H20

Two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms - liquid, ice or steam - covering more than 70% of the Earth's surface.

And essential for all known forms of life.

But can be devastating too.

We were on the outskirts of the Gloucestershire flooding three years ago and watched in disbelief at the scale of the damage in the area.

Then the most awful events unfolding in Pakistan. I can't even begin to start on that one.

And somewhat trivial in comparison, but causing us to be very sad today, is our poor baby stingray.

Just over five weeks ago we were delighted and amazed to witness, and capture on video, the birth of this beautiful creature. What pleasure this wee thing has given us and so many of our family and friends as they watched it loop the loop immediately after it was born - almost as if it was so overjoyed and excited to be here.

But something went wrong with our water over the weekend.

Cotswolds water is horribly hard and James has got a very elaborate set-up in the garage to provide the best water for all the tanks we have (eight with more on there way) - but stingrays are really sensitive to any fluctuation and he thinks a drop in the pH has caused the current crisis.

Daddy ray wasn't affected at all, but mummy ray and baby ray were very poorly yesterday. Several water changes and treatments later, mummy ray looks to be recovering well - but for the poor wee baby it's slightly different.

We keep on going to check on her - but there's not much more we can do - other than just hope and keep everything crossed that's she's strong enough to pull through.

PS. Not able to link yet as new blipper - but here she is being born http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGWir0Ui7Xw

PPS. On a lighter note, the water here is coming out of one of our sink taps - they're called "Love Me" and make me smile each time I use them.