Fueled by Valentine's Day chocolates I was up and busy by 8.00 This was partly because I wanted to get the duvet cover into the washing machine nice and early. The hot wash takes 3 hours and though I have 2 covers for our super-king sized duvet one is better quality and I try to wash, dry over the rayburn and iron it in one day. Which I have managed to do.
Then I wanted to get out before the weather closed in and check that the dam was diverting water on to the field. I took the above photo a bit later in the day during a dry and almost sunny spell.
The stream has been fast flowing all day but the level hasn't risen. I wonder if the lake outflow was partially blocked the time it rose up and over the lawn up to the back door.
Once I had checked the dam and sorted out the run-off on the other side of the road I realised that with the ground so wet it was probably a good time to pull up the brambles that grow by the drive. That bit of rough ground belongs to our neighbour but he doesn't do anything with it and during the summer the brambles grow across the road. After I had a good tidy up of the sides of the road I thought I might as well carry on and clear the brambles from the wild bit of garden behind and alongside the hen run. The wind was howling through the trees and it had been raining steadily all this time so after a while I had to go and change into a dry coat and remove my fleeces because all that work was making me hot. Not only did I clear all the brambles but I dug out the drainage ditches that channel the water away from the hen house and onto the field next door. That wasn't vital work but winter is a good time to keep on top of the brambles that spring up as soon as your back is turned. I keep those bits of the garden as natural shady woodland but brambles and stinging nettles are not welcome. The rain got steadily heavier so after a good morning's work outside I rushed through the housework before having a long hot shower and a bit of a relax in the afternoon..
During a brief dry spell I took a walk around the garden to look for photo opportunities. Speedy came with me to the pond to look for and eat, frogspawn - Yuck!
The weather is due to get worse overnight so no rowing again for Peter tomorrow.
2 comments:
Wow 3 hours, that's a mighty long time!
I normally wash at cooler temps which takes about an hour and a half. Annoyingly washing machines these days only take in cold water so I can't make use of the abundant very hot water produced by the rayburn. Great if we were into having baths but we prefer showers.
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