New Born

It was well after 1 o'clock this morning by the time we got home after being at a dinner dance in the local village hall.

En route home, as we dropped off a farmer friend and his wife at Dippen, he asked if we could drive into one of his big sheds to check up on a cow that was due to calf. There in the headlights stood a large cow almost ready to give birth. The farmer reckoned it would be a couple of hours before it arrived. As we had seen calves being born before, we decided not to wait and check up on things in the morning.

As I headed out on my run this morning, a bit later than usual, I dropped into the shed and there was the wee calf finding its feet in its new surroundings. I spoke later with the farmer and it had been born, as he expected, just before 3 o'clock with no complications.

Now, as the farmer breeds champion Charolais cattle, I enquired if the calf was a future winner. "Aye he's not to bad" was the reply, which I took to mean he was unlikely to be a future champion but was still a fine wee calf!