The Rain, the Unexpected Vegetable Forest and the Outdoor Makeover

And so, it rained.

Don't try and deny it, it's what everyone wanted (my dad was delighted)

We can all pretend that we like loads of sunshine but when push comes to shove, what we REALLY want is to have a great big massive moan about having to take our umbrellas out with us again.

I always feel a huge conflict during the event of heavy rain. There is a huge part of me that wants to run, freely and without inhibitions, into the street, dance in the rain and let the water soak me through in a joyous manner. There is, however, another part of me that imagines the inevitably irritating process afterwards, trying to get mud off the carpet, having to have a warm bath to avoid catching a chill, and generally feeling like a bit of a wally.

Chances are, if you pause to go and put an anorak on, the moment has passed.

The garden is looking, to quote Alan Titchmarsh, bloody amazing (I've never actually heard him say that but he's an enthusiastic fellow and I imagine he's said it at some point, possibly upon completing a brilliant patio)

Everything has grown a LOT. Except the grass seeds. They have all died a painful and crispy death. This is mainly because we both forgot about them and they have therefore had no water at all for about 2 weeks.

We now have three strawberries. This is very exciting. Tom and I are both nervous about eating any of them, however, due to a fear that we have either accidentally spawned something poisonous, or that they are not ready yet, despite being the perfect size and colour.

We have teeny tiny courgettes. And we have learned from previous experience that we shouldn't pick them yet. This lesson was learned the hard way when we picked and ate some spring onions that actually turned out to be leeks that had been picked 6 months too early.

In the meantime, at the other side of the house, Joni the campervan is being fancied up and prepared for her journey up to Edinburgh in (gulp) two weeks time. After an hour's work on her interior, she is now looking significantly WORSE than she did before, but we keep telling ourselves that it has to get worse before it gets better. Tom did spend somewhere in the reason of 4 hours scratching the glue of a tiny patch of paintwork, and I have, of course, told him that he is my hero. This weekend will be mainly spent in Joni outside the house, trying not to electrocute ourselves on any loose wiring and talking about how excited we are to head up to Edinburgh in our beautiful orange bus. At the moment she is going through the campervan equivalent of getting a manicure, a pedicure, a facemask, a hairmask, a chemical peel and an eyebrow sort out. Unlike humans, however, poor Joni is getting all this in the street and is being left there overnight.

She seems to have created a bit of a buzz on our street, which is totally heartwarming. People keep stopping to say hello when we are near her, and neighbours are wishing us well for our month away.

It's very exciting indeed.