Collecting and losing water

The amount of rain here has been monumental. Cat and Dog pond, usually a puddle, is a veritable lake, thanks not only to the Gods but also to Nick who has spent weeks and weeks there digging it out. Looking at it today you would think that multiple JCBs have been at work. In fact it is one bloke and a shovel. The first photo was taken on December 19th last year, the second a month later on January 24th, and the final one just recently. The pond is of course named Cat and Dog precisely because it collected and retained water only after heavy rain, but the size of it simply did not allow for any meaningful amount to remain for any length of time. Now that the overall volume is so much larger then there may be a chance for it to become a permanent pond. Time will tell. In addition to digging out the main basin, what was a pathetic ditch that in some way fed the pond has been turned into a canal, and a guy with a Gondola has already been in touch regarding exclusive rights this summer.

December 19th 2020

January 18th 2021

February 6th, 2021

Meanwhile in Chateau L I have been losing water. Having cleaned out and tested my water butt before the deluge I had been fully expecting to walk down the garden and find it full-to-bursting. Unfortunately that is exactly what has happened. My test was not conducted with sufficient water and only once the butt is full is sufficient pressure exerted on some very small cracks right at the bottom. Gradually I suppose that the water loss must reduce to the point of not being noticeable, but when I looked at the weekend it was in full flow! What a pain. I suppose it would be around 15 years old but it is still disappointing. I do have a third water butt right around the back of the greenhouse that is rarely used as it is harder to get to, so I plan to empty that out, clean it, and then replace the leaky one with it. It also has the benefit of a tap that is still in one piece. I may then be able to repair this one with glue or by melting the plastic with a heat source to fill in the crack. That could of course go spectacularly wrong, in which case this is likely destined to become a compost bin.

On the birding front I have not been out at all. Apparently it is now illegal anyway so once again I am ahead of the curve....