It begins

AND SO the hosepipe begins today. Needless to say it is raining to celebrate the fact! Like most people around here I do resent being short of water when only a few months ago we were literally inundated with water. Our problem then was getting through streams in gardens & across roads. Extra lakes appeared all over the place. As for the poor people in Cockermouth & Workington, talk about adding insult to injury! I really can't help being struck by the thought that our water authority must be singularly inefficient in their collection & storage of water. Heaven knows what they would do in a really dry country like Australia for example.

Not that it makes much difference to us. Our lawn has remained lush green - the only one in the area according to Al, our gardener. I did a bit of weeding in the rockery yesterday & below the dry crust the soil almost oozed water. The only watering we do is to our vegetables & pot plants. They're in full sun (when it deigns to appear) & with limited soil & therefore limited water retention. They are all in pots or raised beds on concrete. Fortunately they've not banned watering cans. We'll leave what water we have in our water butts for now in case they decide tap water can no longer be used for any purpose in the garden!