Doc does the rounds in Fenland's fields of gold

Fields of red and gold: a still summer's evening in the Fens

IT'S not every day that you see a doctor driving at pace across fields during harvest time, but hey, this is the Fens.
Was it an emergency and he was taking a dramatic short-cut? All will be revealed later in the post!
Just as we get a hint of summer, it is noticeable how the days are becoming slightly shorter. But what a Fen-tastic time of year. Farmers have been putting on a sprint to gather the crops between showers as the vast fields dotted with poppies catch the eye in all their summer finery [click on the pictures and see for yourself].
We have been subject to a mixed bag, weather-wise. Today has been cool, with just the odd shower and some sunshine; yesterday, a couple of hours of sun, then thunder and heavy rain; and yet several days ago we enjoyed blue cloudless skies criss-crossed with vapour trails [contrails] and temperatures in the late 80s.
That meant opening windows in the house and hoping for a hint of breeze to keep us cool. No air conditioning for us, I'm afraid. Why fork out for an expensive piece of kit when we only suffer from the heat and humidity for a few weeks a year? That said, it's still good to get in the car and go for a blat down the lanes with the air con on full blast.

Harvest time: it has been a busy period for the farmers 

It's also wise to leave the daily dog walk until late evening when the temperature starts to drop. The pooches are more comfortable and so are you. It was on one such walk with Hector and Sweep that I saw the combine harvester, trailers and balers busy in the fields so I nipped out again later with my wife's decent camera and took a few shots. Hope you enjoy them.
While out with the camera I saw a familiar-looking car/van being driven down a track through the fields at speed ... until the driver realised he was heading straight for the combine. He slammed the vehicle into reverse, allowing the monster to go past, before continuing and then pulling up alongside me. It was the village doctor, and he casually enquired about my wife [see Friday the 13th post] in a manner which suggested we had just bumped into each other on the street, rather than amid an expanse of fields.
After giving him an update on my wife's condition, I then asked the obvious: why was he tearing about the fields in his beat-up Berlingo - the powerful BMW, along with a variety of other vehicles stayed at home on his own farm? He has an arrangement with a well-known but controversial land-owner and farmer [referred to in this blog previously as Despisely] who provides him with more than 100 bales of hay each year. The doc was simply making sure he had the right number - and that his were of the round variety [see bottom picture].
I suppose you could say our doctor was just doing his evening rounds! [Oh come on, it wasn't that bad].

PS: Please feel free to click on any adverts that may catch your eye. The Alzheimer's Society http://alzheimers.org.uk/will receive a contribution from money raised by this blog [see previous posts]. 
PPS: Follow me on Twitter - Fenman@harrysrus

I can see for miles and miles and ... the baler sets to work

Road to nowhere: one of my routes for walking the dogs