Today it has been raining.  Not just a little bit. A lot. I remember when much younger over-using the word “awesome” a great deal, but today seems to call for its resurrection.  This torrential rain, this noisy, unending, full-on, day-long vertical waterfall has been truly, seriously awesome, transformed into something extraordinarily intimidating by vast gusts of wind that shake everything, knock over plants in their pots, and make me worry that I was a little rash to put out my bins for collection tomorrow.  Storm Bronagh in full swing.  I commented on an email to a friend that the advantage of sitting in the midst of it all is that I’m not sitting in Surrey Quays worrying about it.  However, it should be added that the disadvantage of sitting in the midst of it all is that I’m sitting in the midst of it all!  The first video is a very short one because I got absolutely drenched standing in the doorway for even the short period that I was there.

This second video, taken from the dry side of the window, has the added excitement of the down-pipe overflowing and travelling across the decking in substantial drifts.  The sheer amount of water has backed up the drain pipe and it is going everywhere in great, loud, heavy thuds and crashes as it hits my outdoor cupboard and my decking.  Again, awesome, but I really wish that it would be just a little less exciting!

I’ve been reading a book about the history of Wales in the early Middle Ages, and the thought of engaging in war with the English in this sort of weather, with nothing more than motte and bailey castles as protection and no gas-fired central heating and hot water really turns my blood to ice.  God knows what they were wearing, but I bet it didn’t keep out this sort of incessant weather.

I was also thinking about Dai’s comment that he wasn’t taking the boat out to do any fishing due to the weather forecast.  It is unimaginable what it would be like at sea on a any day of the last three days, but particularly today when rain and wind have joined forces to toss life on land around.  A staggering thought.