It's still raining

Happy new year. It's still raining and what's abundantly clear, as I skid disgracefully around the garden between the back door and the two hen coops in ankle deep sloppy mud, is that we need to do the paths this year.

One path needs to skirt around the house, past the hens and then be divided to each polytunnel. Another needs to go past the new lawn in the bouncing garden (thanks to Monty Don for that term - he's got one too - the vital ingredient is a trampoline). The paths need to be nothing fancy, just gravel, simple but perhaps back-breaking.

The house does have a path around it, installed under council orders when this house was renovated with a grant. It had to be a metre-wide wheelchair-friendly concrete because mum's late partner Michael was disabled. The fact it included several steps and was therefore unfriendly to wheelchairs was lost on both the council and the builders. It also causes water to wick up the insides of the walls of our stone-built damp-proof-course-free house. It has to go.

The polytunnel path is important. I still haven't been back into the polytunnel since I fell over in the mud and then then discovered the tunnel had a) a mole and b) something had swiped a few of my cabbages. I'm easily demoralised. There's winter salad in there though so I should gird my loins and go back to investigate.

We took the dogs up to the hay fields this morning in a gap between rain showers. Children and dogs set out with enthusiasm. We all had a good splash in the dew pond on the first hay field. It's pretty full, unsurprisingly.

When we reached the most far flung point of our walk (admittedly not far on 22 acres, but far enough) it started to rain heavily. We headed back to the comforting hug of the wood burner and mugs of hot chocolate. Our rain coats (Scamp's too) are now hanging on the ham hooks in the cimne fawr drying off ready for another probable soaking on this afternoon's walk.

At least my feet stay dry - one of my best presents this Christmas was a pair of fleece welly socks (thanks Dad and Pat!) so I now have toasty warm tootsies on my dog walks.