Looking at the weather map amd listening to the lovely Carol Kirkwood (every 'thinking man's 'pin up' if they're approaching 60) on BBC 'Breakfast', we are in for another STORM - very ferocious it seems for us Northerners on the East side of the country. Its name begins with a B I think but I can't remember what - but plenty of alternatives beginning with B if it turns out to be as bad as predicted. An aside here: I have just looked Carol up on Google - she is over 60. With that lovely Scots accent, the gorgeously curvy figure and that charming smile, no wonder she is such a hit.
So back to the storm. Gone are the days when my dear old father-in-law would judge the weather by looking out to Zebra (a hillock with three old trees on the top) and saying 'it's black ower be Zebra'. But the outcome is the same.
It is a few years - maybe three or four - since we had a horrendous thunderstorm here - a storm which indiscriminately swept through one or two houses on the estate. We are on a slope downhill so that water, gathering speed as it flows off the fields through our gardens as we live at the top , crosses the road and then goes in the front door and out the back door of just a few houses as it goes.
Higher up - in Arkengarthdale - the same storm destroyed a few old cottages and created havoc in The Red Lion which was closed for repairs for several months I believe.. A bridge at Grinton was completely washed away making the jouney into the dale 'a long way round'. Let's hope it isn't as bad this time.
The lane where my son and his wife live is an unadopted way with a downward slope both of the lane and the beck which flows alongside. In that storm a quarter of the houses (8 on one side - very inviting for the flood water and only two or three on the top side where the land slopes steeply uphill so they are safe), My son's house stands well back so hopefully he is safer, although his garden is built up and a small housing estate sits above it. They will be watching the weather over the next few days.
It is already bad in Scotland with huge waves battering the East coast. They have been told to batten down the hatches - and it should arrive down here overnight tonight. Luckily I take out my hearing aids overnight so any howling wind goes by without waking me (I hope).
I am on a bit more even keel today after a couple of very disturbed hectic days and writing here always calms me like old friends dropping in for a chat would. At half past one this morning I was looking at the lovely crafts displayed on the etsy shop at' ook' on my side bar. That had a hugely calming effect on me. An hour of just quietly looking through beautiful examples of pottery, lovely greetings cards and the like (some people are so very talented aren't they) and I was ready to return to bed, put the blanket setting on 1 (all night) and I overslept!
See you tomorrow unless the weather is so bad the swimsuits are the order of the day - at which point 'No' almost 91 and swimsuits should never be seen in the same sentence,( especially if the figure concerned also has arthritic knees )!
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28 comments:
"Babet" is the name you were searching for. Doesn't sound very stormy somehow. When I lived in Grantchester you had to watch out for the wind coming over Park Hill in winter. It always meant snow.
So she's the latest 'thinking man's totty'? I thought it was err... that historian called... err... Oh never mind.
Our weatherman has said to look out for heavy rain this night, as you know in these narrow valleys the water in the river and canal peaks very quickly, and also the water table goes high as well.
I am glad you are feeling much better and had a good night sleep. Being well rested is a great feeling. Let's hope the storm begins to lose strength as it travels toward England. Weather shifts are so unpredictable. Your father-in-law had a great system for storm prediction. My grandmother watched the sky and trees move with the wind and she saw weather patterns too.
Hope you have no trouble with the storm, Pat. Stay safe!
I'm so glad you're feeling better, Pat. It's no fun to feel off kilter. Will have to take a look at the lovely wares on 'ook's blog.
Hope the hatches all over the northern UK are well battened down and that the trees and buildings stay up.
Hugs!
Hope the running water off the hills avoids both your house and your son's and perhaps not as bad as they've forecast
Thinking about you, Pat, and will be sending best wishes that the storm doesn't do damage to your corner of the world. Everything seems so topsy-turvy (sp?) presently in the world. Hugs from the base of the mini-mountain in Maine. Regina
Poor Wngland seems to be getting a lot of extreme weather this year. I do hope the storm's intensity is less than predicted.
Carol Kirkwood will be able to get away with wearing a swimsuit at 91.
I don‘t know Carol Kirkwood but shall look her up in a minute.
Hopefully, the storm will not be so bad in your area. Stay safe and sleep well, Pat!
My Mum used to say "It's looking black over Bill's Mother's." Apparently my Grandma used to say it too. Nobody ever knew who Bill or his Mother was though!
I have never heard of Carol Kirkwood. Once upon a time it would just have been a stormy end of the week coming going into the weekend with 60mph gusts possible with coastal areas likely to experience high tides and some flooding.
I fear for Scotland as they have had so much heavy rain already and I hope the winds will not do too much damage. I also hope that your part of the country will survive unscathed. These storms are becoming a little too frequent I think. If things should become too wet for comfort I am sure a wetsuit would be the best garment for either of us! I can't remember when ever I possessed a swim suit.
Pleased to hear you have slept well and are feeling back to normal once more.
Carol Kirkwood is my favourite weather presenter - her voice is so pleasant and her diction is perfect. She is also beautiful.
Too right Tasker - you are obviously an admirer - she is a lovely woman - always cheerful and nobody tells the weather as well as she does.
Back in the days before storms were named, I remember two spectacular storms where we lived in Sussex. The first was an early September thunderstorm that made the Guinness Book of Records at the time for the heaviest hailstones in England up to that time, and the second was around ten years later that rained non-stop for over 36hours, turning the earthworks for North Sea gas pipelines into new rivers across the farmland. And of course there was the hurricane-that-wasn't in 1987 (I think) that left my parents without electricity for a week as well as laying waste to huge numbers of trees.
I you feel like some light amusement Pat, google Adelaide Remember When: clairvoyant John Nash.
That was a weather prediction that set Adelaide abuzz in 1976. I was 23 at the time and remember it well.
Evidently, if you can believe what you read, and there was much hearsay at the time, the BBC dispatched a television crew to Glenelg to record the predicted devastation.
There was no tidal wave and no earthquake. The clairvoyant left Adelaide and took up residence in a town in NSW which was hit by floods soon after his arrival.
We did have an earthquake in 1953 however,- the clock fell off the mantle and hit me on the head, in the bassinet, which explains a lot, ha! - Pam, Sth Aust.
Safe slumber to you. May the storm not be as bad as predicted.
Keep safe in the storm. I hope it turns out to be less than predicted.
Hopefully you'll sleep well tonight and awaken to a
surprisingly pleasant day
Mary
I agree with much of what your wrote. I like to look over at what some artist are doing. I don't go out much I miss my visits to the art museums and I can't fly any more.
Hope your Sons home stays dry and the storm will be less than what the weatherman says.
The Gud Dugs send woofs !
Rainy here yesterday, but luckily not at dog-walk times. It sounds bad in Scotland. I agree with you about CK.
I never watch TV in the morning and so never see Carol Kirkwood, so had to Google her, I guess she does appeal to some men.
Finally remembered - Lucy Worsley.
Hope the storm misses you Pat, we're ok here in S Wales altho' we're having our share of the rain.
Babet has well and truly arrived - it has been pouring since early this morning and there is a strong East wind but it is not particularly cold - due to continue until tomorrow when it will slowly abate. Keep dru!
Here on Sheppey we had it through the night and up till 13.00 today, it's now sunny.
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