HOW NOW, BROWN COW?

After a good Zoom Church service this morning, we went out, as usual, looking for dereliction, but I have to say it was sadly lacking in the area we chose.  Mr. HCB had decided not to go out of Swindon in the direction of Marlborough as the motorway junction near us was closed all weekend and he knew there would be traffic issues - and how right he was.  As we went along the road towards Waitrose, we could see the traffic stacked up on the motorway and it went on for quite a few miles - so good thinking, Mr. HCB.

We stopped and had our picnic near Garsdon and then went on from there, but there was very little in the way of dereliction.  However, it was a beautiful afternoon, so we just enjoyed the sunshine and I thought that if I didn’t get anything, then there would be plenty of flower opportunities in the garden when we got home.

Then we came across a farm that had quite a lot of old machinery in a field next door, so I took a few shots and off we went, meandering on our way.  Mr. HCB had already decided that we would come back through Cricklade to avoid going anywhere near the motorway, so on our way I spotted a large water tower and asked if he would stop so I could look at it.  He pulled into a gateway to a large field and no sooner had I got out of the car than a herd of cattle - started running from the far side of the field towards me.  I quickly ascertained that there was a decent gate between us because they were going that fast, I wondered if they would be able to stop!

We remembered that this had happened to us a while ago, so Mr. HCB turned up the radio and as they came to a stop at the gate, Classic FM seemed to calm them down.  I was then able to take several photographs and I rather liked this one, so decided to give this heifer or steer - its 15 minutes of fame on Blip.

I wanted to know how to find out the gender of cattle and if you are interested, have a look at this website to find out how to determine if cattle are bulls, steers, cows or heifers - interesting!

The phrase “How now, brown cow?” is used in elocution teaching to demonstrate rounded vowel sounds, not that I ever had elocution lessons, but I do know that.  However, another meaning for “brown cow” is an 18th century description for a barrel of beer and the saying probably originated as a way of calling for another round of drinks - although I’m not sure a barman would respond to it these days, they are more likely to respond to an “Oi, mate!”

Anyway, apart from all that, and the fact that I had a good chat with all the cows, much to Mr. HCB’s consternation - he really thinks I am losing it - I just liked this cow’s face, which reminds me, we have almost run out of milk, so I just hope that my Waitrose order is on time tomorrow morning. This, of course, means that we will have to drink wine tonight instead of coffee - well, there’s a shame!

What do cows play at concerts? 
     Moo-sic!
What does the farmer say to the cows at night? 
     It's pasture bedtime.