Driving along the A303 last night at dusk, exactly opposite Stonehenge, a combine was spotted still working slowly and purposefully through an un-harvested crop. The failing light combined with the moving car made clear identification of the crop rather difficult but it appeared to be spring barley. From other recent forays around parts of Britain and from conversations with farmers around the country it is clear there are still many acres of arable crops out there uncut, and thousands of acres of land remains untilled.
The energy bills at Prosperous Farm continue to mount as the electric fans and calor gas heaters have been running non-stop for over three weeks now and still we have not dried the grains sufficiently to turn them off. The atmosphere all around the farm yards are a mix of the heady scents of warm grain with a thick layer of dust that reaches everywhere. The forecast is for strong winds this week, so that should clear the dust and air for a while. We have finally got used to the continuous noise; I can only imagine it is similar to living near the District and Circle line with a constant resonant rumbling.
Meanwhile the news this morning is that a Spanish bank has swallowed up my nest egg, and a lot of other people’s money too and the Government is to take on the bad debts. I shall have to give thought to whether this is what I want or whether I shall chose to move my carefully saved pennies somewhere else. I wonder how other savers are feeling this morning, or what the savers with the Abbey, and the Alliance and Leicester felt when the same thing happened to them in 1994 and earlier this year?
In the meantime I must get on with the chores.
Arcadian Advocate 