Four Seasons in One Day

I have a friend who loves the rain. She says that listening to it on her corrugated iron roof is comforting. I don't like rain. Or perhaps I should say I don't like heavy rain. When I hear it battering down on my roof it means it's going to leak and that in the morning I'll find the hen house and rabbitry have been flooded out where the water has run underneath the sheds.

Weather is the major concern to people living in the country. A pleasant sunny summer day can't be appreciated as it could mean there is a drought on the way and everything will begin to brown off and die and the animals will suffer. Wind means the elctricity can cut out and trees may block off the road. In October 2000 my hen house uprooted itself in the middle of the night and I discovered it next morning perched on the clothes line. The hens were running around as chickens do (soaked to the skin) while one gallant broody bantam (who had refused to desert her post) was sitting out in the open in a nestbox half full of water. This is why the hen house is now wired to warratahs (metal posts) dug into the ground so it looks like it's not going to do another Wizard of Oz in a hurry.

Then there is the winter. This is my least favourite season. Not only do you have wind and rain but you have frosts. These kill your garden and make your life a misery as you try to go out in the early hours to feed the animals bundled up in as many jerseys as possible wearing two pairs of gloves to try and prevent chilblains. The grass isn't growing so you have to make sure that grazing animals have enough hay to get them through the day. You also hope that you've done enough cleaning and essential chores in the Autumn so you don't have to spend hours out in the cold.

However now the seasons are changing. Summer begins later and lasts longer. August no longer seems to have warm balmy days reminding you that Spring is on its way but is a chilly wintry month. How to cope with all this seasonal dysfunction? I take each day as it comes. If it's a lovely sunny day I do chores (washing is a major concern) and catch up with extra work. I plan so I can catch up with inside work when it's raining. I'm always behind and there is always something crying out to be done but at least it's never boring.