Rained again tonight.

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My friends and I set out late this evening for our weekly walk. We’ve been walking up my steep hill every week for a few weeks, but tonight it was not to be. We’d got about 20 yards when splat! Big drops of rain. Lots of big drops. At least there was no thunder, no lightening. Just rain!

So… We could see bright pink clouds over the brow of the hill so we decided to drive in seperate cars over the hill to the local viewpoint. I was hoping to se a lovely sunset, but no, by the time we stopped the rain was falling fiercely there as well.

Plan C, we went into a local bar for a cool drink. By this time one of my friends had found a plastic bag to put over her head.

As we entered we had our temperature checked. I was still wearing a mask and because the bar was quiet felt reasonably happy removing it.

But it’s baby steps. I’m nervous of mingling with people I don’t know. It’s not something I will do without some trepidation.

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Watercolour background morphed

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I have a wide paintbrush you can use to spread watercolour across a page. On the right hand side is part of the original picture and the left hand side has had the hue digitally changed. The grass style marks were created by scratchingvthruogh the wet paint with the edge  of  a bit of  plastic. I might try and use the original background in my sketchbook for a new drawing, and I might upload this image to draw something else. I like the feel of this. I might add a lone pine tree or something like that. X

Rain

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It’s been threatening rain all morning. It was raining earlier, the abandoned cat we look after appeared bedraggled at the back door so he came in for a pouch of cat food before going off again. He’s definitely an outside cat.

We were expecting rain all day. My hubby was going for a walk but that has been cancelled. So he’s in the shed making cozy places for the hedgehogs and the cat to sleep in.

Rain. One year, many years ago, we were suffering weeks of rain. I told someone that an ark was being built on the top of the hill. They believed me! This country (UK) has so many influences from the North, South, East and West that we can sometimes get all types of weather in one day. The rain is one thing, but we sometimes even get (very small) tornados. Also hail storms, water spouts, gale, storm and hurricane force winds. High temperatures (rarely) but highest last year it was 38°C. Low temperatures, probably worst in Scotland around minus 20°C.

So yes, rain, some of the UK is very wet, certain villages like Seathwaite in the Lake District get some of the highest rainfall. Some of it is extremely dry. The South East of England around London frequently gets less water from rain than it requires so water companies are allowed to extract water for public use from rivers and aquafers.

On the whole I like rain. Except for late one night when we came out of a club and missed the last bus home. We had a five mile walk in the heavy rain. The water ran down my ‘showerproof’ coat. My trousers got soaked, and then the rain started getting in through the coat seams. Oh joy! Even my shoes were sodden… Memories.

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Waiting for snow while towns flood

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We are living through a bad patch of weather. A couple of named storms, then more rain. Now the forecast is for snow and ice or hail. Watching the news tonight there are towns on the river Severn which are flooded. The flood defences that were put in to protect properties next to the river in one in a hundred years storms have been used many times in the last few years. At the moment the county of Shropshire is affected. Shrewsbury is badly flooded in places. Bewdley and now Ironbridge (heart of the industrial revolution) are in danger. In two places Red, danger of death, warnings have been issued. The defences are being overtopped. That means people who have refused to move out are in danger.

Our society makes things worse by building on flood plains, laying concrete and brick ‘features’ and parking spaces in our gardens, not maintaining the countryside and removing trees and hedges. Even in the light of all the floods we still want HS2 (a train line whichmeans people will be able to get from Manchester or Leeds to London about 20 minutes more quickly. In the plans for the train line ancient forests will be dug up and villages demolished or cut off. All for the massive cost of over £100 billion! Maybe we should spend that on greening the environment instead.

Now I’m waiting to see if it snows. Whatever happens I hope for respite for the flooded areas.

Flooding

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This is a local lake, but I’m using it to illustrate what has been happening this weekend as storm Dennis rages over the UK. Flooding in South Wales, Worcestershire, Yorkshire, Scotland and many other of the shires (counties). Cities, towns and countryside have all been affected. The water that fell from storm Ciara last weekend has saturated the ground and made it difficult for the water to drain. The weather has battered the mainland of Europe too.

Watching it all happen on the TV, I know its a rather small problem compared with what’s been happening in Australia with its wild fires. In East Africa where billions of locusts are affecting many countries. In South America where people are burning rain forests, in so many places on the earth where seven billion of us are causing untold damage?

The questions come, but are not always answered. I don’t know what to think. But I might have to stop writing about it. I’m depressing myself and probably everyone else….

Rain due

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It’s not rained for a while, but the air pressure is dropping. The sky went yellow grey before the sun set. Weather is interesting here. We don’t get long spells of sun or rain, it fluctuates depending on the jet stream.

As you can see by the photo the pressure had dropped very low (the current pressure isn’t as low as this). I’m trying not to add new photos as my memory on WordPress is going down.

The rain is falling now, I can hear cars splashing through the puddles outside. I can hear it thrumming on the roof of the kitchen extension. It might turn to snow.

At Etruria today

Grey day on the canal,

Leaves float,

Cygnets shelter from the rain.

Boats huddle near the bridge,

Wrapped in old tarpaulins.

Smoke drifts up from stoves

that sit below the water levels.

Tea kettles boil and whistle,

Stained hands make a brew,

wiping off excess oil on grubby teacloths.

Leaves create mosaics of moist greens and browns.

Trees splinter into the sky,

Bursting like fireworks

But wet black,

No sparkle

Just grey, wet, dank…

And beautiful.

Coffee spill

_20191127_233122argh! Just got soaked. I’d rested my cup of coffee on my easle paintbrush tray, a fresh, full cup of decaff (don’t ask). But it tipped up, fell off landed on my foot, bounced, splashed…. My legs were soaked, the throw on the  chair is soaked, my jumper, even my face was splashed! Everything is in the washer now! Coffee, even without sugar, seems to be sticky. Yuk.

Will have to wait for the washer to go through its wash and spin cycle. A later night than I had hoped.

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Chilly

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And a bit damp. It’s 19.1°C in our living room and I’m contemplating putting a jumper on. I think my cat is chilly, he’s just come and sat on me and his sister wants a cuddle too. She sticks her claws in my leg and stretches up, but when I call her up she walks away. There are forecasts for rain tonight, thunder storms in the south east. If you want to look at where thunderstorms are look up blitzortung on Google. It’s a weather site that shows live tracking of thunderstorms.

Anyway that’s it from a cold and wet North Staffordshire…. X

More later.. Been a bit busy today….