More rain in Paradise

Another day where we dodged the downpours and fretted about wasting the weekend. Working full time limits the amount of time spent working on the farm so being unable to tackle any of the projects currently underway is intensely frustrating.

The rain was so hard the workshop flooded again. This a going to be problem to solve as the water seems to be getting in through a breeze block at floor level just above the damp course. Access to the outside of the wall is impossible as there is an old garage building we us as a junk store, well not exactly junk, more like treasured items store. Things I cant throw away like a broken pressure washer and old car parts for a car I sold over ten years ago. So important are the contents of this building they have been moved at least three times since we moved in. First they were dumped unceremoniously in the ruins of the barn. When that was repaired the priceless artifacts were transferred to the static caravan. When that was dismantled and scrapped they were carefully put into the garage. Its all vital stuff and may come in handy one day, you never know when you will need a steering rack gaiter for a Triumph TR7, or need the parts off one of seven old bikes, you are bound to put to good use a broken squash racket or half a fishing rod so its all best kept on the just in case principle.

So unless I take down the garage and rehouse yet again the collection of future antiquities I don't see how the flooding problem can be solved. Perhaps further research in the "How to build houses" book followed by a crash course in "How to demolish garages" is required.

We did have a visitor, a nice lady who came and bought two chickens for a whole twenty pounds! This means that the advert cost has been covered but we haven't made enough to retire just yet. She lives a few miles away and is plagued by foxes just like us. She also repeated the rumour that well meaning people are trapping urban foxes and releasing them on the common. I don't know the accuracy of this statement but more and more people now repeat it as fact.

The day had its plus side though, the video clip was one of them, Katy is a fine specimen of sheep and is still treated to a bottle feed a day just to maintain the sheep shepherd link. She doesn't quite come when her name is called but she does come running if she thinks there is the possibility of a free feed. Daffodil is the same, they are going to replace the breeding ewes Roxy, Rita and Rosie in two years so they have to be very tame to lead the flock back to Rock HQ when we call as we don't have a sheep dog to round them up off the 500 hundred acres of common that we are lucky enough to live on.

The sun came out late afternoon so we were able to pick more blackcurrants. This led to us collecting some rhubarb and the accidental discovery of a meals worth of new potatoes that had self seeded in the compost heap. The rain came back so we resigned to the fact that a long and leisurely Sunday roast of our own lamb with the free spuds and a rhubarb crumble for afters was all we could do for the rest of the day.

Life's so tough sometimes.