On Dec 14, 11:14*pm, Mike Causer wrote:
On Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:39:36 -0800 (PST)

Jennik wrote:
*I note that local village ponds are still not full to the brim, and
*the wet has not stopped the sugar beet harvest.

From 1km outside the Suffolk border with Cambridgeshi the farmers
*needed* some rain to get the beet out of the ground. *They couldn't
shift it under the dry conditions in October/early November. *

I was doing some archaeological field-walking on Sunday, on the peat
fen at 1m above sea level, and the soil was so dry it hardly stuck to
my boots. *Boot Scale 5 at worst. * [1]

The farmers around here would like a /lot/ more rain please.
Personally I wouldn't, but then I like to eat too.....

[1] Is there an equivalent to the Beaufort Scale for wetness of ground?
* *For example:
* * * * 1: *doesn't take the shine off patent-leather
* * * * 2: *marrs patent-leather, but unnoticable on deck-shoes
* * * * 3: *noticable on deck-shoes
* * * * ....
* * * * 5: *walking boots needed, but take minimal cleaning afterwards
* * * * ....
* * * *10: *muddy from mid-thigh down
* * * *11: *muddy from head to feet, and one boot left under mud in
* * * * * * * field *

Mike
--
Mike Causer

lol. There is an extension, surely:

12. Hat left on surface. *.))