Rainy day

Yes it’s raining a lot here in England, so wet I dare not go out. I’m not allowed to get my face wet or get water or grit in my eye.

I really want to go out and do some shopping. I need to get cat food, but it’s still raining after about 12 hours. But I can hear the cars splashing through the water outside the front door. It’s only 2 or 3 steps to my car. But I need to use a brolly and my walking stick, so by the time I’ve put them in the car I will get soaked. Luckily I’m parked right by the pavement so I don’t need to step through a rushing river of water that runs down the gutter. The grates for the run off are full.

Anyway I’m off to grab a coffee… Decaff of course.

Five?

What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?

Are these everyday things? They are to me…

Art Groups I go to regularly. Being creative keeps my mind calm. When I’m painting or drawing I can put other feelings behind me. An art education improves creativity.

Having clean water to drink and use for washing. I realise many places don’t have the luxury of clean water. Even here there is a problem with some water companies, but at least it is clean and  delivered by pipes to almost every dwelling.

Media, again the luxury aspect. TV, radio, Internet. We mainly have all these in the UK although some are more hit and miss in more rural areas where mountains and hills can block transmissions. We possibly take it for granted.

Our health service. Free at the point of use. Yes it is overworked and underfunded. But you don’t have to pay unless you go private and no one goes bankrupt paying exorbitant fees. I hope it survives all the problems going on in the country.

Finally Education. We are lucky that most pupils stay on till senior school and beyond to college and degree level. The pandemic had a detrimental effect on attendance and some children are being home schooled. I think that’s a mistake but as long as they get a good widespread education then hopefully they will be OK.

So this post is a bit random but all these things mean a lot to me. Art is my main one though.

Four leaves

Four leaf clover,

just green and neat.

Splattered with dew or rain

Contrasted against black

How to describe it more?

Thin stem from its centre

Leaves splayed out lobes.

Striped with thin veins

Each curved gently

Upper surface dips downward

Four fan shaped

Instead of the usual three

Lucky?

Memory of the one I found….

Longshore drift…

Someone asked a question on Facebook about posts sticking up through a beach in lines.

I have a relative at the coast and had wondered the same thing myself. I asked and found out that they were used to slow something called longshore drift. It’s where over time tides moving along the coast shift sands sideways. Groynes (boards) between the posts held the sand back and stopped the beach being washed away.