Water water everywhere . . . .

. . . except on our records! *

Despite installing a new Rain Gauge (which worked for a couple of days) we're once again showing dry weather at Strickley. Take my word for it - that's not the case. Thursday was the worst day for years. It took me longer than usual to get home from work as the road was flooded at the bottom of Bannerigg and the Police were directing cars through one at a time. But yesterday was worse and the floods came up sooner. One of the problems with heavy rain around the farm buildings is that it all runs down into the slurry pit and with the water from the heavens the pit was filling up alarmingly. There was much checking and diverting of drains and we didn't overflow. Today looks as though it's going to be better, but with the ground so waterlogged we're still on flood alert. Henry's about to go round the stock, if the becks have gone down enough to cross.

* there's even about 5-6 inches in our cellar. We're wise to it now and everthing is on shelves or in plastic boxes. The bottom layer of coke is underwater but eventually the water will retreat the way it came in. The floor of stone flags is laid on the earth and when the field behind can't take anymore the water rises. We thought we had sorted it when we dug out the patio behind the house, but the rain this year has been exceptional.