Rained again tonight.

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My friends and I set out late this evening for our weekly walk. We’ve been walking up my steep hill every week for a few weeks, but tonight it was not to be. We’d got about 20 yards when splat! Big drops of rain. Lots of big drops. At least there was no thunder, no lightening. Just rain!

So… We could see bright pink clouds over the brow of the hill so we decided to drive in seperate cars over the hill to the local viewpoint. I was hoping to se a lovely sunset, but no, by the time we stopped the rain was falling fiercely there as well.

Plan C, we went into a local bar for a cool drink. By this time one of my friends had found a plastic bag to put over her head.

As we entered we had our temperature checked. I was still wearing a mask and because the bar was quiet felt reasonably happy removing it.

But it’s baby steps. I’m nervous of mingling with people I don’t know. It’s not something I will do without some trepidation.

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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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Spirals and patterns

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My drawing challenge today is to sketch some repetitions. I’m not sure what it’s going to be. Might be roof tiles, bricks or leaves.

It’s pouring down with rain outside so I might wait a while for the rain to pass over. The picture above is a house leek that I’ve duplicated to bring out the pattern more. That brings in the idea of repetition, the leaf shapes twist and turn. I shall ponder on what to draw….

Rainbow

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When there is heavy rain overhead but a low sun I know there will be a rainbow somewhere. I looked out of the front door and saw this. I got a bit damp and had to change the exposure to get a halfway decent photo. But it came out OK. We also had a few rumbles of thunder, but it’s not been that bad… Last week the rain was far heavier. Tomorrow might be worse.

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My own flowers

Last year, painting of morning glory flowers and some poppies. I haven’t grown much from seeds this year. We do have some lettuce plants, but they have probably been drowned by the amount of torrential rain we’ve been having over the past few days. Some places have had a months rain in a day! That compared with six weeks of sunshine in April and May. As usual our weather is topsy-turvy. Basically because of where the United Kingdom is positioned. We get weather from every direction, the Atlantic, the Arctic, Siberia, even dust dragged up from the Sahara. We are a weather magnet!

I want to go and get some seeds and see if I can grow some nasturtiums for late summer bedding, and the butterfly caterpillars love them. They are a nice, spicy, bitter and peppery orange flavour when added to salads and cold soups.

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Thunder and lightening.

 

Having a massive thunderstorm. The rain was drumming on the kitchen roof and my hubby went outside to turn off the electric power outside.

The storm blew over about ten minutes ago but now it sounds like it’s coming back. You can work out the distance it is away from you by watching when the flash happens and then counting the seconds until the thunder rolls again. Every second is half a mile. So if you see the flash and count six seconds. Then the    storm is three miles away. Anyway its come back again. About two miles away. The rain gives life I suppose, but everything is very wet now! The thunder I rattling the windows.. I was nodding off but the noise woke me up!

Before the storm

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The sky turned orange

Then maroon.

The sun crept under the curtain of cloud,

Sneaking out and staring through the rain.

Rainbows end in the murk

Towards the other horizon.

Light spills, then disappears.

The thunder thrills through the air,

Bouncing from chimneys and roofs,

Clattering slates,

Boom-rumble-thudding,

Flash, crash, splitting the new dark.

The storm is here.

 

Thunder and lightening

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This was the cloud

that rattled the windows,

drowned out birdsong

made my hubby swear in surprise.

 

This is the cloud

I tried to film

Flashes and rumbles

Forked lightening

Heavy rain it brings.

 

This was the cloud

That the blackbird sang to,

dueting the flashes

overwhelmed by thunder

liquid notes flying up to heaven,

rain falling in response.

 

 

Waiting for snow while towns flood

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We are living through a bad patch of weather. A couple of named storms, then more rain. Now the forecast is for snow and ice or hail. Watching the news tonight there are towns on the river Severn which are flooded. The flood defences that were put in to protect properties next to the river in one in a hundred years storms have been used many times in the last few years. At the moment the county of Shropshire is affected. Shrewsbury is badly flooded in places. Bewdley and now Ironbridge (heart of the industrial revolution) are in danger. In two places Red, danger of death, warnings have been issued. The defences are being overtopped. That means people who have refused to move out are in danger.

Our society makes things worse by building on flood plains, laying concrete and brick ‘features’ and parking spaces in our gardens, not maintaining the countryside and removing trees and hedges. Even in the light of all the floods we still want HS2 (a train line whichmeans people will be able to get from Manchester or Leeds to London about 20 minutes more quickly. In the plans for the train line ancient forests will be dug up and villages demolished or cut off. All for the massive cost of over £100 billion! Maybe we should spend that on greening the environment instead.

Now I’m waiting to see if it snows. Whatever happens I hope for respite for the flooded areas.

Pink dawn

Sky to the East of us about 7. 10 am. Barometer showing fair but the old  saw that red sky in the morning is a shepherd’s warning seems appropriate after all the bad weather we’ve been having. Apparently if the sky is red its because the dawn is reflecting off the underside of clouds (yes I can see that), and that means the bad weather is more likely to be overhead now or later. Red sky at night shepherd’s delight? The weather will have passed over and be moving away. I guess the point is also that it depends what direction the wind is blowing in?!

Waiting for the next storm…. It will probably start with the letter E…. How many more?