STORMY WEATHER IN JULY

I was saying to a friend yesterday afternoon that it felt like rain.  It was a warm and cloudy day and I could feel the pressure in the atmosphere and I said that it felt like there could be a cracking good storm like the ones we more often get in June.   Then, last night, I had a kind of nightmare in which we'd had a gale force wind here, high up on the Pennine Mountains of West Yorkshire, and not a solitary rose bloom, not a bud, remained in my garden.  Each climber and rose bush was devoid of leaves and all the stems were blackened.  It looked more like there had been a fire.   You know that kind of dream where, when you wake up, you have to double check to make sure it was a dream after all?  You can imagine my relief when I looked out of the kitchen window this morning and saw that my garden was still a painted canvas of white, pinks, and reds. 



Rose garden - the photograph doesn't do it justice at all.


 

You can imagine my relief, and surprise, when I discovered it had actually rained overnight.  I don't think it has rained for over two weeks; certainly I don't remember it raining since I had the retractable awning put over my kitchen window but perhaps my memory is playing tricks.  We have had glorious sunshine day after day with temperatures in the high twenties and above, and the lawn at the front of my home was turning brown, the lawn at the back was showing signs of turning, and I was getting tired of continually having to go around with the watering can, concentrating the water on my plants' roots rather than wasting it by watering bare soil with a hose. 



I had almost prayed for rain.   We have to be careful what we wish for.   I saw the weather forecast this morning and for the next seven days or so they have forecast stormy weather.  I just hope that last night's nightmare doesn't become a dream come true.  It's typical though, isn't it, as this is the beginning of the local holiday period.  I feel for those who have been at work and at school and now they are free to do as they wish for a while, the sun has been replaced by unstable weather.



On the bright side, rain does put nitrogen into the soil and it always seems to give my plants a lift that they simply do not get from water that comes out of my tap.  By the way, if you live in Yorkshire, you can check out the Yorkshire Water Website - What's In Your Water.  According to the website, Yorkshire water is not artificially impregnated with fluoride.  According to many health authorities it is considered that although fluoride can help prevent dental decay (cavies) it can also have a detrimental effect: World Health Organization (WHO) - Natural Hazards - Water Sanitation.