Sea and sand

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Build your castles on the sand and they might be washed away. Water creeps or washes in. It sinks down under the sand. The beach quakes. The rocks fall….

What is sand? Silica, ground up rock and shells. Sand can be melted into glass, a solid once liquid. Fused in heat either through vulcanism, lightening (did you know when lightening strikes damp sand it can melt a branching path through it, like plant roots?). Humans also build kilns and create glass to be blown or fused or slumped.

The sea washes or crashes in to a beach. Longshore drift pushes sand and rock sideways and along a coast. In a severe storm sand can be stripped off a beach completely, and yet it can equally be washed back again.

The world warms, water rises, sand washes away, cliffs crumble, castles crumble.

Life changes and evolves.

Welsh river

Before we got to Llanrwst we called at a village which was next to a beautiful bridge. I didn’t see a sign identifying it. But it was on a curve in the road and the bridge led off the main road into the  village.

The river was in full flow with the water rushing along. We spoke to a resident who had seen it yesterday she said it had been about 18 inches deeper, but last week it had been very shallow and her 4 year old grandson had been paddling in it.

As we drove away along the road you could see places where the river was higher than the road, and huge puddles in the fields and along the road where water was still lying after yesterday’s downpour.

More rain is forecast for tomorrow so we might have had the best day today. We shall see.

 

Shouting stop at the rain!

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Yesterday I was sitting by my art stall in the craft fair. The doors were open to let people in. Suddenly there was shouting outside. I heard my hubbies voice and thought he was arguing with someone! I headed to the door while my fellow stall holders looked on in bemusement.

My hubby was outside with three or four people and he was berating the clouds and telling God to stop the rain! I don’t know why he thought it would have any effect. He was quite alright, no fight. But it’s just like him, eccentric.

The rain and wind continued. Water was even dripping through cracks between the walls and the ceiling, onto the floor of the room we were in, it was not good.

When we came home the pear tree had blown down! Cause and effect?

Going back

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Going back to a haven in the sun, a place where I was happy, a home from home. I won’t give you a clue, just a generic photo. I hope the weather will be bright. I might take my paints. Now I need a break, a rest. Somewhere to breathe. To be calm, to listen to water and waves. Cold weather may affect things, I’m hoping not too much. May not be about much this coming week.

Wet

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We went to the British Ceramic Biennial today, at the Spode Site in Stoke, to glaze a piece of pottery I made last week. The weather was very bad and we got soaked on the way into the exhibition. When we came out the rain had cleared up and the sun was out. I took some photos of the wet surfaces. It’s always good to notice changes caused by weather conditions and variations in lighting.

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Life belt

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I’m not sure why these are inside a building and not outside by the side of the canal to be used? Perhaps they are old and not the correct standard anymore. Maybe they have been stored in case they are needed? Maybe they are for use by the boat club that meets in the warehouse sometimes. Yes that is damp at the bottom of the wall. The building is between the trent and Mersey canal and the Cauldon canal. It is actually lower down than the water on one side, and next to a deep lock on the other side. So water might be slowly seeping in and the building is over a hundred years old.

Back to the life belts, I guess you could grab them and use them if someone falls in the lock….. I might find out about them…

Ripples

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Drop a pebble in a pond, or watch drips of water fall into a bowl. You get ripples moving outwards, they reach a side or an edge, then bounce back.

Sometimes the edge is soft. Grass or sedges perhaps. Then the ripple is absorbed, dampened down. Or ripples turn into waves, waves into swelling storms. It depends on the weather.

Solenoid

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My central heating boiler went on the blink, which is a problem because we had no hot water. Luckily we have a contract with a company so I was able to call them out. I thought it was the timer because the heating was not kicking in when the timer moved round to ‘on’. But no, the nice man from the company could hear the pump kicking in but the flame was not lighting. So he had a look and removed this, it’s a solenoid. Basically the circuit has to close to light the boiler so that the heating comes on its apparently worked by electromagnetism. I’m really pleased he fixed it. My boiler is twenty five and still works well. I’m worried that it is going to become obsolete. Hopefully they will be able to get parts for a few more years yet…..

Rain

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The rain comes down harder and faster these days. When I was a child I remember gentle rain, now it seems to soak in seconds. Water has a way of getting into everything when it falls. Like a cold shower it wakes you up, startling you as it splashes in your face. It was once said that there is no bad weather, just being inappropriately dressed for it. Nowadays I’m not so sure.

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We have a frog!

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There is a frog in our pond. We had frogs several years ago, but they disappeared. Now they have come back. They are sharing the pond with some goldfish which seem to be OK. I wasn’t sure if they could co-exist? Do frogs eat fish? It’s funny seeing them breathe the water making tiny ripples with their movements. It’s a real wildlife garden and pond.