
Out in the sunshine
Watching the cedars
Blown in the wind
A sudden squall
And they are dripping
Cold droplets down my neck!
Old trees
Friends with fronds!
New paintings and regular art updates.

Out in the sunshine
Watching the cedars
Blown in the wind
A sudden squall
And they are dripping
Cold droplets down my neck!
Old trees
Friends with fronds!

Storm “Henk”, passed over us yesterday. The fifth named storm of the current season I think? Rivers in the South and West have flooded including the Severn at Shrewsbury, a river at Tenby in South West Wales, the river at Worcester and many other places. I think they said there were about 150 flood alerts this time including one in South Wales so severe that there was a danger to life.
Rain and strong winds had made it so dark outside that there were leaden skies for most of the day, and night came early as the sunlight was blocked by the piled up blackened clouds.
We had the new forecast last night. The low is drifting away and high pressure and colder drier weather is on its way. Thank goodness for that. But the weather is getting wilder. Is this a sign of global warming?
Name your top three pet peeves.
MY THREE PET PEEVES….
TV adverts
Musac (especially Christmas musac) in stores in July….
Stressful situations at home (that don’t have to be)
So I wrote this poem:
Take a seat

Take a seat
Brush off the leaves
Wipe away the rain
Sit down and breathe….

I love piled up clouds, dark and threatening, but with bright white patches, and blue sky (enough to make a sailors britches). You know a heavy shower is on the way, but it won’t last long, and the sun will be shining again.
When I used to walk to school I would chase the shadows of clouds. They would drift along the pavement like lapping waves. I don’t seem to see them any more? Maybe their edges are too fluffy. Or they don’t scud past anymore? Has the, weather changed in the last fifty years…?

Hundreds of miles of the South of England have been badly affected by Storm Ciaran (pronounced kiaron).
Rooves have been torn off, trees uprooted, a branch like a spear pierced the roof of a mobile home and punctured the bed the occupant had just vacated. A woman woke in the storm and grabbed her baby from it’s cot just as the windows blew in. 107 thousand homes had their power cut off. Many have had it restored but 20 thousand are still without electricity.
The channel islands have suspended ferry crossings and their airports are closed. There was a red weather warning indicating danger to life and property.
Meanwhile Northern France was also badly hit by the storm. I think there were wind speeds over 110 miles an hour. We are lucky to be far north of this weather event.

Scotlands Tayside region and the surrounding areas are being hit by a massive storm. There is a red warning in place as significant flooding. It means there is a significant threat to life. Three lives have been lost. But in Derbyshire and other areas of Eastern England rivers have risen and people have had to be evacuated. This is in no way a comparison with any other world disasters happening elsewhere. But it’s shocking to see how bad the flooding is. Global warming? I think so.

Hard to see, but the rain is falling in our yard after several days of scorching heat that despite watering have dried out our hanging baskets.
Thunder is constantly rumbling south of us. I’ve checked blitzortung.org and you can see a large concentration of lightening strikes happening now about two miles away. I tried taking a screenshot of the website but this phone is an awkward beast at times. I’m going to post a video online but not here, I haven’t got enough memory anyway there’s some hail mixed in so it must be cold up in the storm.

Yesterday was warm
Tomorrow will be wet
Spiky shardes of night-time
Agog in the sunlight.
Slow storm Betty
Trundling
over the ocean…
West of Ireland
On its way
Seeded heads will be beaten
Without delay
Tree tops will twist
Leaves will fly
So soon this summer goes
Autumn visits us
And I cry

I had a lovely afternoon out so I gave my friend this small painting to say thank you. It’s only about three inches square. We had gone to a garden center so I felt it would be nice to give her something floral. Poppies are my favourite flower, vibrant and silken looking. This is a simple painting in acrylic. Drops of dew or rain sit on the petals and shimmer in the light. A bud ready to burst sits next to the flower with it’s promise of further beauty.

From the Encyclopedia Brittanica :

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St. Swithin’s DayTable of ContentsHomeLifestyles & Social IssuesFestivals & Holidays
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Also known as: Saint Swithun’s Day
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: Article HistoryTable of Contents
St. Swithin’s Day, also called St. Swithun’s Day, (July 15), a day on which, according to folklore, the weather for a subsequent period is dictated. In popular belief, if it rains on St. Swithin’s Day, it will rain for 40 days, but if it is fair, 40 days of fair weather will follow. St. Swithin was bishop of Winchester from 852 to 862. At his request he was buried in the churchyard, where rain and the steps of passersby might fall on his grave. According to legend, after his body was moved inside the cathedral on July 15, 971, a great storm ensued. The first textual evidence for the weather prophecy appears to have come from a 13th- or 14th-century entry in a manuscript at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Well it’s raining and blowing a gale, and the local weather forecast is for some rain all next week, so St Swithens might be right. In the meantime Europe is sweltering so I hope some gentle cooling rain gets down to the south of us and rinses the heat dome over southern Europe out of the way.
For all the climate deniers the world has been it’s hottest since records began over the last seven days. Maybe it’s not too late to do something about it, but big business doesn’t want to lose profits.