Hubby and I were in Inverness mostly because of his work. Despite his busy consulting schedule, our hosts made sure that Hubby and I kept busy and saw as much of Scotland as possible. The highlight of these excursions was the farm tour we attended during our first week. Hubby had already invited me along and understood that his city-bred wife was honoured to be included but would pass on the opportunity to attend a Farm Day in the Highlands. Naturally, I had to go anyways.
In our minds it was August – a month synonymous with warm weather. Scotland, it seemed, hadn’t got that memo. It was cold and rainy virtually the entire time we were there. On the day of the farm tour, it was particularly chilly and the pleasant drizzle we had walked through on the way to his office had turned into an almost constant downpour at some point during the day.
The only shoes I had were sandals, we didn’t have any raincoats, and we definitely hadn’t brought any sweaters with us to Scotland. Luckily, one of Hubby’s colleagues noticed our problem and loaned us some gear for the day.
Hosted by a local farmer on his property, the main purpose of the Farm Day was to bring researchers, farmers, and local businesses together to discuss and explore farming trends in the area. During the morning we walked from building to building listening to talks that ranged from kind of gross (unless you’re a farmer) to kind of interesting (especially if you’re a farmer).
The highlight of the day for non-farmers Hubby and I was yet to come. During the afternoon, we hopped on a trailer being pulled by a tractor for a tour of the farmer's land. Since the main product of this farm was cows, we probably shouldn’t have been surprised with what we saw at our first stop: a great big pile of muck.
Mind you, they kept calling it “muck” all during the wet twenty-minute presentation regarding the many uses of cow muck. I asked Hubby why they just didn’t call it what it was and his very thoughtful response stuck with me, “They don’t publish academic papers about great big piles of shit.” Well, that makes sense…
And that, my friends, is the true story of the great big pile ofshit muck.
In our minds it was August – a month synonymous with warm weather. Scotland, it seemed, hadn’t got that memo. It was cold and rainy virtually the entire time we were there. On the day of the farm tour, it was particularly chilly and the pleasant drizzle we had walked through on the way to his office had turned into an almost constant downpour at some point during the day.
The only shoes I had were sandals, we didn’t have any raincoats, and we definitely hadn’t brought any sweaters with us to Scotland. Luckily, one of Hubby’s colleagues noticed our problem and loaned us some gear for the day.
Hosted by a local farmer on his property, the main purpose of the Farm Day was to bring researchers, farmers, and local businesses together to discuss and explore farming trends in the area. During the morning we walked from building to building listening to talks that ranged from kind of gross (unless you’re a farmer) to kind of interesting (especially if you’re a farmer).The highlight of the day for non-farmers Hubby and I was yet to come. During the afternoon, we hopped on a trailer being pulled by a tractor for a tour of the farmer's land. Since the main product of this farm was cows, we probably shouldn’t have been surprised with what we saw at our first stop: a great big pile of muck.
Mind you, they kept calling it “muck” all during the wet twenty-minute presentation regarding the many uses of cow muck. I asked Hubby why they just didn’t call it what it was and his very thoughtful response stuck with me, “They don’t publish academic papers about great big piles of shit.” Well, that makes sense…
And that, my friends, is the true story of the great big pile of
28 comments:
We have lots of cow muck where we live. All of our neighbors are farmers!
Hugs and Mocha,
Stesha
The area is so green and luscious, but cow muck... not so lovely.
Jamie Fraser loves ME not YOU. I am going to find him cause our love is true! So take that Ms. Scotland poster.
que SPANDAU BALLET....
Hilarious! Oh, if only you had consulted me - I would have told you to bring umbrellas and warm jumpers to Scotland in August... it's usually cold and wet all year round!
LOL! Being in the British isles, you can only expect crappy weather regardless of the obvious season it is meant to be.
Thank you for a great laugh this morning, hehe.;)
I used to drive a tractor as a teenager. I worked on a farm for a couple of weeks in the autumn and I drove a tractor with a trailer, while the men were harvesting cauliflower. It was so cool.;)
No muck around though.;) Hehe.:P
xo
What a lovely coincidence-I've read two posts from Scotland in a row this morning! I've never been, but your Superior Snaps certainly put me in the mood. Love the lush greenery. We don't have greens like this in the States!
LOL! Muck is definitely a more genteel word.
I still can't believe that you went to Scotland without warm clothes and equipment for cold wet weather!
But it was green...
merthyrmum
Wow!! I am a gardener and that pile of muck looks like pure good to me:-)
Cow muck - recycled grass! Muck rocks!
LOL!
LOL!!! I love cow muck! That's some good vegetable growing stuff right there! (-:
Cow muck is my favorite thing to usse to start a fire. Old, dry cow muck, that is. Very effective.
Snicker....yes, the Scots are something different for sure :D
That country is on the top of my "want to see places", despite the shitty (mucky?) weather ;)
That is one big pile of...muck...
I grew up near a whole bunch of dairy farms, so that sight is nothing new to me!
With all that mucking around, I'm glad you didn't catch cold!
The bookstore people announced I was reading...I don't think they've really heard my hugely thick Texan accent yet...
I'm glad you didn't step in any of the muck. I guess it's a more polite way of saying it, but really, shit is shit - lol
How wonderful one of your husband's colleagues lent you some rain gear. Who woul dhave thought that Scotland would be so cold in August.
Hmmm. didn't like the grey drab..cold rainy weather? Bruhaaaaaaaaaa haaaha haaaa haaa
Thanks for stopping by. I am so jealous that you and hubby are traveling the world. How neat that must be. I have always wanted to travel...but have never really had the opportunity. Maybe in my next life!
Oh how fun... if chilly. Scotland is definitely somewhere I'd like to go, although I am hoping the sun would shine at some point. What a neat tour though -- even if sometimes gross. I love the ummm focus on muck.
I remember getting to tour a farm once, it was quite enjoyable. For some reason I don't really remember the muck. Mostly what I remember is the cows giving birth. I stayed and watched one for awhile but the baby never did come all the way out. I wondered why no one came to help and my dad told me the workers were much too busy to help a birthing cow. They'd leave her alone unless there were complications. But if they were too busy, how would they know if there were complications? I don't know if they had someone come and check on them regularly or not.
Pre-requisite to coming to Scotland; wooly jumpers and rain jackets. Glad they sorted you out. :O)
Farms always = muck. Great photos though!
Very funny. I could see you on your cow tractor tour. I lived in Glasgow for a year. The worst weather without more than ONE day of sunshine all year. I can relate.
and i thought only mommy bloggers talked about poop on their blogs! Hee hee!
Anyway, I love Scotland (said with appropriate guttural inflection - Scuttlan)... I spent a term there during college. Lot of great memories I'll have to go back and revisit.
smiles
India and Scotland in the same month? Do I have that timeline correct? One extreme of the spectrum to the other, I'd say. Having been around farms, I know about big piles of muck but the on in that photos tops them all.
You have to express more your opinion to attract more readers, because just a video or plain text without any personal approach is not that valuable. But it is just form my point of view
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