The effort required playing up the field is nothing compared to the lot of the gardener. Once the haunt of sheep and despite its sapping slope, the field now functions as a football pitch. A chore to keep trim during the growing season, the recent weather has either been too awful or too pleasant to contemplate the last cut before winter. It's a big job for a petrol strimmer. In addition to tools every garden shed should have room for a copy of Hilaire Belloc's thoughts on the "The mowing of a field". Writing in the early 1900's and competent with both pen and scythe, Belloc describes the practicalities and the mindset required for cutting grass. A modern equivalent has not been penned for the bladed strimmer but many of Belloc's observations still hold firm. Early morning, long before men begin to be seen remains the best time to start the job, freeing the cutter from the heat of the day. The rhythmic pendulum swing is familiar, as are the problems of the inexperienced cutter digging into the soil and causing the meadow to bleed. The solitude and isolation experienced by today's mower is further enhanced with the addition of earmuffs and goggles, while the smell of cut grass and the satisfaction of completing the job remain the same. The monotonous repetitive movements still help to disengage the creative side of the brain, freeing a man to dwell on higher thoughts, any thoughts in fact other that cutting grass. Sheep have no time for such musings. An opportunist band of local escapees, are steadily munching through the lush grass. Pity they can't brush up leaves.