Oh heck

As we were driving across country today, I commented to W that we would need to put some water in the pond.  But neither of us envisaged this - a totally dried out pond!  Probably not been this dry for very long, as the water lilies are still green.

As soon as I saw this, I switched off the pump and started refilling with tap water - not great for the pond life, but better than no water at all!  Two hours later, there is water in the bottom of the pond, and I checked to make sure the pump was working - it was - but I've switched it off again, as there still isn't quite enough water to cover the pump.

We knew it had been very hot, and were quite glad we were further west.  But a dried out pond is much less traumatic than a totally burnt out house (the fate of two houses in our village) or a burnt out garden - the fate of several more - one villager had chickens in a coop in her garden - they've all perished when the coop was burnt to the ground.  Our village has had it pretty tough - in addition to the fire, yesterday they had to cope with a burst water main and an electrical fault causing a power cut to many houses!  Fortunately, that is all sorted out now, but there are two families homeless in one small village. The whole of Norfolk has suffered quite a number of fires - Norfolk Fire Service was one of several who declared a major incident yesterday, and according to the local press, they even used fire engines from a museum.  We feel powerless - when will the world wake up to the climate emergency and actually do something.  I worry that my children, and their children, will not have a world to grow up in.