And the heavens opened.

[oldherbaceous]

Well i don't give up easily at work just because of a bit of rain, but i have today.
I've been summer pruning a rather large Wisteria, i know it's a little early, but it has been getting a bit rampant and the new shoots are getting behind the gutters and under the tiles.
I was getting on well despite it raining steadily but then the heavens just opened, and it just hasn't stopped. I managed to get the top half of it done so all the shoots are now out of the tiles and gutters.
But golly did i get soaked, and when we started to get some big flashes of lightning, i thought it was time to call it a day.
The road was that flooded when i was coming home, i'm sure my barrow aquaplaned a couple of times.
Well i've had a shower got changed, and think i will have a look at a couple of bulb catolouges, is it really that time of the year already.

Anyone else got soaked today.

[Jenny Green]

Sorry Herby that was my fault.
I hung a load of washing out before I left for work this morning.

[Bren]

No OH, some of us had a choice and stayed indoors, cleaned the oven/cooker instead, a job well done on a day like this.
Hope you didn't catch a chill.

Bren

[Bren]

HI Jenny
Will that lot have to be washed again with all the muck in the air/ rain?
Bren

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Jenny, those baggy bloomers weren't amongst the washing were they, no wonder it hammered it down.

Dear Bren, i don't think i will catch a chill, i'm pretty hardy, but thanks for your concern.
I would rather get wet than clean a cooker though, so you must be a better person than me.

[retropants]

I didn't get a soaking today, because I took the car to work (I don't often) But yesterday, I had to cycle home in a similar downpour
Luckily the waterproof trousers (read pantaloons, as they are soo voluminous!!) and jacket kept the worst of it off. My feet, however, were rather prune like when I got home, due to my shoes filling with water as I cycled home!!

[Compo]

What effect is this having on people's crops. We have got rife blight on our plot, everyone's spuds and outdoor toms have been decimated. Cukes and pumpkins have hardly got going, same for greenhouse toms and the runner beans are in flower but not setting that quick, it's grim, think I am going to go mad on the winter veg this year as stuff will be dear in the shops me thinks?

Compo

[lizzie]

I was thinking the same Compo. There was a report on our local news that prices for veg and bread would be going up. Will have to start buying bread flour again and planning a winter harvest for the lottie.

Hope no-one is flooded out or anything horrible. It's rained all day solidly here. My son finished primary school and he had "rain" pouring down his face. At least, that's what he's told us anyway

We have some local road flooding here, and some of the drains are overspilling cos of the amount of rain. Luckily, i'm on a hill so the house should be fine.

Is everyone else ok?

[Chantal]

It's rained here for nearly 24 hours without cessation but mercifully we've had no flooding.

Since packing Tim off on his "honeymoon" on Tuesday morning, I've been painting the kitchen as it was too wet to do the gardening. The trouble is it was so dark all day I've had to have the lights on and it wasn't easy to see what I was doing. Also, every time the lightning started again I lost my wireless internet and it stuffed up the satelite for the TV. Now the wind is picking up and blowing the rain in through the windows.

Oh well, the rain may be coming down in biblical proportions, but I'd still rather be in England than anywhere else in the world.

[Monika]

We had a good gardening day today and the rain (and not much of it) only arrived about 5.30pm, but the lack of sunshine really seems to be affecting the filling out of pea and broad bean pods because there are few insects about. Since the beginning of July, our thermometre has only reached 20 degrees on two days, mostly it has hovered around 16 (or 61 in old money). At the moment, at 7pm, there are only 13 degrees and a nasty northeasterly wind is blowing. Doesn't feel or look like mid-summer.

[Clive.]

Another 40mm rain here today starting at 1pm...

Yesterday afternoon it had at last dried enough to get on the ground once more and pull the 3 prong cultivator through to freshen things up a bit...that didn't last long then

It was lovely though for our evening garden walk on Wednesday and we did have a lovely sunny day yesterday too..quite amazing as many places in Lincs got yet another deluge.

Clive.

[richard p]

i was talking(on skype) to my brother inlaw on sunday, about 30 miles from malaga, outside temp was in the fifties, the village pool was 28 degrees and he was sat infront of a portable aircon unit.... and theve still got august to come.. think i'll stay here.

[Chantal]

I've just found the perfect crop for next summer

http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/663

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Chantal, i would imagine you would look quite fetching wearing ones of those hats you see them wearing in the paddy fields.

[jane E]

I dug up my blighted potatoes this morning and was quite surprised to find that the tubers weren't blighted really. I'll have to eat them quickly and keep checking them.Then at 1pm the rain started and it's been bucketing down ever since. None of our animals 'do' rain, so there were 8 sheep in one pig arc,4 piglets in a different arc, 7 chickens in the barn and a ram in his shelter and it all looked very forlorn and quiet.Then as soon as I start rattling buckets it doesn't matter whether it's dry or wet! They're all there and noisy.