Well glad to report that St Swithun and his Day passed in relatively good weather - to our knowledge it didn't rain at all. Which was a miracle in itself as it was probably the first day not to rain for yonks. However the next day it rained again and so it did for the rest of the week. It managed to turn the oak leaves white with it's wetness and they hung forlornly and curled when they should be broad and green and in their proudest summer coat. But this morning things are definitely looking good. Yesterday was sunny and really quite hot. But today is better. Much better. An azure blue sky, with not a

cloud in sight. Hoorah! We have even managed to find a bit of earth that is dry enough to scratch in. Yippee! Richard, our farmer friend, was up at the crack of dawn checking the cattle and no doubt he will be working flat out now making hay for the winter feed. We would like to help him - but we might get in his way. Binny rushed out and into a sunny spot beside the loose box when Dad opened our barn door, just in case it might suddenly disappear again. We also noted that Mum didn't have her woolly hat and raincoat on this morning. Hoorah and Yippee! It's sunny! Summer has arrived!

Today we are all sprucing ourselves up in preparation for the annual Wattlebury Summer Show. It is one of the highlights of the year and we all walk, run, hop or fly towards the village to see the stalls and meet old friends and have a wonderful time.
This morning started sunny and bright - but as the hours passed, the clouds thickened. We left at 12.30 as the Show was due to start at 1 o'clock. Harvey led the way and told us to all try and hurry as it was looking more and more like rain. And sure enough, just as we approached the village there was a huge clap of thunder and down came the rain like

stair-rods, beating on our feathers and bedraggling us before we had even arrived. The time was five to one. The ice cream van rushed past us splashing through the puddles and on finding he couldn't get onto the green, drove off again. A jolly gentleman who parked by the side of the road exclaimed "This is far too British!" as he fought with his umbrella. All too soon Wattlebury Lane was pretty well impassable and we had to jump and dodge from side to side to avoid being run over or drowned.

The village green was awash. The stalls were plopping. People were dripping. And the tea tent didn't open until 1.30! The band and their instruments huddled under a leaky marquee. The bric-a-brac was a splish-a-splash. In fact everything but the flowers looked soggy! The local Cider Society Stall was thriving - the red-faced brewers enthusiastically offering their samples to passers by.

The welly throwing wasn't attracting much interest - possibly because everyone was wearing theirs. And the skittles looked pretty uninviting too. We met some good friends there though - and we all had a laugh and a crow. Harvey decided to shake himself by the cake stand and Gaylord got his wing trodden on by some well-meaning lady. We persuaded Mum to have a go on the Raffle for us, but she had to enlist the help of a somewhat drier person to unfold the tickets. But we won a prize! And we carried it all the way home - even though some of our party (no names mentioned) wanted to open it before we got back!

St Swithun was Bishop of Winchester from 30 October 852 until his death on 2 July 862. He was born in the reign of Egbert of Wessex and the origin of his name is unknown but it is thought to possibly mean 'Pig Man'.
Swithun's best known miracle was his restoration of a basket of eggs belonging to a Winchester egg-woman that workmen had maliciously broken (how very kind of him). He is regarded as one of the saints to whom one should pray in the event of drought and according to tradition, the weather on his feast day (15 July) will continue for forty days. Around the middle of July, the jet stream should settle into a pattern which, in the majority of years (7 to 8 out of every 10),  holds reasonably steady until the end of August. When the jet stream lies north of the British Isles then continental high pressure is able to move in (and all is well); when it lies across or south of the British Isles, Arctic air and Atlantic weather systems predominate (like this year, when all is definitely not well).

St Swithun's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mare

Harvest added that in her native country - France - they say 'Quand il pleut a la Saint Gervais, Il pleut quarante jours apres' - If it rains on St. Gervais' day (19th of July), it will rain for forty days thereafter.

This raises a couple of questions we feel - 1) Who was responsible for praying to St Swithun in early April? And most importantly 2) Is it going to rain on Sunday?

Well this morning dawned bright, blue and sunny. Very suspicious. And sure enough before very long we could see the first wispy mauve clouds floating from the west - like a far off smoke signal from a wayward tribe. We had a lot of really heavy rain last evening and the ditches are still running rapidly this morning. There seemed to be a lot of Peter Rabbit's family playing on the paths and verges - much to Harvey's delight - and on closer inspection we found that their burrows were filled to the top with water.

Peter doesn't seemed too bothered though and was enjoying bounding around in the early sunshine. It may be a problem for him if Mr Fox saunters past however!
We thought we would listen to the weather forecast on Harvest's old radio - and gathered around by the straw bales, hoping for some cheery news.
"Outbreaks of heavy rain are expected to reach southwest England during Thursday morning and extend east across the rest of southern England on Thursday afternoon.
Saturated ground means that there is a continuing risk of flooding".
And on Friday:
"Outbreaks of heavy rain are likely in most areas of England and Wales (except the far north) during Friday.
Saturated ground means that there is a continuing risk of flooding".
And on Saturday:
"Heavy and thundery showers are likely to affect parts of southern Britain on Saturday, some of which could be slow-moving giving spells of more persistent heavy rain.
Saturated ground means that there is a continuing risk of flooding".
Nothing cheery there then! Especially if you are in the south like us. Put on your sou'wester Peter! Sylvia and Gordon xxx

What on earth is going on?  One minute the sun is out, then it goes in. Then it thunders and pours and then the sun comes out again. How confusing. The ground is absolutely water-logged now due to incessant rain for weeks and instead of enjoying a nice summer dustbath, we are wallowing in mud up to our ankles. The grass in Lois' field is so high that if she is sitting down we can't see her at all! It makes navigating for grubs quite difficult in the overgrowth. And there is quite a wind blowing today as well. We have seen virtually every sort of cloud that you can get. Some are very pretty and some are very moody - and because of the wind pushing them along, they keep changing patterns and colours all the time. What a strange day! Gordon xxx