Daisy needs lamby kisses. Poor Paisley Daisy. So large. So ripe. Just about ready to fall out of her tree.
She stands in the center of her straw bed pushing sheaves to and fro, eyeing the walls and the door, centering herself. Then she leans way forward and folds her long front legs right under her body, tipping forward, ungainly with her swollen body, she lowers her head and shoulders down carefully and just as she loses her center of gravity she allows her huge body to shift slightly to the side, lowering her mammoth haunches to the ground with a slow heavy twist that releases her, sighing to the ground.
She reaches out her head and calls a slow long forlorn foghorn of a moo across to me as I work in the pen next to her. The sound sways and drifts and carries itself mournfully through the falling snow out the door to Queenie. A ribbon of sound. Heavy and sad. Like blue. She whines, and blows air through her icy nostrils. Then she tucks her head back onto her left back hoof and with a great soft breath, sleeps.
Poor Daisy. My big brave girl.
The sheep have been shorn. The shearer offered to buy the fleeces from me and I agreed and took possession of my first wool cheque. The snow was falling and blowing outside as we bartered in the midst of another storm. I cannot see spinning and knitting in my future today. And I like my shearer man. And my sheep like him too. He has a way with them.
Last night I discovered an egg sized lump under TonTon’s chin, to the side of his throat. He has been eating and drinking well and minding his animals, jumping all the gates in the barn to keep up with everything. But I have taken to tying Boo up so I can spend more time with Ton. There has been a look about Ton that made me think he needed extra care. A niggly feeling about him. Twice in the last week he has refused to go on a walk with us, I put this down to the shoving from Boo, but even with Boo on his leash, Ton chose to stay with Daisy. Due to Ton’s long time connection with Daisy I just thought he was wanting to stay close by as she is soon to freshen with her calf. Then the last two nights Boo has lain down next to the food bowl and watched Ton eat, instead of trying to push him out of the way. I found this worrying. Boo would not eat until Ton had finished, which has been previously unheard of. Now I have found this lump. Could it have been there before? Hidden in his ruff? You would think I would have felt it. Or it is so fast growing that is probably a cyst of some kind and the vet will sort it out and soon Ton will be back on form.
Let’s hope that is it. We will wait until the vet has had a look before we worry. That’s what we will do.
And I was thinking the other day that it would be nice to know what State or Country you are calling from. If you want to tell us that is. It might be fun to know. In a very broad sense that is, no particulars. And maybe you will even discover some Fellowship neighbours. And this might keep our minds focused while we wait for news of TonTon.
I hope you all have a lovely day. Every day has some lovely in it.
Your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
158 responses to “The Low Moan of a Cow”
One hour north of Toronto near Newmarket, Ontario,Canada. Pigs and cows live here. No adorable lambs with dog nannys. Boo should have been a mother! Now he is looking out one of his own. What will he do with baby calves? Your blog has captured my heart. Every morning I grab my ipad before work and look for your posting. And now I have my colleagues at work in love with Marcel the smiling lamb. When training 25 staff this morning the software slowed down, we waited and waited and so to kill time….I flashed up on the screen Marcel’s smiling face and told the story of his rocky start in life and your blogging life. The room sat quiet and smiled at the smiling lamb and the farmy in Illinois. Your friend on the pig farmy.
Good luck!
Hoping Ton is ok from Sydney, Australia.
Reading from Jubail, Saudi Arabia, but we are from Pennsylvania. Already getting hot here, so I get a little taste of winter vicariously through your posts. Thanks for sharing your life on the farm with us!
I hope Ton will be alright. It would be nice to think that the lump is something simple and not serious. Dogs are so special. One of my bestest friends in my whole life is our dog, so I understand how worrying this is. Fingers crossed you’ll soon have some good news about him.
Fingers crossed for good news. And wow – such a worldwide fellowship here! Love from Bexhill on the South Coast of Enfgland (but next week we’re driving home to Spain so wil be somewhere in France before reaching my beloved Andalucian mountains).
Oh, those worrisome lumps and bumps. My cat, Emmett, has a sebaceous cyst on the top of his head that the vet has to drain periodically. I’ve gotten to calling him “Pimple Head.”
Much love from the heart of Iowa.
From the southwest corner of Georgia, where it is another rainy and cold day.
I managed to miss reading this on Thursday, so I’ll chip in today, from East Central Iowa 🙂
As a retired veterinarian, I’m reminding myself for Ton “If you hear hooves, look for horses, not zebras.” OK, you could look for cows or sheep, I suppose, but I’m partial to horses 🙂 in this case, “horses” would be an infection, or cyst, or lipoma (fatty tumor). A “zebra” would be cancer or something else oddball.
That “retired” bit? That’s due to the 6 & 8 year old at the breakfast with me 🙂
The goldens and I are sending positive thoughts for Ton, from Homeleigh, Northern NSW, Australia, about an hour down the road from Nanette, on the other side of the Mt. Warning caldera. First signs of autumn here with a nip in the morning and evening air. Its been a hot, dry summer with dams drying up everywhere, and I am looking forward to the end of daylight saving very soon. Joy
I’m generally a lurker, have been reading your blog daily for a looong time! Since I only saw one other follower from NY, I had to put my two cents in and say I’m from central NY state. So glad all is well with Ton and I am soooo looking forward to the new babies!
I can’t stop looking at that most amazing photo of little Marcel at the top of this post! We are here on the midcoast of Maine in Bristol! Can’t wait for the moo baby photos :*)
Love reading how your poochies interact and take care of the other animals on the farmy! Checking in from Pittsburgh, PA, where the sun is currently shining! Spring is coming!!
I’m a but late, but in time for the god news about Ton-ton…you need another mention of New Zealand – so I’m here….
Hopefully, by the time I write this, Daisy has calved. I’m waiting on my Dexter, Pippa, to calve–crossing my fingers for a heifer! We’re in the Pineywoods of East Texas.
not yet, too early yet she is just such a moaner that cow! she has always been vocal.. good luck with pippa too.. hope your weather is being kind.. c