It was almost 10pm when the call came through...

...that the bottled water had reached our village!

I quickly ran up the bridle path which runs along the edge of our garden to find two policemen and several young Army chaps standing with a huge stack of bottled water, there in the dark. One pack of six bottles per household - no arguments, no pushing and shoving, nothing but good tempered, civilised behaviour, together with a fair bit of consideration for our neighbours too elderly or inform to carry it home for themselves.

After three days, it was good to know we hadn't been forgotten.

Also, in answer to my recycling concerns, we were told to hang onto our empty bottles for the time being until a solution is found to recycle them. I'm pleased about that.

We have developed quite a good system for coping without water from the tap. We drink the bottled stuff. We use the water brought from a neighbouring village to wash ourselves and the pots - some of it heated in a small urn we usually use for parties. We use the water from our garden water butts to flush the loos - replenished by torrential rain once again yesterday. We haven't quite been brave enough to do as one friend did yesterday - to don swimming costume and take soap and shampoo into the garden to shower in the torrential rain! (Bob, we want one of those photos!)