Calves in the Ring

Early yesterday morning (Wednesday) before we got up, Beth was out in the barn figuring out how to maneuver 2 calves into the trailer behind the truck to take to market. It was a matter of putting a feed bowl on the ramp to the trailer, getting one to start, bringing up the other from behind who nudged the first one in so she could take over the feed and ending up with both in the van. Another feat by Beth. She took them to the Dingwall Auction Mart to be sold then came back for breakfast. About 10:00 we left to go watch the auction. It was real interesting. We wandered around all the pens where the cattle were waiting to enter the ring. There were hundreds, maybe a couple of thousand heads there. Of course, it was quite dirty and you weren't sure what you were walking through but Beth said the next morning it would be so clean you could eat off the floor. Well, I'm not sure I would do that but it was reassuring to know the standards that are kept.

When the bell rang, we went into the ring auditorium - a miniature version of the Bobcats arena. Cattle were brought into the ring by lot and there were two guys in the ring that kept them moving so the buyers could see them. The buyers sat around the immediate perimeter of the ring and with the slightest movement of their hand or wink they would bid. The auctioneer sounded like the old auctioneers of tobacco and knew the buyers and their signals well so he moved quickly. I couldn't understand much at all but I did begin to figure out who was doing the bidding. When Beth's calves came out, you could see her tense up. This was the culmination of a year's work and would let her know what she made vs. what if cost to raise these girls. She did very well and was able to go to the office and collect her check right away. Her small transaction of 2 calves was simply a microcosm of the whole day. The buyers represent large grocery chains, meat processors, etc. Probably a million pounds passed hands that day and this happens every other week. When you relate all this to what happened in Britain - what, 10 years ago? - with the mad cow disease you begin to realize how devastating that was to the British economy.

Well from there, we met Beth's John at the Strathpeffer railway station for lunch. This little village used to be a big tourist attraction in the 1800s because of its sulfur springs and people came from all over by train to take the waters. Strathpeffer was the end of the line at this railway station which now is a charming restaurant, museum and hiking trail along the rail line. After lunch we went to Glen Ord Distillery to see how scotch is made. Quite interesting with all the smells and copper vats. Each distillery has copper vats that are a certain shape, each different, and the shape of the vat influences the flavor of the scotch. Then it's all put in oak barrels and they have to be used barrels. Guess where a lot of their barrels come from? Kentucky!!

Later that afternoon I really initiated my wellies in over ankle deep mud to feed the sheep. Beth had them mated with Boris the ram 164 days ago so they would lamb this week while she was on vacation. Guess what? 15 sheep, no lambs and some of them are having twins and look like they are about to explode. She says they usually have their lambs early morning and we have two mornings to go, Friday and Saturday, and we have to leave early Saturday for the train to Edinborough. I will be really disappointed if we don't have lambs before we leave. On one of our early trips to England we stayed on a sheep farm and go to feed the "pet" lambs. These are the lambs who aren't cared for by their moms because she had more than two and that's all she can feed. So they become pet lambs and are fed in the barn by hand. I wanted to feed one but she said to come back later with a raincoat on and I could. I guess you can imagine why! It was really sweet holding that warm little squirmy thing while it fed and I want to do it again.

Today is Thursday - again another day of pretty good weather, cold 30s to 50s and very little rain. Last Wednesday they had snow and 70 mph winds. We went to feed the cows and noticed the youngest one was showing signs of stomach distress so off to the vet Beth and I went to get the antibiotic. Beth was grateful to find that she only had to give the calf one pill a day for three days but the pills are about an inch long, 1/2 inch wide and deep. I didn't go watch that process.

So with the weather decent, Beth took us to Inverness so we could take the boat trip through Loch Ness. We went down the Caledonian Canal which empties right into Loch Ness. You're going down a narrow canal, through the big lock, some more canal and all of a sudden, you are in Loch Ness. There was a misty rain and it was beautiful. It's widest point is 2 miles and its deepest is 764 feet. It really is a crack in the earth formed millions of years ago by an earthquake. It's the largest body of water in Britain. Beth's John said every person in Britain can fit into it but he's not sure if they would do that standing up or laying down!

There was a beautiful castle there called Aldourie. You might want to Google that. It was right at the entrance to the Loch. I had read an article in the airplane magazine about it so we took a little car trip before we went to lunch today and before the boat trip to see if we could find it on the back road. We did and it's quite a sight. It was even more beautiful from the water.

There were other pretty homes and hotels along the shore but not many. Most of it is just natural and undeveloped. I think if it were in the Carolinas it might be wall to wall houses. There was also a castle ruins, Urquhart Castle, something else to Google. We did not take the tour to get out and explore it. They wouldn't have picked us up for an hour, it was cold and wet and we have toured many castles but the setting was beautiful and you could just imagine the Scottish clans fighting each other there.

I'm sitting now on a little sunporch they call Willie's porch (Beth's mom and our dear friend) and yawning. It's just big enough for this comfortable chair and an egress to the door. I'm looking out at the dusky view of the strath hills, a bit of Strathpeffer and some lights from the village twinkling in the distance. I asked Beth last night what she likes best about living here and she said "the quiet". I couldn't agree more.