If you’ve visited us and been here when it was raining, you know why we put in a modern heating system. Heating with wood was cold, really cold in the winter, and miserably damp when it rained. I mentioned that as we’re in the middle of what is forecast to be a week of heavy rain.
Even I, who love all things outdoors in some pretty miserable weather, have curtailed all outdoor activities as much as possible. I’ve gratefully let my staff, many much younger than me, do the duties needed to keep Estate livestock safe while I and my wife stay in our modernised crafter cottage reading, listening to music, and just enjoying each other’s company.
Mind you, that much rain impacts everything. It’s far worse in its own way than a blizzard as folks know that’s really dangerous, but forget that a torrential rain storm can both cause hypothermia and cause anyone to get lost under the best possible conditions. It’s certainly possible to die within a handful of minutes. And the livestock has to be kept inside (save the ducks and geese who really like getting wet) in order to be safe.
Not to mention that I and my staff will have very long work days as soon as it stops raining, as there’ll be paths to rebuild, gardens to check for damage (good practices help minimise damage), forests to survey for dangerous hanging branches, and such and so forth.
But for now, we’ve got the Penguin Cafe Orchestra playing, I’m writing this post up, my wife is reading some mystery novel, one by Tony Hillerman I think, and we’re nice and toasty. That’s enough to make us as content as our cats are right now.
