Rain drops us in at the deep end

I HAVE been virtually incommunicado for nearly a week now. Firstly my croaky voice graduated into merely a whisper and secondly the internet went down.

When the connection is via satellite you are at the mercy of weather. Snow sticks to the dish during the winter but this time unseasonable winds had moved it.

After the glorious weather in half-term week when the children spent many a evening swimming in the river, the heavy rain and icy winds came as a shock.

I went into the hall cupboard to retrieve the children’s waterproof suits I’d packed way reckoning they wouldn’t be needed for a few

On grass months. However unpleasant it was for us, it was not nearly as bad as it was for the house martins nesting in the window ledges. Edith was out at first light surveying the damage, but the nest was intact.

The trickling beck became a torrent and dislodged the water rail – the floating gate suspended on a wire that prevents the yows being able to get into the meadows when the river is at its normal level.

When the rain abated the sheep ventured on to the grass. Once they get a taste for the good stuff it’s difficult to dissuade them from breaking in so Bill was called upon to chase them back out pronto.

“The grass is always greener on the other side” they say but hopefully after having Bill hard on their heels it will have nipped that idea in the bud.