Merlins May Be Magical..but they're not Big and they're not Clever!!!

OK!…….So what’s with the weather? I really have had enough. The garden has become so over grown it’s almost met in the middle. The brook has been up and down like a whore’s drawers and there hasn’t been a whiff of a barbeque for weeks.

Two weeks ago, our neighbour knocked at the door and said, had we seen the clouds? We looked out and saw a bizarre circular formation above our houses.

By half past eight, it looked like this and then the heavens opened.

I had a disturbed night as the rain was so heavy most of the night. I got up at 6.30am and looked out of the office window and could see there was a little bit of water in next door’s garden, from the brook. I assumed it had spilled over a little in the night and was going back down now. I mentioned it to Mike and went off to the bathroom. A couple of minutes later, he came running back in and said we had to move the chickens as the water was coming up, FAST!

The annoying thing was, it was now quite sunny but the water was rushing up the garden at an unstoppable force. So, dressed in our dressing gowns and old shoes, we had to go and rescue the hen house complete with occupants, which was now half submerged. Wading up to our knees, we had to get them over a narrow bridge, usually this is done with an empty coop and we are able to invert it so the narrow top passes easily through the handrails. This time it was complete with occupants and so had to be lifted clear of the handrails. Not easy and slipping about on wet wood didn’t help.

On the way, I noticed our cat, Merlin, was sat on the bench by the pond. The bench was now encircled by water and I wondered why the stupid cat had gone through the water to get there. When we finished with the hen house I realised that Merlin might still be on the bench. I waded back down to look. By now there was a very distressed cat who was just about to be submerged by water. It then occurred to me. Every morning he goes to sit on this bench. It must have been dry when he sat there but the water came in too quickly for him to escape. It was a good job I’d seen him, the bench was totally submerged soon after I saved him.

This was taken from my office, Merlin sitting on top of the hen house after his escapade. He's still wearing a shocked look! The brook. Can anyone recommend some good plants for a heavy, moist soil?

The brook went back down but a few days later we had another night of torrential rain. This time it came up in the middle of the afternoon. I was in the office and a neighbour came round to alert us. The chickens were still on the high ground, so perfectly safe and all the cats were in. Then I noticed next door’s Cairn Terrier, Merlin was standing in the middle of the flood and appeared to be stuck. At first I couldn’t understand why and called him to encourage him to move. I realised he was trapped on a raised bed and the water was rising up to his little fat tummy. His owners were out and so, yet again, I had to go wading through the water to rescue another Merlin.

The floods have subsided now but the weather hasn’t improved much.

No trampolining today!

Catherine and Isabella have arrived from Germany and we are trying to find them somewhere to live and a car for Catherine. They have been here a week and I can honestly say, I’ve barely had a moment to myself in that time, so apologies if I haven’t read your latest entries yet, I will get there, I promise.

Here is a short clip filmed this morning, I was feeling arty, so went for the watercolour effect.It’s a lovely mother and daughter moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYcfMBQIATo

Isabella asleep.

 

A very special thank you gift for me, from Catherine & Flo, some David Austen Roses.

 

 

And thank you for the all the lovely comments on my last entry.