Asturian livestock

The first time I saw this pony, it was walking down the main street of town, led by a nine-year-old girl.  It turned that both girl and pony belonged to the lady who managed our property.  The landlady would ¨talk even under the water,¨ as they say here, so I heard all about veal from agricultural subsidies to favorite recipes.  No animal of hers would ever go hungry, she said, though some people buy the animals, collect the subsidies and spend the money on an expensive vacation.  She was very loving, and just about hugged and kissed me to death, especially after 16 people arrived on our last day who had booked for 14 people, didn´t want to pay and screamed at her and abused her.  She cried on my shoulder.  One of their group was a baby and the other a priest.  I guess the families thought they shouldn´t count.

Girl and pony like to walk, so that´s how they spend their summer.

To every Spanish person who asks how the trip was, I say, ¨Asturias has the most beautiful cows in the world.¨  They all sigh and wax poetic about before I get a chance to.  ¨Their beautiful honey skin, their big brown eyes, their dainty black noses... They all just look so healthy.¨  Here´s some AG facts for my Uncle Terry: they eat the calves at 8-12 months here.  The grocery stores all have lean veal, instead of nicely marbled 2-year old beef. 

  I told my Spanish teacher to look up Texas cows and up came pictures of spotty, boney, buck-toothed, bad-tempered looking cattle.  My point exactly.

The landlady also had these little mini goats.  The meat is apparently very much in demand, so she breeds them and sells them.

Whenever the road got really narrow, you would see a sign, ¨No livestock on the road,¨ but there was always cow poop there anyway, and actual cows on this winding road.

I chatted with one set of neighbors who were bringing in the hay.  They cut the hay with a weed-eater  on the steep hillsides and then turn it by hand.  One lady had a mule on the main road up to the pass, though farming with mules was not the norm, and it was the only mule I saw.