Vet Work

So today started of pretty normally. Up at 5, milking by 530-6, me getting screamed at by that guy, same old same old. So that was a bit irritating, but I'd had my coffee so I was ok. But THEN things got interesting after the 2nd group of cows had a down cow in the parlour! Do we had to basically drag her out so we could continue milking then deal with her later. I found out how to use this crazy contraption that you basically kind of hook onto their pins and a tractor hoists them up so they can stand again. We thought it was either hypocalcaemia or hypomagnesia, both are common in milking cows, so she got a giant Ca pull, drip Ca, and drip Mg. Later she was moved out to pasture. Other than that everything went pretty smoothly until breakfast. We were sitting around and a vet came to the door to look at the down cow. She poked her and looked at some stuff and then went to give her and injection. Now giving an injection to a large animal is NOT like giving one to a human or smaller animal. First you find the jugular (or whatever vein you're using). In the case of the cow at first I couldnt really see it so when the vet let me try I came up dry, but so did she, so I didn't feel that bad. Then we switched sides of the neck and BAM! Hosepipe. So I stuck it in, and when I say it I mean just the needle, nothing else attached. So the needles in, and bloods just pouring out, but again in such a large animal what may seem like a lot of blood (it actually wasn't that much) is nothing to them. Then you attach whatever you need to the hub of the needle and inject! So exciting to see real vet work in the field, totally made my day, I was giddy! The rest of the day was pretty chill, though I DID get to ride around in the scoopy bit of a tractor, like the part that you would fill with dirt or something. We were lowered over the electric fence to place salt licks. I've also forgotten to mention the electric fences, which I have overcome my fear of now so thats good! Any who, there was another heifer born (yay!) aaaaaand I totally called it! So I'm basically a pro at calving, even though according to the guy who yells at me all the time I'm scooping poop wrong, so I'm pretty much incapable of doing things right lol. After 2nd milking we had a really delicious dinner and then went to the Fox Inn pub again to hang out with the farmers brother, but not before I saw another calf born, a bull though so no one cares and we left him in the field for now. I think that's all for today, now time to hit the hay for an early day again! Tomorrow I may feed calves? And we're going to a BBQ so that should be fun! And before you think that all the yelling is making this trip terrible, it's really not! It's so lovely here, I couldn't be happier! See pics below! The cow is the whos jug I tapped!

I'm sorry, do you normally put shit all over your hands before you do that?

So before we went lambing last term, the dean of my school have us this whole big pep talk about lambing and how it was going to be hard, but fun, and to remember that we are representatives of the university and that even if we don't agree with something it's not really our place to question the way the farm we are visiting is run (that's what the post surveys are for). Which led him to say probably one of the funniest things I've ever heard which was, "im sorry, but do you always put shit on your hands before going to pull the lamb out?" I was reminded of this today when, after a very wet morning, the fellow who I was helping in the parlour came outing the rain yelled at me for a good 2-3 minutes, culminating in his telling me that I was testing his faith. I let him yell it out, smiled politely, and told him I would be over there dipping cows until he was ready. It sounds more dramatic than it was, I actually found it quite comical, he was also smiling most of the time, still yelling, and though I was a little to blame, he wasn't really mad at me so much as his boss and the weather, so it was pretty funny.
I'll backtrack, since I have a lot of time at the moment. We had just finished milking and kicked the cows out of the parlour when the employee went to usher the cows back to the barn and then get the older cows for their milking. But they were already queued up, enjoy made him mad for some reason (in retrospect I'm not sure why) but anywho he was livid and cursing and getting soaked, came back round with the older cows but (and this is we're it's partially my fault) the lock at the end was open and one of the cows got out and came back round again, easily remedied so not really a problem, more of an annoyance. So
I was trying to get the renegade cow while he was yelling come here come here and he ran and closed the gate. So then I got yelled at. Other than that the day went pretty smoothly, he's actually a nice guy, just likes things done a certain way. Though it is a bit frustrating to work with him sometimes since he'll tell you how to do something, you do it that way, then he tells you to do it another way. Or he tells me I'm cleaning wrong when I haven't finished cleaning yet, so of course it's still dirty, and then he just does it. That's when I have to remind myself that I'm representing Glasgow (hopefully well) and that there's not point grabbing him and shaking him and saying WELL NOT DONE YET OF COURSE THERE'S STILL POOP EVERYWHERE!!! But I digress, such is my life right now. Still enjoying it despite the absolute torrential downpour today. And because it was raining so much we had another inside day, so it was fairly relaxing. I learned about buying semen for impregnating cows, there's even a catalog! It was hilarious, and really cool since a bunch of stuff I leaned in class was in there so I actually knew what they were taking about! Also it's called straws, and on average you buy 2-3 straws per cow at £35 each! Who knew bull semen was so expensive! Well after all that it was milking time again, which went very smoothly! While I was hosing off afterwards I was thinking about my experience here this far, since my first week is almost up! Time flies! I really like that my school encourages us to try so many things, I mean would I have worked in dairy or gone lambing otherwise? Also, and I think this is another bonus of working in so many different places is you get used to working with lots of different people and get a feel for thinking on your feet. I come into these placements not really knowing what to expect and every day I work with different people as the employees are cycled out. They all (usually) care about the animals and have their own opinions about them, which will be a commonplace in a veterinary practise of any kind. So not only am I getting experience with the animals but the type of people who come with them. Pardon me while I wax poetic, I wonder what tomorrow will bring!

Felt my first calf!

So today was a pretty slow day. It started off normally, milking at 5:30 breakfast, back out for more work. Though this morning there was a down cow and the farmer gave her some IV calcium and she was ready to milk the 2nd part of the day so I guess it worked! I took a bunch of cows temps and we pulled out some placenta form a few cows that had unattached yet, which was good since there were beginning to smell a bit! But the name of the game today was stay out of the way. I felt more or less useless for a good part of the day, though one of the farm hands told me not to worry about it, no one really works too much here! So I figured if I was hanging around the farmer and he didn't tell me to do anything than I was probably safe. I think jus after years of my old job where standing around was punishable by death, I get a wee but paranoid when I'm not doing anything. Any who I watched a barn being build, discussed fannies with the joiner fellow, and enjoyed general banter. I think now that I'm more acclimated to the time I'm less business minded and more relaxed, and to chat people up more easily than worried about what I'm doing wrong. But I figure in doing most things wrong but that's how you learn, so I don't concern myself with it too much! Everyone here is used to students and messing up is the best way to get things right in my opinion! This day wasn't a total bust though! So I went to check the field for cows calving since there wasn't much else to do. I saw a cow with red goo coming out of her. Red goo usually=trouble calving, so I went to tell one of the hands (who is quite bossy, but I'll touch on him another day). Any who I said this cow might be having difficulty and it's turns out I WAS RIGHT!! Finally! So they brought her in, and I got to feel for the calf!!!!! It was malpositioned, feet first, but they cranked out a healthy bull! So excited! Then we had tea, a really good stir fry thing, and went to a local pub for a wee bit, it basically looked like someone's house but was quite cute, and now I'm going to bed since I have to be up early tomorrow! Hopefully more calves!

Completely Knackered

Well if I thought yesterday was going to be the norm around here I was completely wrong. Today started out the same, 5am wake up, milking by 5:30! When all the was done we went in the house for some tea and breakfast (2nd breakfast for me, I eat like a hobbit here!) Then back out for more work: bedding calves, getting a calf in from the pasture (along with a dead one) and checking cows. I took a cows temp today and we sold a bunch of calves off for veal so now we have more room for the other calves yay! At some point I know the dry cows will be taken for beef, but I think that's a bit later after they're fatter. Then we had dinner, then back out to the farmers dads place to wrangle some cows. I was driven on a quad bike, which I found out later has no breaks, then we ran around after some cows and took a pickup to another part of his dads farm to wrangle MORE cows so we could spray them with stuff to keep flies off. Then back in the pickup and back home. It was very pleasant to ride in the bed with Monty (the farmers dog) and see some of the country side, bits of a forest, and some wildlife (pheasants mostly). It's really beautiful here. Then after all that back to the parlour for the 2nd milking, cleanup, check the cows, and FINALLY come in for tea! The farmers wife made fajitas and they were delicious! She just makes me food, it's pretty great, and I helped put the dishes away since I feel like a useless lump if I'm not constantly helping lol. Today I certainly felt useful enough! Hopefully tomorrow brings something else new and exciting! Now to bed, I'm rather tired. And the pictures are the farm, cow, more farm, another cow, blurry picture of Monty. Also I neglected to mention that Monty ran all the way there and back with us on the quad, he's nuts but awesome!

Do I Have Shit On My Face?

I'm working with cows, or course I do! Oh and a bird pooped on my today, so that happened. I also found out at the end of the day that I had poop in my hair! All in all, despite being rather filthy, Im having a great time! The farmer and his wife are super nice and she's a great cook, I feel like I'm not contributing enough, but no one seems to be complaining about the lack of meat (yet). We also have a lot of down time, so much so that I'm almost done with my book and it's only my 2nd day! The weather was absolutely dreadful today, windy and raining. But fortunately it didn't start till after dinner so we only had to deal with it for the 2nd milking of the day. So here's the rundown of what I did today: milked a bunch of cows, I'm getting pretty comfortable with it, so hopefully by the end of these 2 weeks I'll be a pro! Saw a calf being bone, we had to use the crank since it was coming out backwards! I gave the cow a jab and a giant Ca pill, so 2 vet things! And did a bunch of cleaning ie: hosed out the parlour after the first milking since it gets so dirty. Other than that not much to report, another early day tomorrow! The picture is of Archie their super cute dog, he's a handful!

Finally Here!

I'm finally calving! Well actually today I just did milking, but it was so much fun! I started off the day bright and early to catch my train from Glasgow to Edinburgh, then Edinburgh to Darlington, and then a wee train from Darlington to Middlesburough where the farmer picked me up and we drove to the farm where I was ready to sart! Only we chatted, watched cricket (which I'm mildly obsessed with btw) had some dinner, then finally headed to do some work! So the milking parlour is really cool! This is how you milk a cow:
1. Check the udders to make sure thy work and the cow doesn't have and problems like mastitis
2. Dip the udders in this cleaning juice, then wipe clean
3. Attach the milker, it kind of looks like a spaceship alien thing
4. When the milker is done (it pops off automatically) and all the cows in the row are done being milked, dip the udders again with the juice to make sure they're clean and send them on their way
5. Repeat until you are out of cows!
So I'm a little obsessed with cows now, it is really fun so far, though you'll have to ask me again tomorrow at 5an when I get up to do the milking! The farmer and his wife are really nice, they're kind of newly weds so they have a bunch of wedding stuff and their cake had cows on it! Too cute, and though she seemed a bit perplexed at first that I was a vegetarian she made really good food so I think I won't starve! And I brought them cake! They also have 2 supervise dogs, one was covered from foot to elbow on cow poop today, he looked so proud! Hopefully more pics to come, for now the view from my bedroom window!

The West End is the Best End!

Yesterday I "fannies about" (my friends phrase) with my friend who's also my neighbour. It was a sunny day, a rarity for Scotland, so we had a nice day walking around the botanics, sitting outside and drinking cider, and catching up. I was going to bake some cupcake for my calving placement but instead we just hung out all day, which was much more fun! Now I'm sitting in the train station waiting to head to England! We also had a drink that is served in a gramophone, so that's a thing.

The Fringe

Last night a friend of mine and I went to this huge festival in Edinburgh called The Fringe. It pretty much lasts all summer and spread out all over the city and was so much fun! Apparently (though I didn't see anyone doing this) you are supposed to dye your fringe (translation:bangs) pink, but I'm glad we didn't since I'm fairly certain that we would have been the only ones! This festival is huge, like I said, it's spread throughout the city so different bars and venues have different shows all the time, the program was huge, and a bit daunting, so we mostly just wandered around until we found something to do. First we saw a comedy show, the MC was an American girl from LA, so I could definitely relate to her jokes about how people back in the states make fun of her for using UK phrases. Then we meandered about some more, had some really good pizza, and went on a haunted Edinburgh tour till pretty late, but it was really fun! Learning some of the old history of the city is really interesting and this particular tour group has exclusive access to a part of the cemetery so we were able to see that as well. I think I"m still a tad jet lagged, not that I'm tired, more like I can't fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning, but I'm sure calving will quickly tire me out! I leave bright and early tomorrow so today I'm finishing up packing and possibly baking cupcakes, since the farmer has mentioned numerous times that they like chocolate cake I think its moved past a joke onto and actual request! Hopefully I'll have interwebs to be able to blog whilst I'm there!

Back in Glasgee

It feels good to be home! My flat is so nice and clean and cozy! (Kudos to past me for having the foresight to clean really well, so I came home to a pristine flat!) I didn't really do much yesterday, enjoyed my comfy bed and napped on and off and put away some clothes, though I'm quickly running out of room for them, so I'm heading downtown today to get some more hangers in an attempt to make more space. Currently I'm sitting in Smug and using their internet, I got my train tickets for calving, and am just having an easy day! Tomorrow I'm going to dinner with my friend and then Sunday I leave for calving! Though I still need to pack for that, though it shouldn't be too difficult. I'm nervous but excited!

Flat mate update

Both of my flat mates passed their resits!!! Yay for them!

Iceland!

Quickly I'm in Iceland and data is cheap so I can blog holla! Long flight but great movies so it wasn't too bad, though there was no complimentary food so I bought a sandwich, I'm sure this is super interesting. Also I hasn't slept so I'm a bit sleepy, but it was beautiful flying in! Also I thought for a hot second that we were gonna crash. Land in this marsh or something since I couldn't see the airport and we're in
The middle of nowhere (or Iceland just looks like this every where) anywho still alive and almost hooooome!! That last pic is a crossword for sue, note
The title

Close call!

Landed in Seattle, thinking I had a little over an hour till my next flight, WRONG! Look at my ticket and clock: flight boards at 15:40 and it's 15:27, CRAP! Where's the gate? 2 trams away!!! Fortunately they were short trams and after a mild heart attack il waiting to board! Leg 1 done! Just 2 more to go!

PPS

So many posts today jeeez (see how much more interesting I am when I leave?!) I HAVE A WEE VET!!!! I'm so excited to be a big vet and pass on all of my knowledge (ya right) to a budding Glasgow vet! She's from SD and went to cal ploy SLO, so I can't wait to meet her and all the first years!
Also this plane has wifi, I got to pre-board, am sitting in an exit row AND got my heavy carry on checked to my destination FO FREE! So apart from the speed bump at the bank this morning, very excited, hopped up on caffeine, very happy, life is good :)

PS

Quick shout out to my flat mate who passed her biomolec resits! So I have at least 1 flatmate for this year!! Also my phone self corrected biomolec, I hate myself ;)

Heading back to sunny Scotland!

Now that I'm not in the immediate vicinity from y'all I can blog! Sorry I snuck out like a ninja this morning (Molly) but I had to go to the bank to wire transfer money into my Scotland bank so I have money for tuition and they can't kick me out! Which I thought would be a relatively simple task, but was surprisingly complicated, exacerbated by the fact that the woman seemed to not understand how to work the google machine, but I digress. After a stressful morning the rest has been smooth sailing! Short lines and competent people so far! And I got a nom omelette to eat! Hopefully these 3 flights go quickly! It's been an amazing summer with all of my friends and family and Christmas will be here before we know it! Also yesterday we watched the Americas cup boats, which was awesome! (see photo of my looking sexaaay in fowlies!)

precious

http://ocm.auburn.edu/featured_story/saving_emma.html

At the Beeeeaaaaaaach!

I'm finally here! Every year we go to Aptos and now that time has arrived! After sitting in too much traffic i finally arrived in Rio del Mar. There was even a spot out front! (The parking wars here are vicious). After taking a minute to settle in I drove grammy to the grocery store so we could stalk up on groceries, or more like so she could buy me groceries for the weekend since she and grandpy will be in MI. Then we relaxed and had dinner and chatted for the rest of the evening. I found out that they have been coming here for 60 years! Different houses but the same street! I can only hope that someday I can say the same thing since this is my very favouite place in the world! I can't wait till everyone is here and we can enjoy it together! But for now I have the house to myself, so I can walk around naked if I want (just kidding, there are too many windows for that!) Heading to Monterey for the day tomorrow to see a friend of mine so that should be a fun filled day!

How Much Is A Taxi From Richmond?

Today my friend and I went sailing at OCSC with my aunts usual crew (she is out of state at the moment, but was nice enough to hook me up with her crew so I was able to go out on the water at least once while I'm here!) We headed over to Berkeley early in the morning, loaded up the boat, and headed out! It was a gorgeous day, the bay was a lovely deep green and there were clear blue skies all day! After sailing for a while we docked in Richmond was lunch and went to the Boilerhouse, which was really good, and then toured the Rosie the Riveter Museum that is next door, which was really interesting. Somewhere between going into another room in the museum and coming back out our group disappeared! We wandered around the rest of the museum to look for the rest of our party, but after searching high and low we were still flummoxed! Where had they gone off to? So we decided to walk back to the boat to see if perhaps they were back there waiting for us, and if they weren't then we could just wait there and eventually we would all be reunited. Well as the boat appeared around the corner we thought we saw some movement on the boat and when we were a few yards away the boat suddenly detached from the dock and sailed away! Whether they were waiting for us and decided to pull away last minute as a joke or if it had been planned since the museum we didn't know, but fortunately they swung around again and did a drive-by pick up. After that the typical afternoon winds set it so the trip back was a bit choppy, but we reefed the main and made pretty good time, getting in by mid-afternoon. Now I'm enjoying house-sitting and watching the US ladies kill in gymnastics! And then tomorrow to the beach!

Winter Is Here!

Well not really, but I FINALLY finished the last book (so far) in A Song of Ice and Fire, took me long enough! Now on to something else, the Hobbit maybe, I'm just o excited for the movie! Also attempted to tan today, we'll see how that worked out, if I don't come back to Scotland at least a little bronze I feel people may think that I lied about being from CA.