As the team's head brass

As the team’s head-brass flashed out on the turn
The lovers disappeared into the wood.
I sat among the boughs of the fallen elm
That strewed an angle of the fallow, and
Watched the plough narrowing a yellow square
Of charlock. Every time the horses turned
Instead of treading me down, the ploughman leaned
Upon the handles to say or ask a word,
About the weather, next about the war.
Scraping the share he faced towards the wood,
And screwed along the furrow till the brass flashed
Once more.
                    The blizzard felled the elm whose crest
I sat in, by a woodpecker’s round hole,
The ploughman said. “When will they take it away?”
“When the war’s over.” So the talk began—
One minute and an interval of ten,
A minute more and the same interval.
“Have you been out?” “No.” “And don’t want
to, perhaps?”
“If I could only come back again, I should.
I could spare an arm. I shouldn’t want to lose
A leg. If I should lose my head, why, so,
I should want nothing more. . . . Have many gone
From here?” “Yes.” “Many lost?” “Yes, a good few.
Only two teams work on the farm this year.
One of my mates is dead. The second day
In France they killed him. It was back in March,
The very night of the blizzard, too. Now if
He had stayed here we should have moved the tree.”
And I should not have sat here. Everything
Would have been different. For it would have been
Another world.” “Ay, and a better, though
If we could see all all might seem good.” Then
The lovers came out of the wood again:
The horses started and for the last time
I watched the clods crumble and topple over
After the ploughshare and the stumbling team.

Edward Thomas' lovely WWI poem, As the Team's Head Brass.

So today I've been to 'The Great All England Horse Ploughing Match' just up the road.  The things I do for blip!  The wind made it very cold out there, much more so than yesterday, but my dear sis took me so there was a warm car to get back into and Jax to snuggle up with!  (Since you ask, yes, he enjoyed it and was much admired - and he wore his new coat for the first time :))

These two horses are Sam and Tilly.  The pair in Extras are Monty and Logie.  In the main shot, note the ploughman's cig stuck to his lip - it remained there throughout.  In Extras is a colour one for those of you who prefer it that way - of Monty and Logie.

Okay, that's me.  Hope your sunday was a blast - and not in a Brian (or Lan) way..  xx