Crocuses & Leaks

We've had really strong winds over the last five days or so, and awfully heavy rain. The drain off the hillside opposite the house is struggling, and there's a pair of visible streams running off the hill feeding it (it usually restricts itself to a subterranean source). The big problem with the wind has been that the fleece covering some of the new perennials has been blown about, and is a bit worse for the wear; and there are several split seams in the fruit netting. We stitched the nets together using cord that hasn't worn too well, it transpires, and there were five splits this yesterday. I've repaired four of them, using the same twine (no better material on hand), but will have to find something better: possibly a polypropylene cord. The last split is on one of the raspberry cages, which isn't within reach—and the ground's too wet and the wind too high to go up on a stepladder. Temporary fix, therefore, was all I could manage.

The other unfortunate result of the heavy rain is that we have a leaking roof. Probably not caused by the weather, but potentially. I think the cause is leaking flashing from the chimney, which means rain is running down the outside of the chimney, through the loft space, and coming through the bedroom ceiling. It's not a huge quantity of water, but it's going to require some ceiling repairs, and a careful look at the joist holding up the ceiling. My builder is coming out to look at the flashing as soon as he can...

Old houses: don't you love them? At least it's not as bad as the (new) Glaswegian block of flats that lost its roof last week.

In brighter news, I discovered that several pots of crocuses have come up, so I moved them from the 'out of season' area near the workshop to the more prominent patio outside the kitchen. More daffodils, including a few of the 2009 planting, are coming up: the ones that were already above ground are really getting going now! The bank at the edge of the garden under the track is also thickly covered with new bulbs coming up: puschkinia, scilla, muscari, and narcissi. In the same vein, I spotted a few crocuses on my ride to work (on Upper Brook Street, Manchester). I've been keeping an eye for the last couple of weeks, but today was the first time I've spotted them.