Friends, this post comes to you with the exciting news that the sproglet is having a nap right now and I am… …not revising!
I spent all of yesterday huddled over a chair, with severe thumb cramps, scribbling, scribbling, scribbling away, trying to write everything I knew about winter cabbage and pruning blackcurrants and the limitations of establishing lawns from seed and many other things that made my brain ache by the end of the day.
But, finally, after a good two months of revising at every second I could get, my horticulture exams are over. Results in the day before the next baby is due, so it could well be that by then I don’t care too much that two of the exams didn’t go terribly well. And, hurrah, I’m back in the world just in time for Spring to arrive. Right? Come on Spring…
While I’ve had my head in the books, water has been slowly rising up around my Mum’s house, where we’re in temporary habitation. The picture above is her driveway on Monday morning, the trees on the banks of the road opposite reflected in the 5cm deep water, and only a thin sliver of tarmac left where there is normally a pavement.
She lives on one of the flood plains by the Thames close to Cookham, so it’s not entirely surprising that the water is encroaching. Nothing inside the house so far, which is lucky, but the water table is so high that the areas outside the front and back doors currently have a new lease of life as paddling pools.
Next door, the neighbours’ kitchen is under water, while two doors down have had loo paper floating out of the drain hole in the front drive for the past week and took delivery of a portaloo yesterday morning. So, really, we’re pretty lucky with this tranquil patch of still water.
Anyway, I’ve hundreds upon hundreds of things planned that I’ve been putting on hold “until the exams are over” — some knitting, some home organising, some baby preparation and various other bits and pieces — so I’ll be around a little more frequently in the coming weeks.
Hope you’re all well out there and see you soon!
Wolves in London 
What a relief for you, to have all those exams out of the way. Enjoy your down time. Hope those waters don’t keep rising
Don’t we always think of the most interesting projects when we truly can”t get to them yet. Didn’t know the Thames had a flood plain, golly. Stay dry if you can. Anne in ATL
wow, that is indeed a lot of water. congratulations on finishing your exams and all the best with the new baby!
ok ok i have to admit bad as the floods are these are pretty lovely shots
I love these photos- but not the yucky relentless rain and ever increasing water levels. How nice to have the pressure of exams behind you now – and I have to ask when is baby due?
Stay dry and gazing into the lovely puddles and thank you for sharing xx
Baby due at end of April. Eeeek, so much to do before then! Fingers crossed we’ll be home in a fortnight though — then it’s two months to decorate the whole house, which will be simple, right? Right?!
This weather is just awful, thought those are lovely reflection shots you’ve got there.
Congratulations on finishing your exams x #HDYGG
congratulations on finishing your exams! I love the reflections in your photographs, but I really hope the water doesn’t rise any further! x
Wow the reflections looked lovely in the first pic until I read on and saw all that water was really not meant to be there. Eek, I hope the water hasn’t got any worse. We had no electricity last night and that was enough to really make me realise how lucky we have been. How exciting that you’ve finished your exams, and spring will be here before we know it.
Thanks so much for all your lovely comments. The water is receding, I’m glad to report, so fingers crossed for no more big rains! The kitchen has been a bit flooded from ground water, but other than that the house remains (more or less) water tight!