Calf love and birthing pains
Country Life UK|March 16, 2022
The calm of the calving shed belies the turbulence of the world outside
Jamie Blackett
Calf love and birthing pains

I HAVE never given birth. Even in these fluid times, it's unlikely I ever will; that would be a transaction too far. However, I have an inkling of what it must feel like when I finish writing a book, which I have just done. The dark February days between the end of the shooting season and the beginning of spring are an ideal time for a 'confinement.'

It is the same feeling (I imagine!) of having a living thing inside that wakes one kicking in the night and causes sharp pangs when pushed into the world. I await the publishing midwives who will bring it back washed and wrapped in time for the christening in June.

It has been peak obstetrics time on the farm and our young team has been working flat out. An average of 17 calves being born each night during the first three weeks must compare to the number of nightly births in a largish hospital. There has been a continuous operation, with the same shift system as they have for midwives in maternity wards.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 16, 2022 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 16, 2022 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من COUNTRY LIFE UK مشاهدة الكل
Give it some stick
Country Life UK

Give it some stick

Galloping through the imagination, competitive hobby-horsing is a gymnastic sport on the rise in Britain, discovers Sybilla Hart

time-read
3 mins  |
December 25, 2024
Paper escapes
Country Life UK

Paper escapes

Steven King selects his best travel books of 2024

time-read
3 mins  |
December 25, 2024
For love, not money
Country Life UK

For love, not money

This year may have marked the end of brag-art’, bought merely to show off one’s wealth. It’s time for a return to looking for connoisseurship, beauty and taste

time-read
4 mins  |
December 25, 2024
Mary I: more bruised than bloody
Country Life UK

Mary I: more bruised than bloody

Cast as a sanguinary tyrant, our first Queen Regnant may not deserve her brutal reputation, believes Geoffrey Munn

time-read
2 mins  |
December 25, 2024
A love supreme
Country Life UK

A love supreme

Art brought together 19th-century Norwich couple Joseph and Emily Stannard, who shared a passion for painting, but their destiny would be dramatically different

time-read
5 mins  |
December 25, 2024
Private views
Country Life UK

Private views

One of the best ways-often the only way-to visit the finest privately owned gardens in the country is by joining an exclusive tour. Non Morris does exactly that

time-read
4 mins  |
December 25, 2024
Shhhhhh...
Country Life UK

Shhhhhh...

THERE is great delight to be had poring over the front pages of COUNTRY LIFE each week, dreaming of what life would be like in a Scottish castle (so reasonably priced, but do bear in mind the midges) or a townhouse in London’s Eaton Square (worth a king’s ransom, but, oh dear, the traffic) or perhaps that cottage in the Cotswolds (if you don’t mind standing next to Hollywood A-listers in the queue at Daylesford). The estate agent’s particulars will give you details of acreage, proximity to schools and railway stations, but never—no, never—an indication of noise levels.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 25, 2024
Mission impossible
Country Life UK

Mission impossible

Rubble and ruin were all that remained of the early-19th-century Villa Frere and its gardens, planted by the English diplomat John Hookham Frere, until a group of dedicated volunteers came to its rescue. Josephine Tyndale-Biscoe tells the story

time-read
4 mins  |
December 25, 2024
When a perfect storm hits
Country Life UK

When a perfect storm hits

Weather, wars, elections and financial uncertainty all conspired against high-end house sales this year, but there were still some spectacular deals

time-read
6 mins  |
December 25, 2024
Give the dog a bone
Country Life UK

Give the dog a bone

Man's best friend still needs to eat like its Lupus forebears, believes Jonathan Self, when it's not guarding food, greeting us or destroying our upholstery, of course

time-read
4 mins  |
December 25, 2024