New paintings and regular art updates.
The air pressure here has dropped by about 20 or 25 millibars today. As you can see it’s gone from change/fair to rain. And it’s pouring it down outside. The wind is very gusty and its battering our trees and hedges. The hanging baskets are rocking on their brackets. I might tap the barometer and see if it drops further. This is a mechanical barometer so it needs to be tapped sometimes to get an accurate reading.
There are gales forecast for tomorrow but we might go out for a wet and windy walk round Westport lake in The birth of our city. I live the sound of wind rushing through the trees. You can hear the waves of air coming as first one tree bends and then the next. Air ‘soughing’ through the tree tops. Twigs or sometimes branches snapping off. Bits of tree strewn across the paths. Sometimes we hire bikes to cycle round it, but they won’t be open tomorrow.
In the photo the weather was fair and I think it was early summer. There should be lots of birds there so we will take some brown bread to feed them. That’s if the weather isn’t too foul. I once went for a walk and my phone drowned in the pocket of my waterproof coat. If its like that I might just admire the view from my car.
I was looking out the window at about 4.15pm and the sky was purple pink. I know the sun was setting, but I did think for a minute that it might snow. It’s been a cold Christmas day and we are due a storm from tomorrow night with possible gusts of wind of about 60 miles per hour. Its due to be even windier on the coast. I had thought of going for a boxing day walk but I don’t know if that will happen now
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You don’t normally find apples still on trees at this time of year. But this was plucked from the back of an apple tree, that sits amongst lots of bushes, this afternoon. Never found one this late in the year before.
Speaking if late apples, hubby bought home four or five little crab apples from branches overlooking the canal on his walk last weekend. I told him not to bring more home as this will be food for small animals or birds over winter.
Outside Portmeirion pottery shop in Stoke. Standard Fushias are still in flower on 23.12.20,some of the leaves are looking a bit sad, but it’s testament to how warm it has been over the few months. My hubby found a ladybird on him last night after he had come in out of the garden. I dropped it off in a flowerpot so it would have somewhere to shelter.
The crazy temperatures that global warming is causing mean that things are staying in flower longer, but there are not many insects around to pollenate them. I pray humanity does work to regulate the worlds temperatures.
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Looking out of the kitchen window and the hanging basket I have taken photos of over the months is still surviving. A lot of the flowers have gone. There are still five or six different plants with flowers on them. The other hanging baskets are wilting. But it’s almost the shortest day (tomorrow) how is it coping!? If we ever get a cold night or snow it might die back. In any case I will post again if it’s still going.
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When do Cygnets become Swans? When their feathers turn white. We saw this one swimming up the canal yesterday. It had its wings slightly up and the wind was pushing it along like a small sailing boat. Every couple of seconds it’s legs sculled the water, giving it a little buoyant push along. When it saw me trying to get my camera out of my pocket it headed towards me. But sadly I had no food for it. If we walk that way again I will take some food along with me. As we walked along we saw two more and two adults. I don’t see too much wildlife in the city so this was a pleasure.
Looking up I see a grey orange sky. That grey that foretells either snow or fog. Mist wraps round trees, swirls of cold wet air netting the world in damp chills. How many spiders webs are covered in dew? Frost builds and creaks, snapping and wilting late flowers. Will it snow? Will the World be silenced? Snuffed under white goose down…. And will it happen before Christmas?
Will there be frost? It certainly feels like it. The sky has cleared and the damp air seems to be clamping down on the world tonight.
The chill from outside has sneaked in here. I opened the back door to let the cat out and a whole cold layer of air has run like a river through the house. My top half is warm but my knees and feet are cold.
It’s snowing around the country but I think its just going to freeze here tonight….
No? Neither had I.
But in Edinburgh yesterday they got it! Basically it was a thunderstorm but because it was so cold there was snow instead of rain. The descriptions were that the lightening was brighter then normal (the whiteness of the snow made the light reflect more brilliantly). The thunder sounded like an explosion (muffled by the snow and clouds). Some people even rang the emergency services. Apparently its a rare phenomena but not unknown.
Mallaband-Brown