Wet!

There is a saying ‘in like a lamb, out like a lion’ (and vice versa) when it comes to March weather. We also talk about March winds.

After a very dry February, March has turned wild. It started quietly, but as the month has progressed the rain and wind has blown in over the Atlantic, causing low pressure systems to scud over us with record levels of rain falling.

Last night the wind was howling, one of the cats ran in, his coat glistening with rain. He looked like an otter that was just out of a river! He slept under the cover of my chair, like it was a little cave to keep warm in. He knows when to stay warm despite seemingly loving the awful weather.

Blowing a Hooley?

I think Hooley is a phrase meaning a gale or stormy. It’s a more picturesque word, probably quite old.

Despite our double glazing I can hear the wind soughing around the house, the vuuumming noise through the gap around the kitchen window. The cat flap opening and closing as if a fat, invisible cat was coming in and going out of the door. The overgrown bushes by the side of the house sometimes scrape along the wall. I’m used to it now but it used to be quite creepy when I first heard it. And of course it’s dark outside, dead leaves scatter and blow about on the wind, and litter scurries along the gutter on the road, picked up by the wind and dumped damply in heaps.

In amongst all these noises the cats use the cat flap, coming in and purring at me, purr-miaow? Where’s my tea? It’s not the wind this time, it’s me

Onedin line

I just listened to the Adagio from Spartacus. I know it as the theme music to a 1970’s TV series called the Onedin line. My mother used to collect LPs (long playing records) of classical music, and sometimes we would sit and listen to them. The adagio rises and falls, the music swells before it calms like a settling sea.

I haven’t heard it for forty years so I was surprised at how upset it made me. I cried so much. Memories can have that effect. These were good memories of a long time ago. If you want to hear it go to YouTube. It’s worth it.

Storm Eunice

The storm hit today. We were on the northern edge and although its been windy with heavy rain I don’t think it was as bad as storm Desmond earlier in the week.

I’m staying at home as I have a sore throat and aches. I guess it might be the weather. It seems like you get different bugs depending on the temperature?

While I sit and watch the trees blowing about I believe that Britain generally gets a few named storms a year. Eunice is a bad one. It mainly hit down in the South of the country. A wind speed of 122 miles an hour was measured at the Needles, a series of cliffs on the Isle of Wight. Part of the canvas covering of the Millennium Dome was ripped off. Trains were cancelled throughout Wales. Major bridges were closed. Rooves were torn off and a church steeple blew down. I know Cornwall, Devon and Somerset have been affected and London Fire Brigade was inundated with calls.

There may be snow blizzards tonight in the North of England and in Scotland and Northern Ireland. They were saying 10 to 30 centimeters of snow may fall.

Meanwhile here… Its been a bit breezy. My city is about as far away from the coast as you can get, in the centre of the country. Our river is quite small here. It doesn’t create massive flooding, hopefully things will be OK. We may lose a few tiles, a chimney pot or two.

Storm Arwen

Not here… In Scotland

When you see a bad weather report like this you think it might effect your home. In this case its to the north of us up in Scotland and The North East of England. Still the wind is roaring past the house and rattling our wheelie bins. But that’s about it. We don’t appear to be getting flooding at the moment, but there may be on the North Sea coast.

We did have our power supply flickering a few times. But up north thousands of peoples homes have lost power. Trains are stranded. Its all relative I guess.

It’s a little world

A small painting I did in acrylics a few years ago. It features North America and was an attempt at painting clouds. Its not as accurate as I would have liked but then I needed to possibly use smaller brushes. The cloud patterns stretch across the width of the continent and show the direction of the winds as they curl and blow and bend in them. I always think its interesting how clouds tend to cling to the coastlines, except where s major storm appears to be in the gulf of Mexico. Also the lack of cloud cover over California. I’m not sure I’ve got the colours right. I tried.