Wednesday 10 July 2013

Bonny, naughty Bonny.

Bonny is doing naughty cow.
It is a nuisance that she is thus so.
Time is burnt up, you see, by her efforts
not to be a sweet little thing.

It is hot, hot, hot, here. 
Must be around the forties in the Courtyard,
everywhere else, low thirties. 
Time outside is limited if one does not become cooked,
there is enough moisture in the air,
the humidity being very high,
to simmer us quite, quite, quickly.
We do not have enough time, therefore,
to chase a little cow hither and thither.

So here was the plan:
Separate her completely from her mum,
leading her to fro on a rope,
which would stop the romps all about the place,
and milk her mum twice a day.

Went well on Bonny's part,
oh she complained for chunks of the day,
but not too much.
Did not go well for Elise though,
who was most upset,
and got herself all in a lather,
so much so, that she got into a hell of a mood,
so that when Lester came to milk her,
having decided to do this twice a day from here on,
it was impossible to do.

The heat has brought every single type of insect out,
small ones, medium ones, big ones,
and most bite.
Ouch!

To defend herself, 
Elise swishes her tail.
If one is sitting near the udder hoping to milk,
one is likely to be flicked in the face in the face,
and swatted,
as what happened to Lester last night.

To defend herself,
Elise chucks her head up and down,
making her fidget.
It is therefore difficult to keep bucket and udder in line,
as what happened to Lester last night.

To defend herself,
Elise kicks and stamps her hind legs.
Buckets get stepped in to,
kicked over,
as what happened to Lester last night.

Elise was already upset,
by the flies and heat,
not to mention her drum tight udder, which,
she thought,
should be going to her calf,
and nowhere else,
most certainly not in a bucket,
and so she grew difficult.
This is what Lester found out last night.

Project Evening Milk thus became aborted.
To release the milk,
Bonny was put back with her mum,
but taken out again when the udder was empty
and the little tummy was full.
Perhaps tonight it will go better.

Lester had already had a day of it,
been at his computer all day,
earning us the income 
so we can keep building the house and farm
into a smallholding and retreat.
Yesterday was not a good day for him.

So continuing to merrily swelter in this heatwave,
the soggy wetness of those weeks of rain,
all forgotten.

Saying bye for now,
x

8 comments:

Horst in Edmonton said...

Oh my 40 degree days would be very hard on me. We had 32 degrees here today and that was plenty hot for me. Stayed inside most of the day. Will have to get up early to water my flowers. Hope you and Lester have a better day tomorrow.

Vera said...

Horst, its cooler indoors but it feels like being in a pressure cooker....sort of all hot and steamy, which might be because of the stone walls drying out after the wetness of the previous months. But it is lovely watering the plants early in the day, isn't it! Hope you are well.....

Leon Sims said...

Vera - we should be putting music to your non-rhyming prose. Ask some one to sing it or maybe you and Lester could do a duet.
In fact I expect to see a little movie post soon.
Leon

Vera said...

Leon, oh this made me smile. I don't mean to write non-rhyming prose, it is just that I can't seem to write a blog without doing so! So, on your suggestion, we shall have a go at singing it. I think, in advance, that it will not be publishable!

Diane said...

Yes it is hot, and we love it, but then we do not have to milk an upset cow! The garden is in need of rain and only a week ago I was wishing the continuous rain would stop. Farmers are never happy as nothing is perfect! Hope all goes better this evening Diane

Vera said...

Diane, you are right. It is not a perfect world, and going along with what the weather throws our way is quite something to have to cope with for everyone who is working the land. Patience, I think, that is what is needed!

Horst in Edmonton said...

Hi Vera, in days of old we used to open all the barn doors to let the breeze blow through to cool all of the cows off. If there was no breeze we some times gave the cows a cold shower. Not often as we did not have running water. We never had 40 degree days, thank God.

Vera said...

Horst, that's a good idea. Not sure that Lissie would want to stand still long enough for us to throw some water over her though, but the pigs, they are different. Love the hosepipe over them!