Just before it all went wrong…

We went over to local nature reserve, Kingly Vale,   an ancient yew forest at the foot of the downs.  As it was dry and sunny it was surprisingly busy.  On the way there the road was flooded but quite shallowly and we just powered through it.  

The first thing that happened was that we lost Woody for a bit , he’s a dog that rarely goes far from us unlike many dachshunds of his type,  so it was odd but eventually a woman called to say she had him (thanks to his collar tag which had our numbers) and that he was obviously quite distressed hearing us but not able to find us.

So we set off home, down a different road and as the light was fading came to an enormous flood.  We followed a car through it but either hesitated or the car ahead was that bit higher, and we ground to a halt.  No ignition, no power, no phone signal, getting dark.  Hmm. We pushed it out of the water (cold feet!) and I eventually got a lift with a local to a pub a mile up the road who said we were about the 30th (idiot) that week.   I was about to call a taxi from their phone to at least pick up the other car and rescue them when V appeared having managed to get it to start.   We limped home on the main roads, the engine stalling from time to time.   

Only to find that we’d run out of heating oil and had no heat or hot water.  
So we banked up the fire and watched Happy Valley…