What’s happening? The water butt in our shady garden is a mystery. We installed it in July this year. Even after a solid downpour, it appeared to be empty after a few days. We checked for leaks but found none.

It filled up again after further rain. We didn’t use the water very much over our ‘summer’, as the shady plot stayed fairly moist. The water turned brown and rather smelly, but no leaks.

Now in the autumn, we haven’t had heavy rain for some time. We’ve emptied the water butt over the shady plot, now looking very dry. Last week, we cleaned and refilled it, using tap water. It’s supposed to take 250 litres. But by yesterday there was no water!

My usual gardener’s reflex is to blame seagulls, squirrels, next door’s cats, slugs and snails. True, Brighton seagulls are highly skilled at manipulating plastic rubbish bags, so pushing a small tap should be no problem, but surely even these devious creatures are not that interested in bathing in tap water?

What is going on? The mystery continues … Watch this space for updates. Meanwhile, autumn sunshine is all very well, but if things continue like this, we’ll be spending next Tuesday afternoon dancing for rain in our yellow jackets.