Thursday 13 January 2011

Rain, rain go away...

It rains a lot at Rockley.  I had an interesting afternoon on Tuesday with an equine chiropractor from Colorado, where they get (I think he said) 30 inches of rain a year - it may even have been 13, who knows - it certainly sounded wonderful...

Here on the other hand it has rained all week - apart from Tuesday, when the chiropractor was here - he told me it happens to him all the time in Britain - wherever he goes it stops raining.  How I wish he could have stayed here for a month.   Sadly he left at about 5pm and by 6pm it was raining.  It hasn't stopped.

Edward, our friend and neighbour, has a rain gauge and tells me that he has collected 7 inches of rain this month - thats in the last 13 days - and 2 and a half inches in the last 24 hours.  The harsh truth is that it rains even more on us than it does on him, a couple of miles away; sometimes it better not to know.

Of course, we are very fortunate because we are so high up that it quickly drains away, and when you see footage of places like Queensland and the terrible scenes of people and horses being swept away, our piddling dampness is put into perspective and we realise how lucky we really are.

I do find this weather tedious, though, and I am hankering after last month, when the snow was so beautiful and everything was clean, crisp and perfect :-)  Thank goodness for modern horse rugs, good wellies and woodburning stoves for when you finally get in at night!


Five go mad... from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

Last night it was so depressing listening to the wind howling and the rain lashing the windows that I indulged in escapism - I sat in bed watching this, and reminding myself that it won't be winter forever - even though the days of sunshine and unrugged horses seem unimaginably far away at the moment(!)  It made me smile, and I hope it does the same for you.

ETA: Here is another thing that made me smile - what a brilliant but simple idea Wiola has had - she has measured Kingsley's stride length to compare when he arrived with the most recent footage - genius :-)  Anyone with an interest in hooves and rehab should have a look: http://freelanceinstructorsdiary.blogspot.com/2011/01/kingsley-length-of-stride-october-2010.html

3 comments:

EquiNatural said...

Golly, that vimeo was just what was needed - your herd of 4-leggers looked fantastic. Roll on those heady summer days.

Anonymous said...

It seems we get the same weather patterns here on San Juan Island, WA... though we are half a planet away! Every time I read your posts, and you mention the weather, we are always experiencing the exact same thing. Which is unusual because we are having some crazy unusual weather lately. I guess being on the same longitude goes a long way in regards to similar climates. So far we've had a winter full of ups & downs in temperature, bouts of snow & ice, followed by rain, rain, wind, and more rain. Apparently we are in for another cold snap this coming weekend with possible snow on Sunday... I will be very curious to read your blog and find out if you get the same thing!

Nic Barker said...

Thanks Kate - they were having a blast :-) That footage always makes me smile!

Jenny, what an odd coincidence - although I guess west coast = wet on any continent :-) This unusual weather patterns are a global phenomenon at the moment... :-0 Good luck with your snow forecast at the weekend - think we are due...oh yes, more rain...sigh...