It was tipping it down all last night and blowing quite a gale.
The electricity went off about 3am but our solar battery backup system kicked in and kept us running until the power came back on at lunch time.
Maggie came round this morning to check we were okay. I took the opportunity while she was with Valentina to clear some small branches that had come down along the lane.
Maggie had come over in their old Land Rover so she was okay but she said the road down below was getting flooded again.
Even though it is a B road the council never clears the drains any more. So I took a spade and managed to get rid of the twigs and leaves that were clogging up a couple of the worst offenders. It was good to see the water go down quite quickly once the drains were clear again.
On the way back to the house I popped over to the polytunnel. We've got more chard and carrots than we can eat at the moment so I thought Maggie might be able to make use of some.
Lucky I did. The door had somehow come open and the storm last night had broken it off one of the hinges.
I'm not sure how that happened as I always make sure it is firmly bolted shut at night to prevent this very thing happening.
I've lashed it up with some baler twine for now but hopefully I can repair the frame and get a new hinge on it before we get another storm.
At least no branches came down and gashed a hole in it like last winter. The replacement plastic coverings are getting so expensive these days.
Some growers are using the new sheeps wool PolyFleeces to protect their tunnels over the winter. I've been very tempted. They are about the same price as a new plastic covering and if you use them in combination with solar LED arrays you can really boost your cropping through the winter months.
That would be useful as there didn't seem to be as much chard and as many carrots ready as when I checked a few days ago. Must be my age!
Maggie had had to dash off while I was fixing the polytunnel door so I missed her.
That was quite convenient as I was feeling a bit woozy when I got back.
Valentina reckoned I had overdone it with clearing the lane and the drains. I didn't mention the polytunnel to her.
I'm only a few weeks off 70 so I guess I need to pace myself a bit better now.
Valentina made me a sandwich and a cup of tea and then I drifted off for a couple of hours.
With the fire going and a comfy chair afternoon naps are particularly hard to resist these days.
My phone woke me just after four.
It was Amy on Skype. She called to see how Valentina was doing.
She's finishing up in Morocco at the moment, and then she's off to Spain to cover the switch on of the Solar Dragon connection to Europe. They are sending Amy ahead to make arrangements and scout out the location.
Her big news though was that she has got a job on a real film.
Commercial work pays the rent but her dream has always been to get in to proper film making.
I must admit I hadn't heard of the director when she told us but I looked up Mckenzie Grant on IMDB and it seems his films have won quite a few awards on the indie circuit.
Amy doesn't know many details yet but apparently its an action adventure, and the fun part is that it is mainly going to be shot on location in Greenland.
She is really excited.
By the time we'd finished the Skype call it was getting too dark to go down to check out around the lake.
And I must admit I didn't feel up to it. It's quite a climb back up and we still haven't cleared a proper path down there yet.
I took it easy this evening and just watched some YouTubes.
The new Mountain Rangers that Rivian have just released are getting great reviews.
There's been quite a few electric gator buggy type vehicles coming out the last couple of years.
I've been keeping an eye on them but I haven't been able to justify the cost for the performance they offered.
This new Rivian model looks like it would definitely do the job - it could handle our steep slopes and have the pulling power we need.
But the base model is £28,000 so I think it is going to have wait a bit longer alas.
I must get an early night tonight. Maybe a good long sleep will soup me up a bit.
Good night and happy dreams.
