Trimming my bush

My shrubbery...all neat and tidy!


Before I was sidetracked into writing another animal based trauma blog ( see the next bulldog/mouse/hysteria blog entry) I was going to bang on about farmers and their toys!
For a measly tenner a local farmworker has just given my field hedges a rather impressive short-back and sides with a machine that would not have looked out of place fighting alongside Sigourney Weaver in ALIENS!
Some of these pieces of equipment are truly terrifying, and I am constantly in awe of just how skillful these farmers are as they hurtle from one job to another without a seeming care in the world.
Mind you, it is not all plain sailing, death rates among agricultural workers is terribly high given the fact that only 1.5 % of the working population are employed in agriculture. 20% of all work related fatalities are from the farming sector and recent statistics state that on average one person a week is killed in the farming community in the UK....
makes you think eh?

26 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:50 pm

    In Canada the agricultural industry is the fourth most dangerous after mining, forestry and construction.

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  2. Makes me think? Not really...I've seen hubby with a chain saw!!
    Jane x

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  3. That's why my motto is to 'keep it simple'!

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  4. Those are some angry tools.

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  5. Anonymous2:09 pm

    Congratulations on your 2999th post...bless the farmers who take the risks and keep us fed!

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  6. Just read your last post about the mouse, had me in stitches.
    Briony
    x

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  7. I've just this minute had 8 cu metres of oak delivered. I'm glad to report No deaths, no injuries, and no nasty grazes.

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  8. Last time I trimmed a bush with a power tool, I sawed right through the power-cord. I can't even imagine!

    Lovely bush cut that, John.

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  9. A tenner? A tenner??? It costs so much around here that it'd be cheaper for us to pay the train fare for him to come and do our bushes.

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  10. There is some scary machines out there. It's a nice life having as little as possible to do with them!

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  11. I've always loved the bumper sticker:
    "You ate today?...thank a farmer."

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  12. There is a fine line between trimming and over-trimming isn't there John. As to dangerous farm equipment, a friend's son was killed when his tractor rolled on to him and several children have been killed around here when their dads have accidentally backed into them - how would you live the rest of your life with something like that I wonder. Am now going to look at the latest trauma!

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  13. thought you would appreciate that Thomas!

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  14. You didn't go for the Brazilian then?

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  15. That is definitely a good price. Look good, too.

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  16. I was waiing for you to chrip up chris!
    we can be as silly as we like here

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  17. Living in a rural area in Cornwall where tractors are as common as all the other vehicles combined I am very well aware how dangerous the agricultural life can be. Some of the attachments/trailers that tractors trail are sometimes truly terrifying.

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  18. The hubby has a chain saw thingy on a pole that he uses to cut out tree branches above his head !
    I can't look.....
    Your bushes look nice !
    ~Jo

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  19. "Trimming My Bush"? I thought I was going to read an article by Trinny and Susannah! I wonder if they hire farmers for the job too.

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  20. We're a small farming community, but in the past 10 years have lost 5 residents. One was killed in a tractor accident, the 4 others were killed by the city slickers who drive through here too fast.

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  21. That 20% figure is shocking. I guess it's partly because farms tend to be quite isolated without much external supervision so all sorts of careless practices go unnoticed.

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  22. Whoa, didn't see that coming. Then again I never considered how much machinery they're using these days.

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  23. You had me doing some maths. That 1.5% of the working population in agriculture amounts to around 435,000 people, so the odds of a farmer being killed at work in any year is 8,700 to one.

    I'm not sure what the odds are against a blogger being struck by lightning.

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  24. Anonymous7:59 pm

    Stay safe!

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