Something strange happened last night. At least, I think it happened - it was possibly a mirage but I don't think so.
At about 8.30 pm, I went out into our garden (American: yard) in order to put away my electric "Bosch" lawnmower and its associated cable reel for I had been cutting grass in the afternoon. Items safely stored away, I then came back into the house to wallop the keys on this very keyboard.
It must have been about half an hour later that some water fell down from the sky. Not much of it but enough to wet the cars, the pavement and the lawn. I asked Shirley what it was and she googled it. Apparently it was what is commonly called "rain". Anyway, the "rain" lasted less than ten minutes and it was not particularly heavy.
It was the first rain we had seen in six weeks in what has been Yorkshire's driest ever spring - well the driest on record anyway. It seems that more of this rainwater could fall in the next few days. Farmers and gardeners will be very happy if the land gets a damned good soaking.
The unpredictability of our weather is something I love about England. We never really know what we are going to get the whole year round. This is largely because of the influence that The Atlantic Ocean has upon our climate.
With the changeability, it is no wonder that British people tend to talk about the weather more than most nationalities.
Anyway, today we were back to what has become our new normal - a dry, sunny day with not a hint of rain. Last night's smattering of water had had next to no impact.
I went up the garden to our vegetable plot to do some digging ready for putting in my runner beans and courgettes (American: zucchini). The ground is so hard and dry that it was like digging for rocks in the Gobi Desert. I couldn't spend too long up there as we were looking after Little Margot all day and I didn't want Shirley to have to do it all.
It's nice to share the "load" even though Margot is such a delightful and "easy" child to look after. If she cries - which is pretty rare - you know that there's a very good reason for it.
She makes me laugh when she spots her colourful wellingtons (American: rain boots) in our kitchen. She immediately sits on the floor to take her shoes off ready to get outside for she associates those rubber boots with the garden and she loves being outside. Tomorrow, Phoebe will be with us all day. The prospect of any more water falling from the sky is very slim indeed. However, on Saturday, a spell of proper rain seems certain. Hallelujah!
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/odp9Pcm
