Still no rain here. About ten miles away, there was some rain, and when Martyn was watching cricket at Headingley, about fifteen miles from us, when play was stopped because of it.
The nearest we have come to having rain was a day when it felt as though we were actually sitting in a low cloud.
The temperature has been up and down too. Some days I have needed to dig out a fleece, while on others I have been back in a T-shirt.
To be honest, I don’t have very much to write about. After all, reading yet another account of constant watering would be unimaginably boring, so I’ll try not to make this entirely about the weather!
Home Garden
We are fortunate that we haven’t yet been subjected to a hosepipe ban, so I have been regularly watering the borders, concentrating particularly on the two newly planted ones.
They are filling out nicely, and already look much more established than I had anticipated at this stage.
I spent an afternoon trimming off the dead flowers and removing the weeds that had dared to hide amongst the plants. It won’t be long before it is time to start choosing spring bulbs to add some colour for next year.
We are also planning to replant a large border at the side of the house which has been taken over by self-seeded hellebores. Martyn has made a start on clearing the area, and there will be more about our plans later.
Tomatoes are ripening steadily and being picked for lunch.
At the Allotment
It’s been more of the same at the allotment — lots of watering and some harvesting.
Martyn lifted the last of the potatoes. The yield was slightly better than the previous ones, but still nothing like we are used to, with lots of very small tubers. I can understand why there is talk of a potato shortage over winter.
There isn’t much more to say about the allotment at the moment. Everything is simply waiting for some decent rain.
Out and About
Nostell
Our visits to Nostell have been confined to mornings, when it is quieter, to avoid the crowds that descend around lunchtime. Lots of families arrive for lunch at the café, to grab a pizza from the stand in the parkland or simply to have a picnic.
Games have been set out on the lawn in front of the house to attract families during the school holidays. Earlier in the year, Nostell advertised that they were creating a beach in this area. My imagination conjured up an enormous stretch of sand covering the whole area, but in reality it turned out to be a large sandpit with deckchairs placed around the edge.
I couldn’t take a photo as children were happily playing, and taking pictures of them didn’t seem appropriate!
A Local Walk
Although we have had our allotments for forty years or more, we have never ventured down the lane leading from the entrance to our site. Last week, we decided to park up on our plot and, instead of staying to garden — or rather, water — we decided to explore.
The lane passes by fishing lakes.
The lane ends at a newly opened café, where it becomes a track suitable only for cyclists and walkers.
The track passes underneath road and railway bridges and eventually reaches Wakefield, although we didn’t walk that far. We walked as far as Thornes Flood Lock on the Calder & Hebble Navigation.
A flood lock is somewhat different from a usual canal lock. The Calder & Hebble Navigation alternates between man-made canal cuts and open river sections.
Heavy rainfall can cause the River Calder to rise rapidly. When river monitoring indicates high water levels, Canal & River Trust teams close the flood gates at Thornes to prevent surging river water, silt and debris from overwhelming the quieter artificial canal channels.
This helps to protect the canal banks and the surrounding area from flooding.
We were puzzled, therefore, to see puddles on the track running alongside the embankment beside the canal. As I’ve mentioned, we have had no rain for months, and I would have thought that a recent river surge was unlikely.
Perhaps the puddles were simply one of those little mysteries that will remain unexplained.
Finally
Despite the lack of rain, parts of garden are looking surprisingly good and the new borders are beginning to settle in.
We have discovered a walk that has been on our doorstep for forty years without us ever exploring it.
So perhaps there is still plenty to enjoy, even during a summer when watering cans and hosepipes seems to have become a permanent fixture.
Now all we need is for the clouds to remember what they are supposed to do — preferably over our garden and allotment rather than ten miles down the road!
As always, until next time, stay safe and stay well.
