Was it really just a month or two ago that we were bemoaning the fact that we needed rain? It’s certainly made up for it this month. This November with 106.2mm or 4.18″ of rainfall has become the ninth wettest month since Martyn started recording our weather in 2010. It has also been our second wettest autumn with only 2019 being wetter
Meteorological winter starts on the first of December. As I’ve commented before, it’s all or nothing as far as our weather is concerned.
We only went to the allotment once last week, as we have used any dry spells for walks with Ruby.
The allotment can look after itself at the moment and no doubt all the rain will be making a good job of rehydrating the parched earth and softening the hard lumps left after digging over the beds.
We hadn’t intended going to the allotment at all, but I received a message to say that another load of manure had been dropped off, so we needed to go and move it. This time, there was a double load awaiting us, which Martyn barrowed and I spread on the beds.
Our walks, last week were local. We had intended to head northwards on Friday, as rain was forecast to be heading from the south maybe not even reaching us.
We’d planned a morning visit to Beningbrough and then to move on to Fountains Abbey for a proper afternoon’s walk. The last time we’d planned on doing this was a Thursday and we discovered that Beningbrough had reduced opening days and was only open on Friday, Saturday and Sundays, so we had to abandon the idea. We decided to try again on Friday. For some reason, I decided to check the opening times for Fountains Abbey and, would you believe it, they were now closed every Friday until March!
As rain was forecast to the south of us and heading our way, we decided on a morning walk at Nostell.
Ruby was showing off her new coat.
I actually bought two last week in different colours.
Some of the paths at Nostell had been churned up by park vehicles, so we had to negotiate mud and large puddles.
The cattle had been moved out and the electric fencing removed, so Ruby was less restricted. We were able to walk through the meadow, taking care to avoid the cow pats that Ruby insisted on sniffing.
After so much rainfall we were surprised that areas, where winter lakes usually form, showed no sign of flooding. I’m guessing that the ground was so parched that all the rainwater has soaked into the ground.
When we arrived at Nostell the sky was blue and, although it was cold, the sun shone.
Maybe the rain wouldn’t make it to us after all, however the sun disapeared and the sky darkened. As we arrived back at the car the first spots of rain began to fall.
When we set off on the drive home, the heavens opened.
The heavy rain continued to fall for the rest of the day. The decision to walk in the morning was definitely the correct one! Had the rain arrived a few minutes earlier, we would have been soaked.
That’s all for this week so as always until next time, stay well, stay safe and stay warm.
The rain has been unbelievable here and we keep getting our timing wrong!
Love Ruby’s coats as much as she does I think 😊
Really like your before & after photos through the windscreen.
She always has a paw up ready when I pick up a coat, Belonda.