The Rules of Rain

We have lived in our house for almost two years and during that time, we have made do with a cheap wooden table and chairs to use on the back patio. As they are not for the outdoors, P and I have had to move them in and out of the garage and shed whenever we've had guests. With the temperamental Brrringlish weather, there have been occasions when the sky has opened up while we were mid-meal and we've not only had to usher our guests indoors, but dismantle the table and carry it all under cover as well!

So this year, we finally had a little bit of spare cash and decided to splash out (no pun intended) on a proper outdoor furniture set. As it is my nature to do intensive research before any major purchase, I read up on the benefits of wrought iron vs wood vs aluminium before making a decision.

With my penchant for shabby chic, I longed for an ornate white painted wrought iron antique set. However, many I found were incomplete sets or only sat four people (we normally have at least eight for our barbeques).

I love the look of wood as well but they turn from a nice mid-brown to silvery grey in the elements. They also have to be cleaned every spring and then oiled again. Too much maintenance, so a big no no.

The best option then seemed to be recycled aluminium, which isn't heavy like wrought iron and doesn't rust. After searching online, I finally found a beautiful cream painted octagon table with eight chairs. As it was quite expensive (I'm more used to antique markets and eBay where I can pick up great bargains), it actually hurt my heart (and not to mention my bank balance) to purchase it. But after much discussion with P, we decided to go for it as we have some important guests visiting us in May and June.

So here it is in all its costly glory. It even comes with chocolate brown seat pads and a matching parasol:

As sod's law would have it, it has rained EVERY SINGLE DAY since we bought it. In fact, the last full sunny day was the Friday that the furniture arrived at the end of March and it took P and me five hours to put it all together.

After speaking to one of my Brrringlish friends, he advised me of the three things you can do which will guarantee prolonged heavy rainfall:

1. Purchase an outdoor furniture set
2. Impose a hose pipe ban
3. Buy a barbeque

Believe it or not, many areas here are in 'drought' at the moment. I use that term lightly as we have had several severe thunderstorms and howling winds over the last few weeks. I don't want to speculate on how inefficient the water companies here are...but put it this way, they are much better at leaking water than storing it.

The major water companies have been enforcing a hose pipe ban since 5 April. So while you are not allowed to wash your car or water your plants and lawn with a hose, you can still use a bucket and watering can. It doesn't bother us as we have not had any need to use our hose pipe. My umbrella however, has been in use pretty much every day.

I haven't given up hope for the summer yet though. I have been praying every day that warm, dry days will return soon. But once the rain finally stops, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are P and I going to buy a new barbeque, not even if our current one falls apart!