Rain and more rain

A new report has emerged that states that the bad weather this summer has 'cost rural britain £1bn'!

A report by the BBC's Countryfile has cost up to £1bn - as a result of rotting crops, wet fields, diminished tourism (countryside and stately homes, gardens etc).

One of the biggest worries about this is the low crop yields. This, alas, has not been restricted to the UK, and many countries that support our food industry have also suffered.

This is one of the main reasons that food prices are creeping up - low rice yields in China, damaged crops in E Europe for wheat/bread broducts. Even the cost of feeding animals has increased. The wet weather has meant mud in fields instead of grass and so many farmers have had to buy in more feed than usual. This is in turn added on to the sale price of the animals as they go to market.

As someone who lives on a garden, open to the public, and also which grows its own veg, I too have noticed issues. Fewer visitors, much heavier rain, tomatoes which did not grow at all and several other veg that had to be ditched as they were not good enough for consumption.

Here's hoping next year will be kinder!

On another note, I have written 3 books. 2 are part of a series set in Scoltand about the Sidhe, fairy folk. Available on kindle and in paperback:

The Island of the Mist is book 2

The Stone in the Sword is book 1

The 3rd book is an adult, sexy witchy werewolf/vampire story set in New York and featuring a strong female lead character, again available in kindle and paperback formats:

The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin

Storms and binge drinking

Happy New Year!

Lets hope 2012 is a far better year than 2011 for everyone, and not the end of the world as some people seem to think :)

Storms continue to batter the UK, especially the north. Scotland faced more blizzards and high winds during the week, this not long after 'hurricane bawbag' ravaged the land. The news is full of images of the damage done by the winds across the central belt especially, where gales reached up to 102 miles per hour in the Edinburgh area!

And on another note, the government are trying to tackle binge drinking at the moment. An easy way of dealing with this is taxing supermarkets so they have to push prices up. It would bring in an extra income for the government and it would mean people can't buy as much - and hopefully head for a pub for a pint, giving them a bit more money too.