Happy rain

In total we probably had two hours of rain since we arrived early July and really that made no difference whatsoever.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen the ground so dry and of course we were worried about wild fires.  When we went to the beach for Mr FF’s birthday we saw a big fire on a hillside, the helicopters and planes were dropping water and still working that evening when we left.  From our house we saw a few fires in the distance and one day the valley was full of smoke but fortunately there was nothing local.

We had various weather warning for thunderstorms but it wasn’t until Monday this week that we got proper rain and it was the best kind.  Often after a dry spell we get violent storms, damaging the garden and flooding the roads, sometimes with huge hailstones that destroy precious crops.   But this was gentle continuous downpour that lasted all day, the right kind of rain.

Of course it’s still nothing like what we need but it’s so welcome.  The temperature dropped enough for Mr FF to put on a jumper, for the first time we didn’t eat dinner outside and I returned to sleeping in the bed rather than on it.  Blue sky was back before the end of the day and the temperature is set to rise for the rest of the week but it was joyful to see the garden so refreshed.  I discovered the panorama option on the iPad camera,  I like it, you can see early evening the cloud clearing around us.

Now it Tuesday morning and the temperature has crept back up to over 20 degrees.  A quick sweep up, return the outside cushions, sun sails, table cloth and open up the house for some good fresh air after trying to keep out the heat for weeks.  It’s wonderful, we are both back into our shorts and gardening, we feel invigorated.