Emergency Dash to the Allotment

Upon waking in the night to the wind and pouring rain, I suddenly remembered the sunshade was still attached to the shed! Fortunately, I only put it fully up when it’s sunny but I usually leave the widest part of the sail attached to the shed. Worried that the wind might rip off the sail and damage the roof in the process, I gave up trying to sleep at half six. Quickly, I grabbed a pair of wellies, my raincoat plus keys and ran out the door, much to the bemusement of my husband. At the allotment, the cockerels were all finding their voices, some even showing off with a display of synchronised crowing!

My worst fears were baseless but the sail had been blown completely to one side and I had to wrestle with wet rope and tight knots to get it down. The added difficulty was balancing on the ladder with wet wellies in the gusts of wind. Finally though, the knots gave way and I wrestled the soaking sailcloth into its storage box. With the visiting mouse and the damage it caused last winter, there was no way I would leave it to dry in the shed. Instead, I lugged it home in the box and left it out to dry, spread over several of the dining room chairs.

As I was already drenched, I popped out into the garden and fed the chickens. Unfortunately, the wind direction had blown the rain into their food so I rigged up an extra bit of shelter in the hope the food would stay dry and the birds would have enough sense to dry off in the nest box if they got very wet. Well, here’s hoping!