Yesterday evening as we sat in the cratch, Sue became aware of a cow lying under some trees at the bottom of the field on the opposite side of the canal to us. She was very concerned about the animal’s welfare whereas I was convinced that it had just found a shady area to lie down in.
We went to bed and slept until 4am when we were awoken by a thunderstorm. Eventually we got back to sleep and didn’t wake up until nine o’clock. It was still raining so we had coffee in bed while we caught up with the news and checked out the weather forecast. We eventually got up, showered and dressed and Sue discovered that the cow hadn’t moved since the night before. It was clear to see that the BBC/Met office were completely wrong again (heavy rain forecast, blue skies above) so we untied and set off until we reached bridge 79 where we were able to tie up and walk up Barby hill to the farm where we reported that we had seen a cow in some sort of distress. The farmer confessed that he had not checked his herd the night before but he knew which cow it was because he said that it had been sick for the last couple of days. As we walked away from the farmhouse, the farmer zoomed past us on a quad bike, driving in the direction of the stricken animal.
We returned to Caxton, untied and carried on with our journey. It was warm and humid as we travelled along the Barby straight before we turned around at the winding hole next to the B&B next to the Kilsby lane road bridge. Once turned, we opened the bar and then Sue made some bread, the granite worktops being ideal for kneading dough on.
When we reached Onley and the spot that we had left earlier in the day, we saw that the cow was no longer there, we’ll never know what it’s fate was but at least we know that one way or another, it’s suffering is over. Sue of course is still feeling that she should have done something last night that would have prevented the beast lying in the field overnight.
We carried on with our journey and then reached Braunston turn where we took the right hand fork on to the G.U. Oxford section. We pulled up just beyond the winding hole and moored for the night, there has been the odd shower since but nothing to merit the amber warning issued by the Met Office for this area.