Andrea awoke to a cold, frosty, blue sky February day. The previous week had been extremely wet and windy with three major storms, and that made today a pleasant change. She'd recently bought a pair of fully waterproof green leather boots and today was a perfect opportunity to break them in, on a long walk. So, wearing her Helly Hansen waterproof coat over a pair of light blue Manie de Voir jeans and an Ariat windcheater, she walked along the flooded farm tracks over towards the railway arches. The ruts made by the tractors were more than 30cm deep and full of muddy water. But her new boots served her well as she splashed along.

When she got to the open land near to the river, the evidence of the recent storms was readily apparent: there were huge toppled trees and flooded fields everywhere. One tree had actually fallen across the path, blocking it completely, and meaning that the only way past was by walking in the water. It wasn't too deep just deep enough to go over the tops of her new boots!

With her socks squelching with every step she took, Andrea threw caution to the wind and waded across one of the shallower floods. It was just over knee deep but, of course, that then wasn't enough for her, and she was soon wearing jeans that were dark blue up to the crotch and light blue above. Having walked in a large loop she headed back to her truck alongside the swollen ponds that she'd skirted around on the way out. And because her jeans and knickers were already wet, the temptation was just too much! She dropped her knapsack and plunged into the first pond, it was up to her arm pits and the water soon soaked up inside her Helly Hansen coat and Ariat jacket. Wading out of the freezing water she stripped off her coat and pulled off her boots. But she'd come prepared, and she smiled to herself as she pulled a bright blue one-piece DriTex suit out of her knapsack. Sliding into it she was immediately much warmer thanks to the reduction in wind chill. As she walked alongside the second pond she heard a little voice in her head telling her that she was already soaking wet inside the waterproof suit, and yet that (apart from her hands) she was still pleasantly warm. "What harm would it do to go for at least one more plunge?" the voice asked. The answer, she thought, was "none whatsoever," and 30 seconds later she was swimming in the pond, thoroughly enjoying the feeling as the DriTex suit filled with water. And that was it, the new boots had been well and truly broken-in. "I'll have to buy new boots more often" she agreed with herself, as she splashed through the flooded muddy ruts back to her car.