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I could hear the racket from my darkroom. Rattle, tattle rattle tattle it went on. Sounded like the rioters had arrived in North Tolsta on a phalanx of tractors. But no, it was Hector Murdo, Murdo & Co playing at twirling the silage for The Crofter's coows in the winter.

I found two old Massey Fergusons chuntering away on the plot next to The Croft with a couple of interesting looking machines behind them. The silage bales, all rolled and netted were them wrapped expertly by some contraption that twirled and twisted till the stuff was encased in blue plastic. Sadly, the days of oblong bales wrapped in bailer twine seem to have disappeared in this neck of the woods. [although there are few trees here either!].

 Murdo [No, the other one] arrives from his sick-bed in his 1961 Massey Ferguson

 The Crofter dances with a silage bale as two MF look on

 Rolling your own

 Hector wondering what's for tea

 Murdo tickles the silage bale into submission

 North Tolsta men and Yorkshire Crofter :-)

Yes, we know it's not your best tractor.

Hector's tropical hat gets an outing. And how lovely it looks too.

Hector, looking like he was just back from his plantation in the tropics was operating the twirling machine, Murdo was moving stuff from here to there while The Crofter supervised and moved stuff from there to over there. Oh, and along comes Murdo [no, the other one!] from his sick-bed with his ancient Massey - " It's a 1961 model and mechanically sound" I was told but by the look of the bodywork, it's a virtual wreck. At least I knew he wasn't talking about himself as he has a bad back at the moment and can only grimace a smile from his seat. Still, it's only Murdo's [No, the other one] second or maybe third best tractor so I'm told. Giving Donald Four Tractors a run for his money no doubt.

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