Those of us in the UK have been experiencing one of the wettest summers on record. As I'm typing now it's pouring with rain and has done for most of the afternoon. In March there were screams of "Drought!!" and in the South where I live, there was a hosepipe ban. One perky soul on the television suggested that we needed rain everyday until the December holiday in order to replenish our low reservoir levels......Ha!! I think we should be very careful what we wish for!!
So after the wettest 'drought' on record, the countryside is waterlogged. My husband and myself took our dogs for a walk on Sunday and the flooding everywhere was amazing! Some places were completely impassable even with our rubber boots on; we went across a very flooded field and came to a gateway whereby the water would certainly come over the top of our boots. We let the dogs through (they swam across the gate way) and then looked for a route to enable us to get across. Next to the gateway was a 'tiger trap', which is a fixed cross country jump, designed for the local hunt to go over; it's wider at the bottom than the top and is quite an inviting jump. The water didn't appear to be so deep around the jump, so my husband suggested that we climb over it and collect the dogs on the other side. He therefore climbed over the top of the jump (I'm jolly glad he went first!
) put his feet down to where he thought the ground was, but unfortunately he hadn't realised that there was a dirty great ditch on the landing side of the jump and the next thing I knew there was a resounding splash and he was flat on his back and submerged in a huge pool of muddy water!! I'm afraid I was mean enough to laugh (once I realised he hadn't broken his neck) and he did see the funny side, although the poor chap had to walk all the way home soaked to the skin and squelching unpleasantly. Thankfully, although it was wet, it was also fairly warm for which we were grateful, as I didn't want a pneumonia case on my hands!!! 
Still, the good news is that the hosepipe ban has been lifted, so I can water my plants (those that haven't been completely drowned!) I understand from the posts of some of my friends in the USA that the weather has been very hot, there have been fires and rain is needed. Feel free to have some of our rain.....I fear we had our summer in the three hot weeks in March!!
Feeling very soggy,
