It's here and it's heavy!

[Tee-Cee]

I think that wet spell back in the spring probably saved much of our fruit/veg. We have had excellent yields from gooseberries and raspberries (coming to an end now) and the veg side not bad with courgettes/peas/pots/lettuce et al all doing well, to the point that we cannot keep up with it all!! Our tomatoes have started to turn red and with no blight in sight they hold promise. My wife said the flavour of those she has tried not up to the usual standard, though...

All of this is fine but it takes a lot of water to keep it all going. We had to make a decision once all our butts were empty, so it's a hose job at the moment, followed by water cans if a ban comes into force. Not idea, but seeing all that veg drop would be hard to bear.

Our apple tree is laden with fruit but I don't know if they will reach any great size, so my 'go to' supply at the end of the year may be short lived. May well end up of a size offering two bites per apple!!

(We also have shallow soil over clay which, as markg says, helps retain the water. When I think back on the amount of soil/manure we have dug into that garden, it is little wonder I have bad back!!)


ps As a matter of interest; My wife is a volunteer for the local RDA (Riding for the Disabled) and with so many horses manure supply is guaranteed, good quality, rotted down, as well as being free! These RDA schools are all over the country, so if you have one near you it's worth talking to them, as most don't know what to do with the vast quantities produced. Some have contracts with folk who take it all away, but even then they might be willing to let you help yourself to a few bags. Worth a try.......

 

[markcw]

ah well it had to happen, a hosepipe ban in the North West,

 

[mikench]

It's entirely predictable Mark, that the wettest and coolest region in England should be the first to impose a ban and cry about a lack of water! I don't get it at all and it's pathetic! We get more rain than anywhere else and run out! You couldn't make it up!

 

[thecrow]

Still not a drop round here although plenty of rainy looking clouds have been about all day, amazing sight this morning of the council cutting the grass where there is none other than the short yellow grass that used to be green, all he did was kick a load of dust up.

 

[binka]

amazing sight this morning of the council cutting the grass where there is none other than the short yellow grass that used to be green, all he did was kick a load of dust up.

It's all a bit strange at the golf course too mate, other than the greens and tees which are standing out like an oasis due to being on irrigation everything looks the colour of near white straw!

Needless to say a smoking ban has been temporarily imposed across all the courses.

It' almost eerie in places, a bit like a frost that covers everything and you just see the neat definition in grass length between areas such as rough and fairway but all looking dead.

If I think on tomorrow i'll get a picture and post it up.

 

[tigger]

It's all a bit strange at the golf course too mate, other than the greens and tees which are standing out like an oasis due to being on irrigation everything looks the colour of near white straw!

Needless to say a smoking ban has been temporarily imposed across all the courses.

It' almost eerie in places, a bit like a frost that covers everything and you just see the neat definition in grass length between areas such as rough and fairway but all looking dead.

If I think on tomorrow i'll get a picture and post it up.

Steve, our lawns whee brown dried up shreds but after the rain the're gping green already!
They come back really quickly after a bit of rain....to freakin quick, they'll probly need mowing in a day or two ffs!

 

[markcw]

Lets see how many countries send us £3 a month now we have a drought :wh

 

[Mark Wintle]

Still no discernible rain in Dorset; Monday night there was a shower as I walked around the block but I was dry by the time I got home and the ground was barely wet.

I walked across some Stour river meadows yesterday that are totally parched. Worryingly for the farmers they are having to feed the cattle this year's hay crop as the grass hasn't grown at all since the cut. In wetter summers they get a second cut and then it continues to grow.

 

[Another Dave]

Slight evidence of a slight shower last night but essentially meaningless. Cannot remember the last time i saw rain.

I remember a few years back that when the July storms did eventually break, we had record high water levels on the river. The ground is so baked into a clay cap, albeit one with giant cracks, that i think it could happen again.

 

[108831]

No rain here,can't remember what rain looks like...

 

[tigger]

No rain here,can't remember what rain looks like...

I'll remind you what it looks like....it's various sizes of water blobules that fall from the sky .
You'll want it right now but later in the year when the rivers are flooded and unfishable you'll hate it .

It's a love hate relationship when it comes to rain lol.

 

[Tee-Cee]

Unlike many/most others on FM I don't mind fishing in the rain at all, but just to clarify, I'm talking standard, continuous stuff with perhaps brief interludes when it leaves off, and NOT thunderstorms involving lightening!

When I first started fishing back in the very early 50's when I went fishing, or later out on the occasional coach trip, all I had to keep me dry was a WW2 'Cape' that was placed over the head, resembling something akin to a tent, but it did keep one reasonably dry. This was backed up with some form of S'wester hat and as far as I know all that was available at the time. It was that, or not going fishing!

What I'm trying to say is, if you can put up with that and still go, then sitting out these days in rain is a doddle. Over the years I have perfected my own little system of odds and ends to meet (almost) all situations/conditions involving rain and providing I have them all with me (I do a thorough weather check) I can pretty much stay dry, or if caught by a sudden cloudburst, be up and covered in a couple of minutes. I suppose I've just learnt to deal with it mentally (more, coming to terms with it) and although I might mutter a bit of anglo saxon because of its inconvenience, I get myself sorted and just carry on, even if casting becomes limited or things take a little longer.

What I do find odd coming from fishermen is reading 'I didn't bother to go because it was raining' or 'can't face all the hassle of drying the gear' and then reading these same folk also don't go because it is too hot, but we are all different and some are content with being fair weather fishermen. All I can say is I really think they've missed a great deal these past weeks.....

So, we have the current state of affairs with the weather which probably makes catches a bit hit and miss and stops folk from going, yet here I am sitting at home, having had to cancel today's outing at the eleventh hour because of health issues. Hardly seems fair, but then life can be very unfair at times, can it not?
Looking down the garden and seeing a morning full of promise with nice low cloud and as still as you like with the promise of a shower or two, well, it just rubs salt into the wound........................

To keep myself 'in touch' with my pastime I will begin preparation of a number of bird quill floats and in quieter moments offer prayers to the Gods Zeus and Zephryus who undoubtedly control this current weather malaise!

I do, however have hopes of fishing 'tomorrow'..

 

[tigger]

Started raining here about an hour and a half ago. Wether it peters out or not who knows (certainly not the bbc !) But sky looks like it may have plenty water floating about up there...well see .

 

[theartist]

Stop rubbing it in. We still ain't had a drop here since May. Unless you count the official 0.7mm for June - I must have missed those two drops.

Supposed to rain this afternoon (according to the bbc) given how comical their website is I'll believe it when I see it

 

[tigger]

Stopped a while back and just keeps spittin a bit, the sky does look full though but must wanna hang on to it.

 

[sam vimes]

Good steady soaking rain here. Not the short lived downpours or the hour long mizzle, that does no real good, that we've had in the last week.

 

[sagalout]

We are forecast rain late afternoon, the Wye at Ross is less than 5.5 inches, I think we need rain!

 

[theartist]

This is where it's falling right now, There's a huge swathe of country still missing the blue bits

Rainfall Radar - Met Office

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Not a drop here on the edge of Salisbiry Plain . . . . Still quite hot and rather humid too.


I'd love to see and hear a really good thunderstorm

 

[seth49]

We have had a quarter of an inch in the last couple of hours here in Lancashire, nice steady rain, should freshen things up a bit, will do the garden good as we have a hosepipe ban starting on the fifth of August.

The ribble needs some as well, it’s very low at the moment, with lots of the green algae / weed down the margins.