ON THE BENEFITS OF CONTINUOUS RAIN

Well the rain continues, with April showers occuring every day amid periods of heavy rain.
Working outside means dodging the showers and the occasional thunder, and the odd flash of lightning. We have had continuous rain for almost a month now, but we aren't complaining. Not only is it good for the crops that we, and everyone in the village, depend on so much, it also fills our well.
The well is our main source of water (so we use bottled drinking water) and, obviously, it relies upon rain to fill it. Last year we had an extended dry period throughout the summer, when we also had over fifty guests staying, which meant that the well started to get a little low. It never reached crisis point, which shows how good a well it is, as some in the village dried up completely, and those people don't have all of the British style 'mod-cons' that we have, like en-suite bathrooms in every room, a washing machine, or a dishwasher. We were mighty relieved to see rain arrive though last September and fill it again.
The rain we have had so far this year has resulted in the well being more full than we have ever seen it, so no similar worries for this year, and the crops are growing beautifully.
All of our trees are in bud too. New apple, pear and plum trees we planted last year, as well as ornamental cherry and lilac trees are all showing good signs of growth, alongside the older more established apple and plum trees.
Plums are the main ingredient of the local fire-water, called Tuica (pronounced Tsweeka), which explains why so many grow in and around the village, but more on that another time.
For the first time our plum trees are in full blossom, so we may get our own crop this year.
Our beautiful cherry tree is also covered in blossom. It gave us a bumper crop of cherries last year,  sadly though we didn't have the time to take full advantage of it and preserve them, so we lost a lot. Hopefully this year it will be different.
The weather forecast, which is usually correct, says that the sun will arrive with the beginning of May, and summer will trully begin. Winter was relatively easy this year, but we are still looking forward to our hot days and warm nights so that we can be outside and fully appreciate the wonderful place we live in.................Did you realise that a summer in Romania is one of almost continuous sunshine and temperatures into the high 30's during the day?