Still dry!

I was surprised to hear on Radio 4 this morning that Suffolk had experienced extreme downpours this week. I’m not sure that’s absolutely accurate – it might have been wiser to say that some parts of the county had heavy rain, because we certainly didn’t see it here. There have been a couple of showers since last weekend, but not enough to make a significant increase to the levels in our water barrels. The grass is now so brown that it will be nothing short of a miracle if it revives. Some plants are losing their leaves already and even the roses have stopped flowering to conserve energy. We are still getting plenty of ripe tomatoes as they are getting the last of the rain water and I was pleased to give away the excess earlier this week. I will put some in the freezer today – even though they are mushy when they thaw, they will be added to soups, bolognaise and casseroles during the winter. On that note, I shall be making plenty each time in preparation for the winter ahead. It’s going to be a challenging one by the looks of it and we’ll all have to be economical in whichever way we can.