Day 8 // Strolling through farm land and city streets

Today we received a proper England welcome: an overcast and rainy day. (The sun did peek out from behind the clouds a couple of times, but today I got the most use out of my rain jacket than I have thus far on this trip.)

We started our day out by driving to Melton Mowbray to visit Hall Farm, a working English dairy farm. We were greeted by Julia with coffee and tea. She spent a little bit of time sharing a basic overview of the farm's history and agriculture communications in the U.K. with us. The house she and her husband live in has been on the property since the 17th Century.

After cleaning our boots with an iodine and water dip, we set off to the cow pasture.

With all of the green and black and white cows around, it almost felt like I was at home for a little bit.

As Julia explained dairy farming in the U.K., the mommas became curious about the two legged creatures taking pictures of them and wondered closer.

After spending quite a bit of time talking about the cows, we walked to another field where we paused by a natural pond.

One thing that I have noticed about agriculture in the U.K. is how concerned and focused people are about conservation, preservation and wildlife. The purpose of this natural pond is to offer a natural habitat to various species. Hedges also offer another choice of natural habitat for wildlife. Julia mentioned that since she had seen a map of the property from sometime before the 1800s, she knew that every hedge on the property but one is in its original spot. (And the one hedge was only moved when train tracks were laid in the 1800s.) We walked farther and farther into the field and discussed hay and silage production as well as electrical energy conversion as there is a wind turbine on the property.

As we finished our discussion and tour, we loaded back on to the coach bus and drove to a bison farm not far down the road. Here we ate lunch at a small cafe on the property run by a couple (mainly Ruth) while her husband George educated our group about bison and deer production in the U.K. (I ate a bison burger of course. As well as an award winning apple pie.) George shared his story about his struggle to figure out what livestock he would produce.

One thing he said stuck with me. As he was talking about starting out as a dairy farmer and then moving into raising beef cattle and eventually ending up with bison and deer, George made a statement about how he wasn't going to be able to have a large enough production to make a difference on the existing market so he decided he would target a niche market.

This sentiment has rolled around in my mind all day. While George may have been talking about livestock production, I believe that his quote could apply to our every day lives. While we may not be able to do enough to satisfy everyone, we should focus on what is most important to us and give that our all.

When we finished lunch, we were able to walk around the farm a little bit and take some pictures of the bison. Since they get stressed and scare easily, we could not get very close. But it was still so cool to see such interesting animals, especially the baby bison!

We finished with our tour, thanked our hosts and got back on the coach to head to the hotel.

A group of us took a few minutes to freshen up and then headed back out to explore Stratsford-upon-Avon and enjoy our last night in town.

We walked around for a long time and were able to see some beautiful sites, a lot of swans and Shakespeare's birthplace and burial site.

It was pretty neat to see such historical sites and be able to experience such a beautiful and quaint town.

We finally decided we should eat something (which ended up being dessert since we ate such a late lunch...) and enjoyed talking about our experiences thus far, what we are looking forward to next and everything in between.

I still find it quite remarkable how quickly a diverse group of students from Ohio State University, University of Arkansas and University of Tennessee have bonded so quickly.

We finished our meal just in time to walk back to the hotel and run by our rooms before meeting all together as a group for a reflection session/photography workshop.

Dr. Buck (from the University of Ohio) offered us some picture taking tips for both cameras and phones. We finished up in a few minutes and made our way back to our rooms to get ready for bed and pack up our things since we are checking out of the hotel bright and early tomorrow!

While the last few days have been more relaxed and laid back than our time in London, (this may have to do with the fact that London is a bustling city and we are making our way through the quaint countryside which is more familiar), each day brings about a new adventure and opportunity. We are now officially halfway through this study abroad trip (which is very bittersweet to think about) and while the first half has exceeded my expectations, I cannot wait to see what the second half holds.

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"Let nature feed your senses."