. I haven't seen spider fern for years. So much to love in your yard. Funny how animals are such scaredy cats with strangers. It always takes hours of encouragement before mine will accept food from my grand daughters. Before they do, they (sheep & cows) stand in the furthest corner with a look of terror in their eyes. How did Lavender go this morning?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Annie. Lavender is still being difficult and I'm thankful we put the halter on when we did because I've needed to clip a rope onto it and lead her into the dairy for the last three mornings. Only gentle kindness and coaxing will let her overcome the fear of whatever it is lurking in there. She's funny though, I can tell that she really wants to run into the dairy, like she used to, but something is holding her back. Once she's half way in, she's fine and walks straight into her position. Funny precious thing. :)

      Delete
  4. LOL! gee, I had a giggle at lavender and I felt sorry for her as it reminded me my breast-feeding days and the discomfort if one of the boys skipped a feed. I hope she finds her confidence again soon for you sally. Lovely shots of your garden.

    xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looking very GREEN! Oh cows, I have spent HOURS of my life coaxing them into places they don't want to go. Molly in particular will not go if Pete is anywhere near her, so he has to walk away while I patiently move her food dish around... so many hours... good luck with Lavender!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh the old "moving the feed bin around" trick. I know it well Liz. ;)

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...