A welcome start to the year

What better way to start the new year than with a light drizzle of rain over our parched Peninsula. Any drop will do! I took a peek into the well this morning, which I haven't used for watering in weeks, and was aghast to see sand at the bottom. This has never happened in the 36 years we have lived here - there has always been a shallow layer of water even up to the end of February. The water table is in a sorry state. The well point goes down a little further than the 8 feet of the well, and this allows for some rather weak watering twice a week, but otherwise it's going to be the slog of 5-litre bottles filled from the water tanks if I'm going to keep the garden going. I have identified more bits of lawn that can be dug up and replaced with water-wise plants and a thick layer of wood chip mulch. The identification was made easy by the fact that it's just a patch of sand!
New Year's Eve celebrations were low key this year, so low key that they were conspicuous by their absence. In fact, the entire 'festive season' was remarkably unfestive. I put this down to the fear of being arrested for driving under the influence, as the prospect of even one night in a jail cell with cellmates who are unlikely to be your first choice of companion has apparently taken the joy out of any celebration that requires you to drive home afterwards. I am the first to welcome strict policing of drunken drivers, but I think that the whole point behind campaigns to rid our roads of this scourge is to encourage people to find out that they can party without being out of control. How sad is a world where people stay at home and forego the pleasures of socialising and celebrating simply because they can't do it without a drink? Perhaps sleepovers are going to make a comeback!
Of course, this is easy for me to say, as I find it hard to finish a glass of wine, and I can dance on a table without the aid of alcohol, but I know many people feel self-conscious and awkward without a glass or two to loosen up. Perhaps if we could loosen social pressures to be the best at everything, we could get back into party mode without fear of jail time!
After this little ramble, I can tell you that the drizzle continues and my garden and I are most grateful for this auspicious start to 2019!