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weather: august 2004
Week beginning Sunday 1st August - the month starts with a real beauty: sunny, dry and still. On Monday the second it is cloudier, and very close. In the early evening there is a shower of rain. Early on tuesday morning there is a fierce thunderstorm, with loads of rain. Later in the afternoon there is more torrential rain: probably the most rain we've had in any one day this year. Wednesday is warm, humid, with a fair amount of sun. On thursday it is very humid, and Wiltshire is deluged with torrential rain, but we get none, missing the storms by a few miles. Friday - the day Junior is born, is hot, often humid, and sunny to start and then cloudier. Saturday is a beauty, hot dry and sunny.
Week beginning Sunday 8th August - It's always warm in Paulton Hospital where we are with Junior. But on sunday afternoon it rains heavily, and there is more on Monday. Tuesday and wedensady are generally cloudy after sunny starts, with only a few drops of rain. However, much of the rest of England (and Scotland) has been deluged with 100mm of rain in 48 hours. Thursday the 12th is grim indeed: black cloud and heavy persistent showers are the order of the day. Friday is drier, and saturday the 13th is a beauty: dry and sunny. These days have become rare.
Week beginning Sunday 15th August - After a beautiful saturday, on Sunday we revert to a day of cloud, although it is only in the evening that it rains. On Monday, the town of Boscastle in Cornwall is swept away by a wall of water after torrential rain. Amazingly, we only get a scattering of rain here. But the week generally is a mixture of gloom, sharp showers, and occasional hours of sunshine when it feels almost like summer. Friday the 20th however, has no redeeming qualities weather-wise, a cloudy day punctuated by downpours. Saturday the 21st is better: there is no rain and a reasonable amount of sun.
Week beginning Sunday 22nd August - Sunday is reasonable and better than originally forecast, with some sun. It is now a case of enjoy any decent weather when we have it, as more stormy weather is on the way. Overnight on sunday and then during the afternoon on Monday the rain falls with a vengeance. The showers are as heavy as any we've had this wet summer. Tuesday and wednesday are similar - same amount of cloud but much less rain. Thursday is a relief from the cloud and rain as the sun shines; but by the early hours of Friday the 27th it is raining quite hard again. Saturday is supposed to be better - it is, but although it is dry and there are periods of sunshine, it is decidedly cooler than of late.
Week beginning Sunday 29th August - Sunday is cool, with a couple of heavy showers. There is some sunshine later. The early hours of Monday are noticeably cold. It throws it down mid morning for 15 minutes, then clears up a bit. Tuesday the 31st, the last day of August, is warmer. It's is probably one of the best days of a very wet and windy month.
the garden diary: august 2004
This diary is simply my record of what I did in the garden and why. Maybe
at the end of this year I will find it useful to read back through the diary.
I like to think I write in the spirit of the old gentlemen amateurs.
During August 2004 I have been unable to write as often as usual,
due to the birth of Joseph James.
So that is august over. Since Junior was born I have not found the time to write as often as I was. I have, however, had plenty of time to potter around the garden, either with Joepsh in my arms or whilst he sleeps.
August has been, basically, wet and windy, the wettest for fifty years and one that will be remembered for the images of Boscactle being washed away. So there has been plenty of growth but also some plants and flowers have rotted away and others have been savaged by the wind.
The short border, which I had planned more specifcally than anywhere else,
looks half decent now, maybe 80% of what I'd hoped. The rudbeckias I grew
have seed look great, although of three varieties I tried, only two - prairie
sun and gloriosa have flowered. My plantings of Echinacea
has disappointed, but there has been little sun recently and they should
do better another year on. No gallardia raised form seed have flowered
(yet). Phlox, cosmos, asters, and now cerinthe, have. Cosmos is easy and
long lasting and I will grow more next year.
The wet and wind has made growing herbs like basil and coriander difficult. Onions have been fine and I've been eating my way through my harvest.
My two gourd plants have rampaged away, producing thirty odd fruits. Overall,
I'm slightly disappointed with the garden. The long border is under filled
and I will have to rectify that next year.
The garden has finally shown signs of animal life - frogs, toads, bees , butterfiles, grasshoppers, but nothing on last summers scale when each day was drenched in sun and there were hummingbird moths the size of small birds buzzing around. I'm pleased and slightly amazed that my tiny pond has become home to two frogs.
Sunday 15th August 2004 : evening: junior is born
Junior - Joseph James - was born at 8.41am on Friday 6th August. It all happened quite quickly in the end; on Thursday evening Deborah and I were talking about what we might do at the weekend, and less than 12 hours later Joe was born.
Obviously this dairy ain't going to get written so regularly now. That
doesn't mean that the garden is no longer important to me; in fact since
Deborah and Junior came back from Paulton hospital last week I've had plenty
of time to potter around. The pond has sprung a leak, but there are two
frogs living in the remains of the water, which is wonderful. Saw a couple
of other toads in the garden on evenings last week, when I'd wander round
with a torch after returning form Paulton.
Thursday 5thd August 2004 : evening
Got back form work reasonably early and went for a walk along the Cotswold Way. I wanted to go one last time before Junior's birth as it could be the last time for a while, maybe the last time this summer.
Tuesday 3rd August 2004 : evening : thunder storms
Last night I was awoken by thunder and heavy rain drumming on the roof. This afternoon we had more torrential rain. In total, we've had about 23mm rain in 16 hours or so, as much as we've had in one day all year, and more than we had throughout all of last years hot, dry August. This evening, when I came back form five a side at 7.30, the skies had cleared and I pottered around the garden. It struck me how the evenings are already drawing in now: the sun had already dropped below the trees behind the garden, and the shadows had licked the furthest and sunniest corner of the patio.
Monday 2nd August 2004 : evening : summer rain
I've just finished mowing the back lawn with my decrepit and dying mower. After I finished and was raking in the grass it started raining - not heavily, certainly not enough to go inside but with widely spaced large raindrops. It maybe rained for half an hour. After two or three hot days, and with fresh mown grass around, the smell of the rain on the earth was beautiful, and the sight of rain shrouding the hill is lovely. Rain in summer, after a period of heat and dryness, can be exquisite. It was a lovely hour or so, and refreshed me after a soporific day.
Sunday 1st August 2004 : morning
I've been up early this morning and have spent an hour sitting on the patio pondering the earth around me. For the first sunday in some weeks I have been able to sit in the early shade without being shivered by the wind, and watch the sun gradually come up over the garden. I put out some bird seed and within minutes there were twenty plus birds flitting around, including a small 'flock', eight or ten strong, of starlings that have recently become regular visitors again, after a few months away. Today there was also a Great Tit that I hadn't seen before, amongst the usual sparrows, blackbirds, collared doves and fat wood pigeons (though these were late for breakfast today). The field to the west of my garden, that leads up to the Cotswold Way, was full with a herd of cattle, and the odd cabbage white butterfly and bumble bee was beginning to wake in the garden; it being sunday morning there was hardly any traffic around, so for a few blissful moments it was almost like I was miles away from the noise and dirt of modern civilisation, and not merely the length of the house.
A few days ago I was saying to Deborah how little wildlife of the bees and butterflies type there had been in the garden this year. In the last few days, as the sun has come out, and with it the flowers and their pollen, the garden at last looks like a living place. I suspect that the damp and windy weather has killed off some local habitats.
Now,as soon as I finish writing this, I'm
going back outside to enjoy the outdoors whilst this weather holds.