Damp Day

“It’s been siling down, all day!” I said to the postman as he trundled his trolley up our path.   He looked both wet and amused and said he had never heard this expression before.  So, like all good citizens of this country, we stood under the leaky guttering and swapped rain vocabulary.  ...stair rods... horizontal Scottish weather... drippy and wetty rain...  cats and dogs... spitting and spatting.  It’s all the same, it’s just wet.

According to the oracle (a.k.a. Google) siling comes from the Norwegian dialect: sila.  This is Norwegian or Swedish for strain or filter and there is a suggestion of liquid running quickly through a strainer or filter.  Anyway, my mum used to say it was siling down, and she came from Yorkshire. 

I have mixed feelings about rain.  The last few weeks have been bone dry (here we go again) and every gardener craves rain for it is indeed the stuff of life.  Our grass needs greening up and the borders and the local reservoir, are gasping for water.   I love the romance of rain too.   The gentle sound of the pitter patter on the greenhouse roof when I am toasty and dry inside, makes me feel safe and comforted.  There is nothing like sitting in front of the log fire with a seed catalogue and a mug of hot chocolate and who can ever forget Gene Kelly, in Singing in the Rain?

But days like this are claustrophobic too.  Heavy rain is frustrating and even your underwear gets wet if you happen to be camping.  Rainy days keep you indoors and trapped and I like to be outdoors and free.  I can garden in light rain but not this sort of rain.  Stepping on soggy ground is not good for the soil structure and plays havoc with your hair.

Today, I ventured only briefly to the plot to change the hens’ straw, top up the feed and offer some words of comfort.  The three of them were huddled under their little tarpaulin with their feathers all ruffled.  It has not been a good day for them or the washing.  I changed our bed first thing this morning and the sheets are hanging around in the utility room with nowhere to go because I cannot get them on the line and am too mean and green to put the tumble dryer on.

The forecast says it will be a bit brighter tomorrow.  Now that the water butts are replenished, I hope so.  Then I can go and inspect the damage because I suspect that the slugs will have had a wonderful time gorging themselves on my Little Gems.