Scotland and England

Today we spent a lllooonngggg time on the bus and took numerous photos though the bus windows trying to avoid the window glare and trees that line the highway that always block your view of the sights. It was our last day with our tour guide Margot. She has been an awesome guide and has treated us more like family and friends than foreigners. We truly appreciate all her time and effort. We will never forget her humorous stories, cheerful dog, Tweed, and her rockin' Scottish pants. Our first stop was in Moffat to shop at Woolen Mills. There we bought Celtic jewelry, shortbread, postcards, cashmere scarves, heather-stone items, and much more. We also had a wee snack at the cafe. Then, it was back on the road. We made a quick stop for lunch at Burger King where we went on a napkin hunt...Kiera won. We ate on the bus to save time. There was almost a ketchup, tomato sauce, famine... it could have been deadly but we survived with one extra packet. Next we headed to Ricky Jones's Dairy. The farm was absolutely gorgeous and extremely well kept. He milks around 100 Holstein cattle in a double 6 parlor. And has around 30 heifers. We walked around the farm and visited many of the pastures and crop fields. He talked to us about milk prices in England and the control the super markets have over the farmers. Interesting tidbit... In England you are paid for your milk by liter for example the top price right now is 25 pence per liter. (Pence is equivalent to cents)The most interesting part of the operation was the feeding. The milking herd is fed grain while in the parlor and TRM in the free stall that contains whole potatoes! For dinner we went to Leedham Farms for a BBQ. There we had pulled pork sandwiches with sage stuffing and apple sauce on the sandwich. It seems a little weird but it was very tasty. Afterwards we mingled with the other teams and local farmers who came to visit. We also signed a petition in opposition of constructing four windmills about 1/4 of a mile from the farm. On the way back we looked through the Luxembourg sale catalog, in which we will be participating in a few days. Tomorrow we are going to Warkick Castle in the morning and then on to London.

The Maryland Dairy Judging Team