"THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS" AND OTHER PLACES!

I expect that you are as tired of reading my ramblings about the weather as I am of writing them, truth to tell there has been little else to write about for the past week! Gale has followed gale and storm after storm, punctuated only by bouts of torrential rain and the power cuts to which we are now becoming accustomed.

Severe weather warnings have become an every day occurrence as has watching the level of the brook which runs through the village; and which has in the past caused serious flooding:

By day the sight of flying debris has become the norm and by night the howling of the wind in the roof and the sound of it's howling down the chimneys has kept everyone awake for well over a week.

Each morning my son tours the grounds to check the trees and fences and has been obliged to remove fallen branches from the drive several times these past days. Friday nights storm left the fence at the front of the property half way across the road, it was to have been strengthened during the previous week but the weather was too wet and windy for the gardener to undertake the work in safety. Murphy rides again!

Out two cats, having been mewed up….excuse the pun…… for days became, first skittish then morose, leaving the hearth only for long enough to eat or to use the litter trays…..I know exactly how they feel!

We decided to decorate the house for the Christmas Holiday in an attempt to cheer things up a little, it is difficult to feel festive with dustbins, fence panels and shed roofs hurtling past ones windows!

I must say that the inside of the house looks lovely with every room dressed for the holiday, but outside it is a different story.

During a lull in the storms (of about five minutes duration) we managed to decorate the porch with a string of coloured fairy lights of the solar powered variety. Unfortunately the light levels have been so low that the longest they have stayed on has been twenty minutes, some days it barely gets light at all.

In spite of the gathering gloom I intend to begin my Christmas baking tomorrow(power cuts permitting of course} there is nothing like the smell of spiced biscuits to led a festive air to the kitchen and the boys, grown up though they be are looking forward to a plate of warm cookies with their morning coffee.

Tonight the wind has died down a little and the house is not shaking quite so violently, unfortunately the weather forecast predicts more gales and heavy rain tomorrow, becoming storm force by the evening…….this is where I came in!