Monday 30 April 2012

More Storm Damage And Holiday Countdown!

At the end of yesterday evening, the sun came out briefly through a slight drizzle. I managed to catch the last of the magnificent rainbow before it faded as the rain set in again
Took advantage of today's break in the rain to clear the former decking off the lawn. Stacked it in our under kitchen space to dry out before we reconfigure at least some of it. Yesterdays's temporary props were reinforced by some heavy stone.  One thing about living in Bath is that sticking a spade in the ground tends to result in a lump of stone - often already cut and squared off.
Su's engineering skills to the fore on this one, with drilling, nailing and a gert big lump of stone to secure the brace on next door's fence.
Our under kitchen space (definitely not a cellar as it is only about 3 foot high) has been waiting for us to put a door on for some time now.  The recent winds demolished our previous arrangement, so this will suffice till we get back from Greece, and saves our house-sitters from worrying about it.
At the end of all this, the sun came out and made the garden look lovely! 
Had a brief panic when we heard that trains between Bristol and Swindon are being affected by flooding on the line - we are due to to Gatwick by train on Wednesday morning. Luckily for us (but not other passengers) it is the Bristol Parkway route that is affected, not the Bristol Temple Meads - Bath route. After calming down, I took Bella out for a walk in some warm Spring sunshine, passing this poor storm-damaged tree.
But that was nothing compared to this one. I thought that the corner this tree used to stand on seemed a bit lighter than usual, and then I realised why…
Even more scary was that the tree had collapsed in the direction of the house - which is up for sale, so this will not have pleased the owners. What may have pleased them more is that although the tree brought down some guttering, it did not crash on the Porsche parked close by.
Down at the bottom of the hill, the stream was happily running fast. 
These purple topped grasses have sprung up in the last few days, so Spring must be on the way.
Blue skies and warm sunshine on my back - a welcome feeling after the last couple of weeks' weather.
 I really like these delicate flowers, but never remember their name - and the free booklet extracted from Sarah Raven's Wild Flowers from yesterday's Observer does not help.
I know these are buttercups glistening in the sunshine! 
Just across the stream, under the trees, the wild garlic is out in profusion. 
 And the pollarded willows are sprouting their leaves
On the way back up the hill by Midsomer Buildings, another casualty of the wind.
This day a year ago, we were still on Rhodes having a lazy day after our circumnavigation the previous day, when Su took this photo of octopi being prepared for cooking. 
Tomorrow is our last day before we go to Greece once more - and - of course - we have a list as long as our arm of tasks we need to finish in the next 36 hours. So, on that note, I must dash - I'll be back with an update tomorrow!

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