The bales have now been waiting patiently on the fields for a couple of weeks. Last year the crop was harvested, bales collected, and field ploughed, all within 3 days, but as I type two of the four fields behind us are still populated by round bales. Apparently a livestock farmer a couple of miles away has bought them, all 400 of them, to be used as bedding for his cows, but has realised that his yard isn’t big enough to store the bales, and so is frantically extending it before collecting the final consignment. I remember during one Christmas vacation a long time ago, I managed to find some casual farm work feeding and bedding indoor beef cows. On Christmas Day I cycled 4 miles to the farm, fed the cattle, and scattered a fresh bed of straw - all I needed was a manger in the corner, and a shepherd or two, and it would have been a proper traditional Christmas. I cycled home again, arriving just in time for dinner. I think that I was at that age when it was a relief to escape the family Christmas for a while…..
