In from the rain

My Cat is like an otter. He loves the rain. He came in from the storm Bram earlier today and I took this photo. He loves standing and staring at me. Generally this means “feed me”, so I did.

I know he has at least two other “homes”, although he has been back here more recently. He comes up amd sleeps on the bed but gets off if I have a disturbed night. (which is most of them these days). He’s just snuck upsts now. Sleep well pusscat.

Autumn dawn

Reddish sky in the morning

Shepherds take warning….

And they should! A few days ago we had a red dawn, this photo was taken as it faded.

The sky soon clouded over and later we had a deluge! Water flowed down the hill so fast and deep that it overwhelmed the drains and poured out of gutters onto the pavements. At the back of my house it came down the window in a sheet of rain and the water snuck into the wall and plaster around the window frame. I’ve never seen anything like it.

There was a flash flood in the centre of town with rain water up to people’s car headlights. Shops that were safe at the front had brown water knee high in their store rooms….

It might have been a microburst but it was very stormy. The winds were blowing trees about. It was more than the usual thunderstorm. Thankfully it blew over after about twenty minutes.

Climate change is here. I don’t know how places like Jamaica and Cuba and Haiti coped with last week’s hurricane. I feel so worried for them.

Quiet day

After a few hectic days I was going to do more today, but after messing about trying to get a parking space at the hospital early this morning so I could get a blood test, I came home and collapsed in a heap (metaphorically not literally). I’m OK.

Just shattered. I’d got wet in heavy rain and I hadn’t taken a raincoat, so I was soaked. I wanted to warm up because I was shivering.

I’m trying to save on heating costs so I didn’t put it on. But I relented tonight and switched on my electric heater.

Basically I ended up nodding off and napping a few times. I sat in front of my television and watched a few programmes which merged into each other.

Basically that was my day off.

Remembering Autumn

It’s been a few months since the sun shone for any length of time. The colours of the trees was glorious in places, others blew away in strong winds.

Winter has been mostly grey and overcast, interspersed with storms that have swept across the country blowing over trees, damaging buildings, flooding farmland and towns and villages. We have had snow, hail and rain and dark days as well as nights. Spring won’t be here till March. So I think I’ll hibernate again

Storm Darragh expected

We have a red storm warning for tomorrow covering most of South and Central Wales. Then amber for surrounding areas including where I live.

The warning is for strong winds up to 90 miles an hour with a danger to life, with damage to buildings and trees possible including flooding. I think there have been four named storms so far this season including this one. There has been a lot of rain, which is far more than we usually get. (this is the UK where we gets lots of rain).

See you on the other side….

Telling the weather by cat

Wet cat

Some cats avoid rain, take shelter

One of mine must have otter DNA

Who needs a barometer when you have him.

Wet fur = rain

Cold fur = frost

Cold white fur = snow

Warm fur = sunny

Dusty fur = Saharan sand!

Yes he’s a weather forecaster

Though he doesn’t know it,

He’s just come in

Damp.

Thunder over Stoke.

I got home in time to miss the worst of the storm. Thunder rolling over the hill. I stepped out of the car and only got a bit damp, but the lightening was coming, and with it the rain.

The heavy rain has now been falling for hours. I videoed a few seconds, but my phone was out of charge so I gave up trying to catch a lightening strike. I posted what I had recorded on Facebook. Water cascading from the gutter in front of my door, rushing down the hill, overflowing onto the pavement. The sky was dark and full up with energy.

Six hours later and the storm has rebounded back to us a few times, lightening flashes and the loudest roars of thunder I have heard in years. The lights flickered off and on at one stage.

I count the seconds after each flash. 2 seconds is a mile. So I can judge how far away the storm is, if the thunder rolls straight after the flash it’s overhead, if it’s heard after 2 seconds that’s a mile. Currently it’s rumbling 6 seconds after the flash so that’s about 3 miles away.

If you want to look at live lightening maps across the world go to https://www.blitzortung.org

Currently on the site the main storm is a few miles south of Stoke-on-Trent. Looking at the rest of the world the USA seems very active. I recommend turning off detectors and turning on the sound so you can hear how active the storms are. It’s safe to accept cookies but I close all ads.

No cherries, no pears

Each year we have cherries and pears on our trees. The birds get most of the cherries but we get good pears, that is until  this year.

We had a lovely display of blossom. The cherry and the pear tree blossomed first. Early in spring. Lots of flowers, pink and white. But I was worried because it was cold and wet and windy and I didn’t see many insects (and we don’t seem to have had birds nesting either). A couple of weeks later the blossom had faded and petals showered the ground. Then the apple tree came into blossom. The sun shone and bees arrived. Now I have no cherries, I saw the little stalks with tiny pips all over the ground, and no discernable baby pears. It’s so sad. It’s like they have given up now hubby is gone.

My only consolation is that there are lots of apples on the tree. But it hangs over into my neighbours yard and I am worried they will cut it back, and as there is a trellis fence in the way I can’t access the fruit. Drat!