Such lovely eyes, those cows!

Have you ever milked a cow, Marja-Leena?

Joe, I agree, and such beautiful coloured coats. They stared back at us with as much curiosity as we stared at them.

R, I don't think so. I was too young to do so when I visited my grandparents' farm before we came to Canada, but I think I got pretty close to all the animals. Much later when visiting in my teens, my grandfather no longer had cows but I'll never forget the very aggressive goose who guarded the barnyard!

My mother told me about the goose that guarded the barnyard when she was little and sent to collect the chicken's eggs.

The cow pictures reminded me of going to England with her when I was 11. I'd been given my first camera and several rolls of film which I used up taking pictures of cows instead of relatives :-)

Susan, my mother had many such stories too, including having to catch the chicken and "prepare" it for cooking. Sweet story of you and your camera and the photos of cows! Maybe if I'd had a camera.... but I made up for it at last taking these, eh.

They have those delicate eyelashes that Disney favours when tackling this subject. Actually they look like Jerseys but there's no reason why they shouldn't be. We have boats, after all.

BB, being eyelash deficient, I do envy those long feathers :-) And thanks for identifying them as Jerseys, I wasn't sure. Are the B & W ones Holsteins? So, they didn't just swim over here?

I'm used to the brown Swiss cows that are sturdy over all. The cows in your photos have jutting hipbones and ribs, as if they have been overbred for milk production. But I guess that's the breed.

Hattie, I noticed the boniness and wondered about that, especially because they were so crowded here in what seems a temporary roped enclosure outside the barns. Guess they aren't the nice contented grass fed cows of our childhood.

Oh don't worry about the anorexic looking Jerseys. They are the most pampered breed out. Their milk (and I say this detachedly because I loathe the stuff) is the colour of butter and puts the price of related yoghurt way up. How on earth did I get into this subject about which I know so little? In the best journalistic tradition by making a little go a long way.

I think all cows are 'ribby'at this time of year
Blame our unnatural farming practices
But they look beautiful and I want that horse!

BB, I know Jersey milk is the richest, and like many Nordics I like milk products. but I'm no expert either. But it's good to say thanks to the cows now and then, eh.

Mouse, it was July when we took this drive. They should have been out on a pasture somewhere. Yes, a handsome horse...

Are those cows on a farm? Imagine, not crammed into in CAFOs, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations!

Taina, there are a lot of barns behind and beyond, so I don't know if these cows were just temporarily outside because they were pretty crowded within the rope enclosure, which seemed rather impermanent. Yeah, I fear that it might just be one of those CAFOs...