Here we are in the country, up to our necks in water and not a drop to drink and suffering a hosepipe ban.

I would love to use a hosepipe and wash the car if only it would stop raining long enough, still that’s the British Spring for you.

Talking of Spring it’s wonderful to see the little baby rabbits in the garden, the little ducklings on the pond and the beautiful baby lambs in the field although I’m led to believe by the locals that they are actually food and not just there to decorate the countryside.

One looses track of time but I must have lived in the countryside for at least two, if not three years by now and I’m begining to get used to the place.

What joy it is to drive in the countryside, no speed humps, very few speed cameras, no stupid 20mph speed zones which you find in London.

Whoever invented the 20mph limit in London can’t have ever driven a car as most of the time when driving there you would be only too happy to attain the giddy heights of 20 mph.

On a different tack altogether, the wife, well I say the wife even though we haven’t actually got married yet but it is on the cards for the future…anyway, the wife has four children, two elder and two younger which she adopted with her previous husband before he died.

Well, it’s a long story, but….the boy when he arrived had obviously not been stimulated a great deal and had difficulty speaking properly but the wife spent many a long hour working to improve him and has indeed made a silk purse out of a sows ear.

However he is still not the sharpest tool in the box and when I arrived I was wondering if his inability to shut the door or obey any instructions when I asked was because of his resentment that I had in some way taken his mothers attention away from him.

The wife had always insisted to the doctor and especially to the school that there was something wrong but they always said ‘no, everythings fine, he’s on track for C to A grades there’s no problem’.

Well with much persistance we have at last managed to get some help and the boy has been diognosed with Frontal Lobe Damage, Learning Difficulties and ADHD and one is forced to say, ‘I told you so!’

He is now 15 going on 16,with a mental age of 8 to 11,  such a shame we couldn’t have got some help earlier, but at least it explains all the things he does and when he now does something stupid we remind ourselves, he’s only 8 and it helps a lot.

It also helps to have a name to put to the problem as ‘stupid boy’ didn’t seem to work as a medical condition.

It’s very early days, it was only yesterday that we had confirmation of the ADHD and the posibility of medication to help the situation.

We have for some time now been pondering what the future may hold for him as it seems hard to imagine him being able to hold down a job, although one thing he is brilliant at is timekeeping, he’ll always be on time for work, it’s just a matter of what he can do when he’s got there.

I’m sure we’ll find something for him, we don’t like to be beaten…..Good Lord, I’ve just noticed it’s stopped raining for at least two minutes, I must dash out and deal with a problem with the septic tank, ah life in the country, you can’t beat it!