We had some rain last night, which is the kind of thing that has started to become remarkable as the dry weeks of the present summer have dragged on. When I set off for an early morning trip to the allotment, I wondered if my failure to get out there yesterday evening would lead to me getting muddy.

On arriving, you could see that the soil looked moist across all the plots but, once I started work on mine, I soon discovered that it hadn’t penetrated far. I was setting up a new growing bed and, even as I went over the area pulling up first the weeds and then the stones, it became clear that it was a very shallow rain.

Perhaps Sunday’s forecast showers will do better? I hope so, as we keep on waiting through dryness and thinking of places where rain has held off for a year or more.