Exploring on hold: floods, garden flowers and snacks

It surely must have been the most miserable winter, with weeks of rain turning into months. The country has seen a lot of devastation due to the weather crisis and torrential downpours. Our town has been on the flood alert for weeks, and we all watch the local river Windrush with anxiety.

River Windrush, city centre

Our little town has been badly hit by the floods in 2007, and now all along the High Street you can see people preparing for the worst again. Sandbags and shields are ready.

With all the rains, our favourite walks in town have been postponed. No more watching the frolics of the ducks and coots by the bridge. Just five minutes away from our house, where the river makes a kind of a fork in the fields, it looks more like a lake now, with the bridge under water.

The Windrush

The rising levels of the river put many a local on tenterhooks. When we were looking at the houses to buy, we fell in love with the old converted stables, and regretted that that beautifully restored house was snatched almost immediately. Little did we know then, that our guardian angels were watching over us. That house was so badly flooded a few years ago, that the current owners had to live for a year elsewhere before their property was made habitable again. And passing by just the other day, I saw a lot of water around it, and a long pipe pumping water.
And though our house stands quite high some of the houses down the lane just opposite us are not so lucky.

In the neighbourhood

With all this weather havoc and floods alert, we haven't been doing anything outdoorsy. Even the garden looks soggy and uninviting most of the time. Yet the first flowers are already heralding the spring. Every morning we look out of the window wistfully, hoping for a rain-free day.

Last Sunday, for the first time in weeks, we had a sunny dry day, and Eddie and I went exploring in the garden, looking at all pretty flowers. Eddie is a nature boy, and he loves the flowers, he is always quick to admire a bloom or a flower. We spent a good chunk of time, trying to clean the garden and dig a bit. The paths were swept from all the sodden leaves and remains of rotten apples.

The strawberry patch looked more like a weed patch than anything else, and while I was weeding and digging, Eddie worked with a brush and a scoop. He was more enthusiastic about cleaning than about playing in the sand, especially that the lid of the sandpit got shredded by the winds and there are lots of holes in it, so the sand was pretty wet.

There is so much to do. Because of the incessant rain, I hardly ever poked my nose in the garden, and of course, all gardening jobs were put on hold. I do hope we'll get a few sunny days this mid-term week, so that we could continue making our garden a bit more presentable.

After all that hard work we fancied a bit of a snack break.
Luckily we had some new tasty snacks at hand.
Barny, a cute bear-shaped sponge snack, has expanded its range. There are two new flavours added: strawberry and apple. Have a bite and discover a hidden fruity centre. What's great about Barny is that these snacks contain no artificial colours or preservatives. Each bear is individually wrapped in foil, so they are very convenient for taking with you in a pocket or lunch box.
I would imagine they will taste as nicely when we travel to Cornwall in summer and eat them on the beach. Will summer ever come?

Eddie ate his strawberry Barny with gusto. Back at home, he wanted more, and also mentioned "This bear is so cute, I want to cuddle him".

And while I'm trying to finish this post, Eddie keeps pestering telling me that he wants to go in the garden.



This post is an entry for BritMums ‘Winter Little Adventures Challenge’ sponsored by Barny, individually wrapped bear-shaped sponges with a hidden filling.