Deluge

It has been the sunniest spring since 1910, the warmest spring since records began, and the driest spring in a century.  London has received about half an inch over the past three months, when the average is 5.5 inches!  In fact, we've been in a drought since October.

Needless to say, nobody has been complaining, except for me.  I've had to go to the allotment every day to water the vegetables.  Fortunately they have taps; unfortunately they are on the other side of the allotment...and I need 12 watering can-fulls!  (And that's for a small allotment!)

This morning, the heavens opened and a great deluge came down.  (In fact, they are calling for more rain over the next four days than we've had in the last three months!)  And into this storm I had to go the DVLA -- the equivalent of the DMV -- to renew my car registration.

They were supposed to send me a 'reminder' so I could do it online, but with the move I never got it.  I also could have used my registration certificate (the 'pink slip'), but I couldn't find that after the move, either, and to get a new one required proof of insurance, except mine expired May 4, and my renewal was mailed to the wrong address!  It finally arrived this morning, 26 days after my plates expired, and three days after I found a large yellow "UNTAXED VEHICLE" sticker attached to my car, with instructions on how to get the car unclamped.  Amazingly, they didn't actually clamp the car; nor did they glue the sticker to my window, they just tucked it under the wiper in an oddly considerate way.  So perhaps it was meant as a warning, in which case it worked.  I was absolutely paranoid for three days waiting for the stupid insurance certificate.

So the minute the postman delivered it, I made the 20-minute drive to the DVLA office in the pouring rain.  And you may be happy to know that government bureaucracy is a universal constant.  Despite having nearly 30 desks, only four were manned, but they had three employees in the waiting area asking "are you okay?"  Other than having to wait 45 minutes, I was fine, and was much relieved to get my shiny new tax disc.

In the evening, we went to the Chelsea flower show and miraculously the rain -- which had been coming down in buckets all day, including some fierce hail -- let up just as we arrived, and it was a beautiful evening.  We strolled around for 3 hours and had a really fantastic time.  I hope the photos do it justice.

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