Highland coos (that is highland cows)

As Pam mentioned, the Highlands were beauty all around. It seemed that no matter where you looked, there was beautiful pinkish colored heather or a beautiful glen or a hill stretching out covered in sheep. There were sheep everywhere.

However, I fell in love with the Highland Cows - which I read were plentiful, but we only managed to find a few of them - mostly on castle grazing areas. Here are two of my favorites. The first we saw at Blair Castle, the second at Stirling Castle. They are such ancient looking things...like they come from a different time.

Everybody needs milk

Okay, so I was in the moo-d for more yard art.

I found cows "grazing" in someone's front yard. I don't know if this family used to work at the local Rockview Dairy or if they just like cows, but I thought they were fun and wanted to share them on DDP.

The milkman really delivers

Growing up in Downey, we were all aware of Rockview farms. Since we were only about a mile from the dairy, I remember a group of us frequently riding our bikes to the dairy to watch the cows. I even remember getting our milk delivered by the Rockview milkman. Well, there are no cows there now, just the processing plant. But I was intrigued to learn that the milkman is not a thing of the past. Rockview still delivers! And, according to their website, the delivered milk hits your doorstep only about 48 hours after milking.

The family-owned and operated dairy has been in business since 1927. They are one of the last dairies in the state to own their own cows and process, package, and distribute their own milk.

Click here to visit the Rockview Dairies website.

Rural Ukraine

We are about at the end of our trip, and I thought it might be fun to share a few pictures of how beautiful and rural it is in Ukraine.

It was typical to see horses, cows and goats tethered to the grassy shoulder of the road. I'm assuming this is "free" grazing area for local farm animals.

There were several times when we either waited for animals to cross the highway on their way home, or we just drove around them on the shoulder.

But, by far my favorite was this wagon. The amount of hay this horse was pulling was amazing, but I couldn't figure out how these guys got up on the wagon once it was full...