Ash before oak, we're in for a soak

As I looked up from my desk I saw this woman with her dog crossing Ferney Close, the ridge-and-furrow meadow on the far side of the The Horns valley.

It came to my mind that one of the oak trees was beginning to come into leaf, which reminded me of the old saying – 'Ash before oak, we're in for a soak'. The large and quite old ash at the bottom of our garden certainly hasn't produced leaves yet, so I'll be watching developments with interest.