There is a rhyme from yesteryear that children use to chant that went . . .
'rain, rain go away, come back again another day'
Well it has done just that, it came back the next day, and the next and the next and for several days after that
All of the water butts around the garden are already filled to the brim and even the pond is full and on the point of overflowing. Down at the lower, bottom corner of the garden where the lofts are situated it is a nightmare. Despite an array of paving stones the word quagmire does not do justice to the situation.
Next year, instead of veggies I think am going to plant rice.
Here in the bottom South East corner we appear to be heading for our wettest, windiest, most sun-denied year for a long time. The frost and snow has already returned so I dread to think what the real winter period will throw at us. Currently it certainly is not the sort of weather that encourages me put on my wellies, waterproofs and sweaters to plod up and down our rather large garden getting birds ready for the shows, but we shall see what and how it develops.
Now for some really 'hot off the press' news. It is being very strongly rumoured in some quite influential and knowledgeable circles that DEFRA as we know it is soon to be broken up into much smaller and quite different component parts. Quite what short or long-term impact this will have for pigeon fanciers and other livestock breeders, is still very much an unknown quantity. I think that for some time it has been recognised that in its current form the organisation catering for the environment, as well as food and rural affairs was just too big and often out of touch with reality
I will keep you all informed as and when I hear of anything else that breaks on this issue. I will try to keep my finger on the button so as to be in on the ground floor if our particular section of the small animal groups comes to the fore. It could well be that we are (mis)controlled by a headless chicken during the almost certainly protracted learning curve activated by any ensuing changeover period.
This is an extract from Near and Far, the full article appears in the December 2008 issue of Feathered World
