Jacquie's Diary Entry for 4th July 2006 (Delayed due to flood)
Hi everyone,
This week's diary is being written with a great deal of hindsight, so please excuse any anomalies that might occur as this week's diary and next week's diary are written on the same day. Lew, Sian and I thank you for your prayers over the past couple of weeks, it has been a harrowing time, for us and those in England, worrying about us here. This is the week I realise I am a 'diary-est' not a reporter, the camera was the last thing I thought of, in fact, I didn't think about it till everything was safe and the danger past. But I must not go ahead, but on with the diary …

Monday and it is another hot day, the temperature rises again to the 30sC. There is no water this morning but the tank is full so there will be no problem. John is working on cementing the inside of the chicken house. I have six ladies working on my maize, they are hoping to finish today. If you remember my land is very difficult because it is dry and very weedy. It should take six ladies one day to do six hectares, 24 lines - 4 lines each in a day, but they have only been able to work 1½ lines a day. Lew was just jumping in the van to go and pick them up at the end of the day when they walked round the corner, they had finished. Anisoara tells me the crop is not looking good, it is in desperate need of rain. The water came on again about lunchtime and I ran water into the tank, at the same time I was running water out of the tank to water the onions; this will keep the water fresh. Someone or something has been at the potato plants; I think someone has dug them up and put them back in the soil but because they have been disturbed and the ground is dry, they have died off.

Tuesday and another cloudless sky. John picked up another bag of cement and finished the walls in the chicken house today. I collected weeds for the animals. I tried to tempt Spot to eat with a variety of weeds, but she didn't want to know. She did have a drink this morning and she was seen to drink this evening, but she hasn't eaten since she gave birth a week ago. She is a big pig and can afford to 'live of her back' but it is still worrying. She is not producing enough milk for the piglets and they won't take a bottle or drink milk from a dish. Zapada is eating well, she has an increased protein concentrate so she has the nutrients to produce good milk. Parvel came up this afternoon to see the piglets, he thinks they are good and puts an order in for a piglet next year - I'm not sure which litter that will be from but I'm sure we will be able to sort a piglet out for him. The sky came over very black and we could see the rain in the distance, the thunder and lightening was rolling around us. But the rain went off down the other side of the hill. Lew took some cauliflower leaves up to see if he could tempt Spot, she 'woofed' them down. We are also concerned that she has not had a bowel movement for a week. Onto the internet to see what we could find - a girl called Wendy had a pig that wasn't eating, she had tried peaches. We went through the animal books we have here - could be constipation.

Wednesday and as John had finished the cementing inside of the chicken house and a great deal of straw has to be moved before we can start in the last pig house, we decided not to start today because tomorrow is another 'no work day'. Anisoara, Laura, Florri, Lili and Cristina are going to the beach and want me to go with them, but I decline, I have too much work on the computer to do. I won't work outside and upset people, although other people will work. We decide to have a good clean up; take the rubbish to the tip, move some old straw - clearing the drive area for the van and car to sit side by side instead of one behind the other. This area needed to be cleared to mark the foundations for the garage where the caravan will be moved to later this year, so that it is under cover for next winter. Lew is not sure whether it will go through another winter without protection. Spot still hasn't eaten, except a few of her favourite weeds. Lew tried actual cauliflower today but she wouldn't touch that. Our friend Reverend Brian Roberts from Scotland dropped in for a chat today, he is over for a couple of weeks, staying in Medgidia. He is hoping to have a long talk on Sunday.

Thursday and John borrowed the car and took the girls to the beach. He still wanted me to take the day off but I had promised myself a day on the computer working in Sian's room in the cool. The television news showed people from the hotels in Mamia swimming at one o'clock in the morning because it is so warm they can't sleep. I worked on the photographs taken at the wedding and at the camps in Calarasi County. The Wedding Special I promised you will come after the Special about the camps, I'm sure you understand why. John rings about eight o'clock the car has stopped in Basarabi and won't go in any gear. Lew takes the van to tow them home, the car will have to go to Franny again.

Friday, Franny can't help till after the weekend, he has a big machine in pieces at work and has a combine harvester engine to work on at home - he is a very busy man. The tidying continued collecting the wood into one area, the maize cobs into an area and collecting of weeds. John spent the day bagging oats, we are using three bags a week at the moment and we decided to get a bit ahead of ourselves by bagging some in advance. We will sort the maize tomorrow. There is no change with Spot and we have lost a couple of her babies.

Saturday, we clean out Spot, Zapada and the rabbits and collect weeds, not much else, an easy morning, although I was up before the alarm. Just as John is about to leave a black cloud rolls over us and the thunder cracks and the lightening flashes, but again the rain follows the line the other side of the hill. The temperature up at 35C I decide to have a couple of hours off before feeding, the hottest part of the day is about three o'clock in the afternoon and it doesn't start cooling till six o'clock. About four o'clock black clouds rolled over again, we didn't get excited, the rain has so often travelled down the other side of the hill we thought this one would too. But, no, our prayers and yours had been answered - it was raining and quite hard too. The ducks were rushed inside - yes I know they are ducks but they are only little. The thunder and lightening were coming closer, Sian wasn't on-line so I left her a message, 'Closing down, thunder and lightening'. Little did I know how long we would be closed down. As you know my security crew don't like thunder and they were all in the caravan. Three of the mouse crew had just arrived home. About ten minutes later we lost the electric. I wonder whether to go and feed but decided to see if the electric comes back. The water is building up in the front garden and beginning to turn the 'road' into a river. I went through to the toilet and the water was beginning to come into the building. We quickly cleared the floor, everything went on Sian's bed. We couldn't get her carpet up because she had a unit on it. I decide not to wait, I put on the waterproofs (with my sandals - I looked a right sight), take the torch and head for the animal house to be met by a wave of water cascading down through. I screamed at Lew to come quick and lifted the duck run to collect the ducks into their box to get them out of the water. But the force of the water sent them in all directions, there are seven of them and I could only find five. I found number six after a search it had found a dry place on top of some of Lew's tools but there was no sign of number seven. Lew had another search while I headed to the pig run. Chaos. There was water and mud everywhere. Zapada's run had a dry spot in it and the piglets were all huddled together there. Zapada was up to her belly in mud and water but she would be ok. Spot's babes was another matter. I could see we had lost two, the others were in water and I needed to get them out. I grabbed the smallest two and headed for the workshop where I knew there was a box and I had the feed barrels to put the box on to keep them out of the water. They didn't want to be parted from mum and squealed a great deal but they did calm down when I arrived with the next two, Lew followed me through with two more but that was all we could find. Spots babes were the weaker of the two litters and they were the ones to be hit worst by the deluge of water and mud. Babies rescued - I checked the big piglets, Little Dot's crew, Babe and Ninge. There were two dry spots in their room and they were ok although the mud and water was surging through their door. The rabbits were my next concern. I grabbed the large cat carrier, unfortunately I wasn't sure where the door was - the chickens had been using it as a nest box and the door hadn't been needed, I headed up the side of the animal house. I was up to my knees in very fast running water and as I rounded the corner I was nearly swept off my feet the water here was running over my knees and I had a job to keep my balance. I got to the rabbit hutches the water was lapping their doors and I had wet, scared rabbits. I had to fight with them to get them out of their hutches. I shoved the first three in the box and struggled back through the water with them, on the way back I wondered where to put them. The building floor was wet but dryer than their hutches, I decided that was the only place to put them. As I got to the awning door Lew was brushing water out. The water and mud had come through the awning and he was trying to brush it out. I told him how I had raised the freezer before and he lifted the freezer while I slipped the block we use as a step underneath. Pilchard came in absolutely drenched, I just put her in the caravan, she was wet but in the dry. Only Sunny missing. I went up to the rabbits again. The water was deeper this time and I wonder whether I would be able to reach the hutches. They say 'brute force and ignorance' well it was some of that and a hurried prayer and I crossed the river of water that was rushing down the garden, three more rabbits in the box and I set off back to the building. The thunder and lightening were raging overhead, what had Lew said, 'Not good to be out in the garden in thunder and lightening'. Ah! Well! As I rounded the side of the building I slipped into a hole that had formed with the force of the water, I was nearly up to my waist trying to keep the cat carrier out of the water. I lost one sandal and gave up on the other one, bare foot seemed easier, I was glad that the Wellingtons had been up the animal house and not available to put on, I think at that stage I would have been in trouble. Another two trips had to be made to the rabbit hutches each time the water level had risen. I knew I was bunnies missing; Dutch's boy and four of Chalky's babies were missing but I searched the hutches and couldn't find them. I was exhausted, I don't know where the strength came from to collect the last of the rabbits. Lew had brushed out the awning but the mud and water kept coming, I made a channel for the water to flow from the awning out to the river that was running down the road. The foundations were full of water and the water and mud had raised the level beside the animal house and was having difficulty running away. I knew from last year I needed to clear the stored oats from beside the caravan, I guessed that they were now useless now. 'Brute force and ignorance again' this time it moved 100 kilogram bags, about six of them. I made another channel and the water and mud Lew was desperately now trying to get out of the animal house was beginning to run away. Lew spent the next hour or so sweeping water out of the animal house. I swapped between bailing water out of the foundations so that Lew could sweep water into them and clearing the channel so we could sweep mud and water out of the pig house. I'm not sure when the rain eased but it was dark, so sometime after nine o'clock. Lew found the electric was back on and with John's help (his place was bad too, more about that next week) we managed to clear Spot and Zapada's runs and could put the piglets back with Spot. I had one bale of dirty but dry straw (the chickens had been using it to perch on), the best of which I placed with the piglets. I decided to give the rabbits the second cat bed and moved the ducks back into their blue box. I counted them into their box, yes, one was missing there were only six. I counted the chickens, only four, Nigel 2 and Caramel were missing. I could hear a cheeping. Where was it coming from. The cat bed, I moved the straw and there was the other duck, it had been in the box all the time. There were seven ducks again. Two of them were very wet and beginning to shiver, I took them down to the incubator and popped them in a box in the incubator. They would warm up and be able to dry. Lew had checked the incubator when the electric came back on and the temperature had not dropped too much so the chickens might be safe. About ten we stopped for a coffee, the ducks were dry and back to their old selves when I took them back up to the animal house to join their mates while we went back to moving mud. I took their light up with me I thought they could do with the heat tonight. We called it a day about one o'clock and crawled into bed about two o'clock.

Sunday and I was awake before the alarm, Nigel 2 was outside crowing. I dressed, checked the bunnies on the way to the bathroom and went up to the animal house. All the standing water had gone, plenty of mud but no water. Nigel 2 and Caramel were waiting at the door to be let in, they weren't wet. I don't know where they had sheltered during the storm but I was glad they were safe and sound. One of Spot's small piglets was dead, last night had been too much for such a little creature. Everyone else seemed to have survived the ordeal. There was no water so I couldn't feed, I didn't feel up to carrying water up from the tank. I went back to the caravan and had a cup of coffee and feel asleep in the chair; woke again just after eight. Lew tried to get on the internet to tell Sian we were ok, but we had no internet line and no telephone line. Our only communication with England was via text message on the mobile and credit was low. Sian tries to keep everyone in England informed. I was still waking around bear foot, my sandals washed away by the water, my other shoes could not be found, they were in the awning. My wellingtons in the animal house were full of mud; Lew went to ask Anisoara if they had a pair of sandals I could borrow. Although it was Sunday, we spent the day clearing mud and hosing down floors, not very successfully. It will take weeks to clean us properly. Outside there is a ton of mud to be moved. We were hoping to go to church today, Brian Roberts from Scotland was speaking, but it was not to be.

What's been happening in the village this week? The ladies have continued to work on the land. The harvesters have begun harvesting the green oats. There has been a great deal of sky watching.
Well I think that's all the news for this week …
So I'll say cheerio for now …