A silver lining to the rain clouds

This morning I have dropped the kids in school for their last day before the summer break. They were so dismayed to wake up to rain, and even more annoyed when it got heavier and even more persistent.

So we trudged to school in waterproofs, wellies and clutching umbrellas - and even then arrived rather soggy around the edges.

School had a slightly empty feel with wall displays gone, no book bags - but a very damp sort of smell wafting through the classrooms once you got past abandoned wellies and little streams forming on the cloakroom floors from the dripping coats. Most kids looked a little glum, and nearly every parent seemed bedraggled and ever so slightly fed up.

So I kept the fact that I actually welcome the rain to myself. You see, every day for the past week - and for a few weeks to come (if it has not rained) I have been setting up the sprinkler to water our newly laid turf. We've waited the past year for a useable garden and finally got around to having it levelled out and laid. Most people will tell you that it's not good to lay turf in the Summer as it's prone to dry out and not establish itself particularly well. Not this year.

Looking outside the lawn is looking lush and green, it's soaking all this rain up and putting down it's roots. I can't really moan about the weather just now!