Looks like I am writing at least one cow-related post per year. Last year I wrote Nose of the cow. Cows still remind me of “Eye of the tiger” but this year they made me wonder if “cowly” is an existing adverb, like sheepishly. No, it’s not, but I found cute toy cows by that name.

This young Normande girl belongs to the son in law of my neighbour. She likes my salty hands and wants to clean the lense of my camera. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Normande cattle are a cattle breed of Normandy. They have cute dark spectacles around their eyes, which is not always visible. Sometimes the whole head is dark.

Isn’t this young Normande girl cute? Own photo on Wikimedia Commons, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
A friend suggested, that the cow adverb might be “cowardly”. Bulls would certainly disagree but it’s not true anyways. “Coward” comes from the Old-French word “coue” for tail. A coward is someone who hides his tail between his legs like a scared dog. No offence meant dear doggies, I bet you are all rather waggers than cowards.

And this one seems to ask for cookies. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
“Vachement“, a French adverb, that is indeed cow-related, means extremely/ a lot/ very. Maybe because cows are very funny and extremely cute.

Two jung girls performing a ballet, while the third one wears an anti-sucking nose ring and has not as much fun. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
These nose-rings are supposed to help on weaning a calf. The calf stops to suck at the teats of the mother because the ring hurts. The government of Ontario (and most likely the sellers of these devices) make it sound as if that was good for the calf, but the minister of agriculture should try it himself first. I can’t give any treats to the cows with the nose-rings. No matter how careful we are, we always touch the ring. Which means those cows have more pain and less fun. Cows explore everything with their nose and their tongues and they can’t do that if they carry rings like that. I’m sure it prevents sucking on the mother’s teats and that’s necessary for the farmers because they want to sell the milk of the mothers, not because it’s so good for the calf. Sorry for my rant, I just hate when people tell bullshit to make things sound better.

Three relaxed Normande heifers. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Then one day they were gone. Just after we had become friends. They were brought to a different pasturage.

The place at our fence where the neighbour’s cows have been hanging around most of the time, we’re obviously interesting and harmless. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
They didn’t move far away though. I found them on the other end of the property of the neighbours.

The cows were bored already and happy to see us. The dogs were not so happy, except Bach, who loves cows. Phex was rolling his eyes and complaining. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

The hand is not the problem, but the little dark box (camera) looks a bit dangerous. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Aren’t these white eyelashes beautiful? Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

These young male Normande weaners live at the entrance of the village. They belong to the son of the man who owns the timber-framed house. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
I like to talk with the man who owns the house. We often meet when I’m walking with the dogs. Normannic expressions are sometimes nearly poetic. Me: “It was a long winter.” He: “A lot of water has fallen.”

A Normande cow. It’s not possible to see her spectacles, because her head is black anyways. Her friends are in the background. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Temptation. Since I had no apple or sheepfood on me I offered her flowers. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

And on the other side, on the field behind the church, was a group of male Charolais weaners. The boy in the middle needs a tissue. I definitely won’t show my hand to him. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
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