So cold

[Monika]

I think we've been lucky with the weather over this weekend - no rain at all, quite a bit of sun, though the NE wind was cold. As to sowing things outside, I don't reckon to start any sowing outside until early April at the earliest. Although there is a lot of stuff growing in the unheated greenhouse, I cover everything up with bubble plastic and if they are really touchy, like the potatoes which are chitting there, I bring them into the house for night.

Every year, I try to contain myself and not rush things because eventually, everything will catch up in any case!

[peter]

Not down here, all our rugby matches cancelled today due to waterlogged pitches.

[Johnboy]

Hi OH,
I earned £120 today. I did have to tow the Merc and Caravan out. Twelve vehicles at £10. a time.
One ruined Range Rover who decided to try and overtake in the middle of the flood and managed to flood out three other vehicles and eventually flooded itself. The driver would not pay to be towed out so was left there. I suspect that it will need a new engine.
Why are people so foolish? If you cannot see the white dotted line through the water then do not try because it is too deep and always keep to the crown of the road if you can see the lines.
The water at the edges of the road were over 18 inches today and that is where the Range Rover came unstuck.
JB.

[oldherbaceous]

Well done Johnboy, and i think your prices for towing are very cheap.

[richard p]

hi jb , there are a lot of very ignorant drivers out there. i fetched the mother in law for lunch yesterday, one little bit of a road was flooded, the middle of the road has 4 ft of width hatchings and was quite shallow, every other vehicle kept to the middle of their lane in the deeper water..

[Chantal]

If all that water's still there by tonight you could be out and skating; there's a forecast for -4 tonight (BBC and Metcheck)

[lizzie]

I think your rates are rather cheap JB........put the prices up. It serves them right for being so bloody stupid in the first place.......

It's beautiful here today....blue skies all the way but it's so cold. The thermals are out and being worn

[Johnboy]

Hi OH,
I kept £20 and the rest will go to the local Nursery School for more equipment.
Range Rover still in the same position as left and so is a rather expensive BMW and although the flood is still there it is passable today.
If the local authority would listen to the natives the road may flood but only for an hour or so.
There is a ditch that has fallen in and because it is on the land of an absent owner they will not act.
It would take a JCB about half a day and the water would be able to run away. There is a 4ft deep storm drain one side of the piece land and it then goes to an underground pipe under another persons land on the other side to a storm gully through a 14" pipe. I could pee faster than the outfall of that pipe.
The council have spent a fortune making sure the runoffs are clear and laid more pipe to get the water to the storm ditch and the water cannot get away from the ditch.
The council say that they cannot touch the absent owners land. I feel that they should clear the ditch and send the bill to the absent owner. What say you?
JB.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Johnboy, i think that is so kind of you giving the money to the Primary School, what a kind thought.

It annoys me immensely when one can see an easy, practical way of doing something and then the powers to be have to over complicate things.
We have similar problems round our way with all the ditches full and the water running out on the road.

[Monika]

All this towing business reminds me of Malhamdale Show a few years back. The show day weather was fine but the previous week had been very wet. We had a Landrover Discovery then and were ok when it came to leaving the field where all the vehicles were parked, because we arrived very early at the show and left before noon. But by the afternoon, the entire field had turned into a mudbath. At first cars couldn't get up the gentle slope to the road and had to be towed out by Landrovers or 4x4s, then the Landrovers and 4x4s had to be towed by small tractors. By the end of the afternoon, not even they could manage and a large tractor had to pull out the small tractors. A few cars were left behind till the following day. All that was quite a sight!

[Colin Miles]

Looking at my records from my weather station I see that only once this March has the maximum temperature reached the Mean maximum temperature of last March. As last March wasn't particularly warm and with the current forecasts it looks as if we may well be in for a late Spring.

[retropants]

You may be right, I cycle in to work each day, and my frozen fingers and wee nosey will definitely agree, it is still blimmin' freezing, and I am in Middlesex, so quite far south!

[Stephen]

It is bloomin' miserable here in Herts. Wet and cold.

In her most recent letter, my mother asked if I was putting my potatoes in on Good Friday. The answer is a firm no. Traddition be !"£$%^. It's too early and too cold (and too wet!)

[Compo]

I agree with you Stephen, but I might put a few first earlies in, making sure they are covered with a cloche, and some grass clippings for heat in the trench, otherwise, I will be digging well wrapped up with a woolly hat essential for baldies like me.

Shame because I have a lot to get on with, but guess I can dig the spud trenches and wait for it to get a bit better, and do some other jobs too.

Wrap up well everyone and have a good easter

Compo

[Sarah]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this forum, so hope this message comes through! Just thought I'd let you all know we have blizzards in the Cotswolds! I was hoping to get my early potatoes in this weekend (it was brilliantly sunny 15 minutes ago). But now I think they may have to wait a while!