Wednesday 3 June 2020

Joyful Morning

For a gardener in a drought is there anything better than drawing back the curtains at seven in the morning and finding rain pouring down the window?   If there is than I don't know it.   I don't know how long it has been raining, it certainly hadn't started when I went to bed at eleven, although there was a feel of rain in the air.   But now it is really raining quite heavily.   If it pours all day today, tomorrow and the next day we shall still be desperate but at least it means that my three new herbaceous geraniums will now hopefully survive and my newly planted-out antirrhinums will not need watering with the can today.   Already everything looks happier than it has done for a while and the vetch in my front lawn can enjoy life a little longer before it is mown away.   I have never had vetch in my lawn before and now it has almost taken over not just my lawn but several others along the road.   Where do these things come from?   I have not had my morning coffee yet - just had to put this on.   I have just heard The Times pop through the letter box so I shall sign off and go and make the coffee and read it over my toast.   I'll be back later to add to today's post if anything more spectacular happens.

It is now mid afternoon and after raining on and off all morning it has now stopped, the patio has completely dried up and there is a sharp, cold wind blowing.   How much rain we have had is anybody's guess - certainly not as much as we need but better than nothing.

I am reading the most beautiful book lent me by friend W who had herself been lent it by another friend.   Beautiful is just the word to describe it.   If you love the countryside, nature,  growing up through late teenage years, - any or all of these things you cannot help but be charmed by it.   I have read one of his books before 'The Gallows Pole' - we read it for our book group some time last year - very well written but for me at any rate this is in quite a different league.   I am finding it hard to put down.   I read a chapter after lunch while drinking my coffee and I could have continued all afternoon had I not had all my jackets and all my trousers out on the bed while I cleaned out and reorganised the wardrobe.   The book in question is 'The Offing' by Benjamin  Myers, a writer from the North East who now lives in The Calder Valley.

Strawberries and cream for pud at lunch time.   Will I ever tire of them?   Certainly not this year when the sunniest Spring on record has made them as sweet as honey.


21 comments:

Sue in Suffolk said...

The forecast for here says we might get some rain although it will be patchy so we might not! Not a lot of help - I'll see what happens

Rachel Phillips said...

My nephew who lives near you will not like the rain. He says you get far too much rain in the Dales. Funny isn't it, the weather never pleases all. He will get a weather report from his father this morning and it will again displease him as my brother will report that it is dry and sunny here.

gz said...

We have had some rain from yesterday evening, but despite the drop in temperature our concrete slab paths were dry already at seven. Still, the veges have all jumped up...grown, not just standing straight!!

JayCee said...

We had overnught rain but not much and it is dry again now, although dark and cloudy. Perhaps more to come later methinks.

Sue said...

Our rain started early too, and much heavier than the forecast suggested it would be. Although it will not replenish all that has dried it it does mean that all the grass gets a nice cooling drink and I won't have to carry buckets of water over for the sheep today. The eight sheep have been going through three buckets full every day since the grass dried out.

It's just lovely to be cool for a change too isn't it :-)

Derek Faulkner said...

Well as I suggested on your last blog posting, no doubt you will get all the rain that you want and so it seems. You are so lucky to get rain when you want it. If the forecasts are right, the most we're likely to get is the equivalent of me peeing out of the window. It's currently very humid and cloudy here.

Sue said...

It's raining lightly but steadily in Lincs and our garden is very happy.

thelma said...

It was a welcome drop of rain, but not much unfortunately. Why are vetches growing in your grass. Probably down to old seeds coming alive after heavy winter rains and then dry sunny conditions.

Librarian said...

It was raining here for about 10 minutes around lunch time today, but it looks like there is more to come - and I hope so!
Isn't it one of the nicest things in life to come across a beautiful book, one that we can't wait to return to after a day's work?

The Weaver of Grass said...

Good point Thelma - you may well be right. They are really very pretty.

Rachel - does your nephew farm?

Rachel Phillips said...

No, Weave, he is an engineer and works in Darlington, currently working from home during lockdown.

Christine H Hancock said...

I think we must have similar reading tastes as a few books you've mention are my sort of books.. would love some of that rain.

Jennyff said...

I woke in the night expecting to hear rain but it hadn't arrived. It was a joy, even for a sun worshipper like me, to see water pouring down the windows when I woke again around 7. Now its early evening and there in sunshine, perfect.

Bonnie said...

I'm so happy for you that you did get some rain. Hopefully you will get more soon and your flowers will all smile for you. Your book sounds good. It is so nice when we find one we can't put down.

Rachel Phillips said...

The Offing was on the radio last year and I enjoyed it very much. There were one or two kind of details that I didn't think were quite right for a poor boy after the war but overall I enjoyed it a lot. I think several of us wrote about it at the time and it was recommended to me by Tom.

Dartford Warbler said...

It has rained here today, at last. So pleased that your garden has also had a long awaited drink.

The Forest heathland is tinder dry here, so every drop of rain has been welcome.

Thank you for the book recommendation. It sounds like one I would enjoy.

Joanne Noragon said...

I wonder how you could turn your whole front yard over to wild flowers?

The Weaver of Grass said...

Rachel - I agree about one or two things not being quite 'of the time' in The Offing - the author is only mid forties. I remember that time just after the war - I was that age and came from a similar working class background. I can't remember what those things were but they rankled slightly as I read them but not enough to destroy the overall good feeling about the book.

Thanks for replying with your comments everyone.

Derek Faulkner said...

In answer to Joanne, I've done it to a large half of my front lawn and it looks really colourful - not to everybody's taste though.
Pat, we still haven't had one drizzly drop of rain down here so far.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Derek - very brave - wish I dare do that with my front lawn. I must say the vetch looks very pretty.

Thanks everyone.

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