Urban view

View down a hill across the city as we were walking back home tonight. The street lights of the main dual carrageway road that runs through the city were shining brightly. Up here the view is across the valley of the river Trent. On a clear day you can see the way the land undulates towards the horizon about three or four miles away? There are hills to the left behind the buildings that rise up to a TV mast on a hill and then further on the green fields and pockets of woodland heading up to the Staffordshire moorlands. Straight in front and over the city hills would lead you eventually East into Nottinghamshire, and South the land is also covered in farms and woods, heading towards the Birmingham conurbation fotry or fifty miles away. We are an isolated city, surrounded by mostly countryside. A pleasant situation when so many other cities around England seem to be be surrounded by satellite towns. Fresh air is not too far away.

Rain

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It’s been threatening rain all morning. It was raining earlier, the abandoned cat we look after appeared bedraggled at the back door so he came in for a pouch of cat food before going off again. He’s definitely an outside cat.

We were expecting rain all day. My hubby was going for a walk but that has been cancelled. So he’s in the shed making cozy places for the hedgehogs and the cat to sleep in.

Rain. One year, many years ago, we were suffering weeks of rain. I told someone that an ark was being built on the top of the hill. They believed me! This country (UK) has so many influences from the North, South, East and West that we can sometimes get all types of weather in one day. The rain is one thing, but we sometimes even get (very small) tornados. Also hail storms, water spouts, gale, storm and hurricane force winds. High temperatures (rarely) but highest last year it was 38°C. Low temperatures, probably worst in Scotland around minus 20°C.

So yes, rain, some of the UK is very wet, certain villages like Seathwaite in the Lake District get some of the highest rainfall. Some of it is extremely dry. The South East of England around London frequently gets less water from rain than it requires so water companies are allowed to extract water for public use from rivers and aquafers.

On the whole I like rain. Except for late one night when we came out of a club and missed the last bus home. We had a five mile walk in the heavy rain. The water ran down my ‘showerproof’ coat. My trousers got soaked, and then the rain started getting in through the coat seams. Oh joy! Even my shoes were sodden… Memories.

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