Monday 16 July 2012

Rain, Runoff, Poppies and Ginger

In Herefordshire the effects of this summer's relentless rain have been terrible, with flash floods in Ross-on-Wye and elsewhere, landslips, and spectacular runoff from all those fields of soft red earth. Back roads are covered with silt and water pours down from the hedgebanks, even when it's not actually raining. The weather means that, unfortunately, the farmers are spraying their fields more than ever, as most of each spraying gets washed away by the latest downpour - so that runoff must be pretty unhealthy stuff... However, the upside of that particular losing battle of farmer vs rain is that many more poppies than usual have survived the sprays and have flourished quite spectacularly this year - an effect which was gloriously noticeable in Norfolk the weekend before last.
And talking of upsides, today is Ginger Rogers' birthday - she'd be 101 today, had she lived (and who knows, she might have done if she hadn't been a Christian Scientist). Here's the incomparable Ginger in action - and showing off those legs - in a number that would surely lift anyone's spirits, however sodden (and look out for Eric Blore).

2 comments:

  1. I have a London weather icon on my computer, and it seems that it has had either clouds or rain every day for weeks and weeks. Quite the opposite here in Indiana, where we've had less than an inch of rain since May, temperatures over 100, and the worst drought since 1936. I think I'd rather have the rain.

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