Yet again, I got beaten back by rain. The only difference this week is that it was accompanied by thunder and lightning. It was forecast to start at 4pm. As usual I took no notice of the forecast as I headed down. Seriously, how often is the forecast right? I thought to myself, looking up at the clear blue sky with hardly a cloud.
Opening the shed, I grabbed the secateurs and began hacking at the willow. I love this plant but it's a huge effort to keep it in check! Luckily, it was a quick job to sort out the path side as it's only been a couple of weeks since I did battle with it. The plot side and top need some work another day.
Pleased with my progress, I turned to the plum and apricot tree which are threatening to completely overshadow the plot. The base of the plum was sprouting massively so I tackled that first. I cut the new shoots back to the ground but there was only so much I can do without loppers. I trimmed back some of the plum trees longer branches for good measure. Next was the apricot. I am rather frustrated with both the plum and apricot as they have yet to produce a single fruit!
With the bed now more accessible, I began to clear the weeds away under the plum. These weeds have been on my to do list for weeks and it was good to get it all cleared. As I finished, I looked up to find some clouds rolling across the sky. But it still didn't look like rain.
I moved on to feeding the chickens. Maude and Mavis got stuck into several handfuls of weeds whilst the big girls tackled a courgette. In the new coop, the girls were busy scratching. I admit that I may have terrorised them by emptying the lake on the roof tarpaulin. The water cascaded down causing a panic with all of them sprinting into the nest box. Suddenly, Gertie had lots of friends hiding with her!
By the time I had finished hand feeding Gertie, it was very dark. The clouds were menacing and the first few drops of rain began. As I sprinted to the shed, the heavens opened. By the time I was halfway up the plot, I was drenched. Throwing myself into the shed, I hid there for half an hour before the rain lessened enough for me to risk running home!
The heaviness of the rain was such that the chickens in the purple Omlet were at risk of having their run completely flooded. The water from the guttering had washed the bedding in the run into the drain, blocking it from draining properly. Using a scraper, I cleared away the bedding despite being drenched from the overflowing guttering above. Fortunately, the water drained quickly and the Topknot Gang were able to walk about rather than paddle!
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