Monday, August 29, 2011

Oreo Cows -- "Got Milk?"

Do you have Oreo Cows in your area of the world?  We saw some yesterday, and I decided to do a post about them.


I've seen them before, but we don't seem to have a lot of them in our area.  My husband first saw them years ago when he was travelling back and forth to England for a project at work.  He told me about them, and I think he may have taken some pictures; I can't remember now (that was before we had a digital camera).

Actually,  "oreo cows" is just a nickname.  They are really Belted Galloway cows.  According to Wikipedia, they're a rare breed of beef cattle originating in Galloway, in the southwest of Scotland.  Some of their other nicknames in the U.S. are "police car" cows and "panda" cows.  Aren't they cute?  I realize that "cute" is a funny adjective to apply to an animal of this size, but nevertheless, I happen to think they're cute.

On Sunday afternoon, we decided to drive up to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Based on the posts I've done lately, it probably seems like all we do is travel.  But, that's not really the case.  This is just one of those in-between times in our life.  We only had one child, and he's no longer a child.  He's flown the coop, so to speak.  He's making it known that he wants some independence.  So all the time that we spent doing things with him and for him, has suddenly become free time.

There are some projects we would like to do on our house, but that's out of the question until our son finishes college.  And we are fortunate that all four of our parents are still living, but they are quite independent too :)  I quit my part-time job (which I liked a lot, by the way) after our son's sophomore year in high school.  Now the job market is terrible, but I knew that was a possibility at the time.  Thankfully, my husband has a good job, but it's very stressful right now.  He likes to get away whenever we can.

We have always liked the mountains.  We love the ocean too; we really do.  But it takes us four hours at least, to get to the coast, and we can be in the mountains in a little over an hour.  So yesterday, we drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed north into Virginia.  I love Virginia.  I think it's such a pretty state, and there's so much history there.


We stopped at an overlook on the parkway to stretch our legs and maybe take a few pictures.



We've driven by this little farm many times before, but since we had stopped (and of course there were the oreo cows), I got the urge to take some pictures.  Such a pretty, pastoral little scene.


This house appears to be new, so I'm not sure if the existing farmhouse was torn down to build a new one.


What I found so amusing was that this cow stared at us over the fence the entire time we were taking pictures.  My husband pointed out that she had a calf, so I imagine she wanted to make sure we weren't a threat. 


In a pasture right beside the cows, there were several lamas, and a sign that said "Alpaca Farm and Store".


The mother cow is still giving us the eye while the young calf is nursing.


Moooo  :-)



It was a beautiful day up there, but the breeze was so strong that it was hard to hold the camera steady enough to take decent pics.  That's okay; we still had fun.  And I almost forgot to mention that we took our "adopted" child on the outing with us...


...because he needs a change of scenery, too, and a chance to get rid of some wiggles ;)





This is my Seasonal Sunday post for the week.  Thanks to The Tablescaper for faithfully hosting this party every week!  I'm also linking to Outdoor Wednesday, hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer.

Thank you for stopping by House at Forest Manor; I always enjoy your visits!


Denise






 

             

8 comments:

  1. Hi Denise, this is such beautiful country. I love cows. So calm and peaceful most of the time. I hope they were spared the earthquake and the hurricane. xo,

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I do have them in Holland. They are all over The Netherlands. I am glad to read your post about them. The Dutch meat doesn't tast good to me but I'm from Texas. In Oostkapelle we buy our meat from Ireland, Angus. There are also cows here that have rear ends that look like pigs. They are so fat. Not normal if you ask a Texan. xo Jenny

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think that is one of the prettiest parts of the eastern US. And I've never ever seen an Oreo Cow. That's what I think they look like too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a beautiful country and I love your photo's. So lovely and peaceful

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am a country girl at heart so I loved these photos. I am also fond of cows in fact I wanted to buy a 2012 calendar full of cow paintings and my friends thought it was strange!!!

    Thanks so much for stopping by my blog, it was nice to meet you:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've never seen an "Oreo Cow" Wow! Thanks! Dickens, my Yorkshire Terrorist's best friend is Bonnie Rose, the Westie. Such a wonderful breed. Thank you for taking us along on your beautiful drive. Cherry Kay

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Denise,
    Lovely photo's, what a treat to be able to visit this gorgeous part of the US just by driving for 60 minutes.
    We loved our trip through the Blue Mountains when we RV'd in the area in the '90's.
    I absolutely love cows (well this is Normandy). The farms around here raise Holstein Friesians,(which are black & white like your Oreos) Charolais and Normandie cows.
    Thanks for stopping by.
    Maggie

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your oreo cow post made me stop in the middle of reading and go to the kitchen for choco vanilla layered pudding. So cute arent they? Never seen them before.
    I have become a follower and will look around some more tonight.

    We love to take day trips, our children are grown and we do not sit at home every weekend, like the drives to the mtns or beach. The blue ridge pkwy is a beautiful.

    Have a great evening
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete

THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND COMMENTS. I ENJOY READING EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

My Blog Designer