Yesterday Daisy met with the Vet. She was wild eyed and leery. Daisy that is .. The Vet was calm and brave. 
The Vet has known Daisy since she was a new born so everything soon settled down.
Maximus is the name of the bull. His semen arrived frozen, and held suspended in a tank in the back of the Vets van. Once she had recovered the vial it was gently revived in a cup of warm water and delivered with the utmost care and a very long glove. The Vet will do a blood test in thirty days and we will know a week after that if it was a successful day. A long time to wait isn’t it.
Daisy was not impressed. But a bull is out of the question Daisy. Too big for the little farmy! She got a bucket of watermelon rinds as a treat afterwards. 
Daisy had three hormone injections over the course of 10 days to bring her into heat. She is a drama queen about needles. On the last injection yesterday morning, after I had jabbed her and we had all relaxed a notch, she swung her head wildly as I turned to leave the stall and managed to smack me full in the face with the side of her head. I hit the wall but did not hit the floor and as John recovered control of the cow, I reeled into the milking parlour, away from her and sat down heavily on the floor. My cheek bone still aches but no bruising. Apparently we both have hard heads. But it all worked out in the end. 
And we all settled back down into that gentle late summer slide. It is quiet everywhere now. Even the birds seem to sing more softly. The Farmy is focussed on keeping the summer close by, no loud noises that might scare her away. Taking gentle carefully placed cushion steps. The corn has begun to rustle, the dry leaves stroking each other as the breezes move through on their airy toesteps. Even the light is holding its breath.
Later John made capsicums stuffed with wild rice, sultanas and pine nuts. The rice had been cooked in a tomato broth. We ate out on the verandah and watched not very much.
Good morning. I hope you don’t get bored because that should be the last of the excitement around here for a while. We expect to amble through the chores. Saunter around doing the work. Puddle about in the boats of warm weather. Grow, harvest, cook, eat and chat. It is still busy but not frantic. I am not sure I can bear it!!! Let’s cook shall we? I am going to be looking for some good recipes to liven up our lazy days.
Have a lovely day.
celi
ps. It appears that I did not write a page a year ago. Ah well.
The Kitchen's Garden 
77 responses to “Daisy the Virgin Cow”
Daisy, boss, sure knows her punctuation and when to place it !!!
OUCH….the surprise delivery…!! She has opinions too. She
is probably writing her own blog !
Have a peaceful day with your own punctuation marks !!
BHM
When I was about 10 or 12 years old, my Mom took us to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) and she was thrilled that we had arrived right at the time a cow was about to give birth (we were not as thrilled) but she said it was an amazing thing to witness new life at that precise moment. It was breach and the vet had to turn the baby around.
Hope Daisy has an easy time of it. I hate needles too, so I can’t blame her for being upset. Hope your head feels OK; lucky there was no bruising.
Good luck, Daisy!!! We had a bull, once upon a time. They are SO not worth the stress, especially on such a beautiful little farm. Cheers to hard heads and new beginnings!
What a day for you all! I think you’ll probably enjoy the slower, quieter days of late summer.
This line is perfect: ” The Farmy is focussed on keeping the summer close by, no loud noises that might scare her away. ” It so captures this hold your breath time of year. Some how the days seem luxurious.
Sorry about the cow head knock – they are so good at that…alway know when you aren’t at all prepared -then whack. (I know they laugh among themselves afterwards) And you were kind enough to give her watermelon rinds!
“Puddle about in the boats of warm weather.” just another perfect image. Enjoy while you can!
I know you still have a lot going on, but glad you feel it is a slow time in your mind–and body. Glad to hear you are ok after the run-in with Miss Daisy.
I feel for Daisy, let’s hope it works.
How is your face today – still no bruising?
I have nominated you for the Veery Inspiring Blogger Award. To claim this award go to http://www.justiceforraymond.wordpress.com and follow the directions there. Hope you are feeling better after the cow incident.
Thank you so much for the nomination, I shall pop over. That was lovely of you to think of me. I hope you don’t mind that I save the lovely job of passing this on when I have a bit more time.. I am better at awards in the winter (laughter!) have a lovely day.. c
Oh my. I can just imagine a menagerie (hey not that word) of farm animals looking on.
Well now that you are all bathing in the afterglow….This is post-coital come a cropper! Hope your head feels better
Reminds me of my brother’s weekly stories from his farm with his cattle and chickens and cats and dogs. You are so calm and tough!
Huh? I’m not a country girl [well this here is just ‘pretend’ country!] and should not be speaking up, but if Daisy is old enough to have a bub, isn’t she old enough to have the fun of getting the bub? Perchance there would have been someone of lesser build than this Maximus?? What if it is a large, large calf . . . . .Oh, this is one of my favourite ways of having peppers but . . . poor Daisy, you go and headbutt ’em again . . . !
There will be beauty even in the quiet phase of the farmy, and you will catch it. I must say I chuckled at the name of the bull: Maximus! Just as well he didn’t visit in person.
The head smack sounds alarming. Do remember to rest.
A bucket of watermelon rinds. That’s a new one on me, Celi.
You are trying so hard to hang onto Summer, and I am so hard wishing it here…