This is my island in de'sun!

The sun has been so bright lately that even in the day you can see its light reflected on the moon so on the day in the photo above it was sun behind me and moon ahead as I drive down the hill and into the village.

I suppose that this midday moon must be confusing for the werewolves of Garrigill and Alston Moor but we won't see them out because DAMN!!!! it's just too bloody hot when you don't have fur never mind when you do.

There is a lot of waffle in the village about the heat and the weather.  

We have not seen a drop of rain for over three weeks now and that leads to some confusion in the older folk.
This is most sad to see with those who have lived in Garrigill all their lives and who have never known more than a bank holiday back in 1953 when it once didn't rain for more than an hour over the whole of the long weekend.

Umbrella sales in the post office are at an all time low even though the wagons keep bringing them in on a bi-weekly basis and there is a real fear that there could be a downturn in the local economy without the need for shelter, a pair of dry socks and a hot cup of something to bring your insides back to life.

It's true to say that we are not equipped for this, there are no fridges here full of ice cold cans of coke ready to cool the sweating cyclist. There is no freezer full of ice creams and lollipops to quiet the screaming children as they fall panting from the boiling car. You can't purchase 23 different varieties of bottled water in Garrigill because usually all you have to do to get a drink here is look up while yawning.

There really is a very distinct lack of water in the South Tyne. I managed to walk out to the middle of the river today, take a picture and walk back without getting more than the soles of my boots slightly moist. It's now so shallow that you can see the fish swimming up river looking for a cool pool under the bank. There was one trout that even seemed positively happy when Raven did a wee in the water.

Raven however didn't really care because while running around he found Peters goats and the herding instinct took over as he tried to bring them to us one by one.

He enjoyed himself but found it quite frustrating because getting them one by one and leaving them with us means that when he runs off to get the next one the first one sort of wanders away into the bushes to start eating again.

Now I know that dogs can't count, but after delivering six of only four goats in the area (three of whom he may have thought looked very similar) and still finding Kasha and I with none  even Raven started to get a confused and had a worried look in his eye.

Before the poor hound started to invent dog maths Kasha threw a stick into the water and so instead of a possible canine scientific breakthrough we got a happy dog with a stick in his mouth and lots of water everywhere. 

We both got dog showered which considering the heat was quite nice, but it did cause some problems on the walk back into Garrigill, as we walked past dripping and obviously wet many a happy person ran to the door, looked upward holding out a hand waiting for the magic droplet that didn't come.

maybe tomorrow....