Weather Forecast

Weather
forecast rain.
Instead weak sunshine
sparkles on fallen leaves.
Golden.

Old Fleece

Yes, I’m back at last. We have had a wonderful time touring through France to Spain and back and had some glorious weather most of the time. It didn’t begin to feel autumnal until we were at least half-way back through France. By the time we got back to the coast to make our ferry crossing torrential rain and gale force winds in the Channel caused all ferry sailings to be cancelled. We managed to book on the next one, half a day later, but it wasn’t the best of crossings. We also encountered bad weather for the first part of the journey home on the English side. This soon dried up, but we were then bedevilled with roadworks, road closures and deviations (including a lengthy detour from the M6 round Wolverhampton) as we drove north, finally arriving home in the small hours of the morning last Wednesday. Since then I have been catching up with various necessary jobs, cleaning the motorhome ready for winter lay-up, doing piles of washing and making an attempt at tidying the neglected garden. There is more to be done but it’s a start.

I sweep fallen leaves
wearing an old fleece jacket.
Damp autumnal chill.

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Sky

For a while the sky
looked as if it threatened rain;
but then changed its mind.

Thirsty Ground

Thirsty
ground eagerly
soaks up rainfall,
racing against the drying
sunshine.

Soak

Not an end to drought
but the ground has had a soak.
Lovely, lovely rain.

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

We have finally had a good rainfall overnight and all morning. Gentle rain that soaks in well and saves the need to water the garden for today at least. It has refilled my water butt. This is not the end of the drought though, rivers and reservoirs are still very low and hosepipe bans in place around the country, thankfully not where I live yet but I have been avoiding using the hose and only watering where necessary with waste water saved from the kitchen, using the watering can. The forecast is for another dry spell by the weekend. Still I am thankful for what we have, many areas have not had much at all for a long time.

Spots of Rain

Cooler
and overcast.
Spots of rain.
Short, sharp shower; not
enough!

Hosepipe

Watering
the garden.
Thankfully hosepipe ban
not in my area
yet!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
We have had some rain recently, for which we are thankful, but by no means enough and the threat of a hosepipe ban has not gone away! I am trying not to be too wasteful with the water and only watering the necessary areas - vegetables, fruit trees and bushes and the flower borders. The lawn area has greened up nicely with the rain that we have had but I never water that anyway - grass has great powers of recovery after drought.

Drought

Brown,
the grass
of the lawn.
When will it rain?
Drought.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Well, we didn't get the rain promised on Thursday, so I wrote the above Elfje during a wakeful night last night. However when I finally got up in the morning I discovered it had rained in the night, the ground was wet. It continued to rain gently for several hours so I wrote the Elfje below. Then the rain stopped! The sun came out for a while and the ground has dried, but it has now clouded over again so perhaps we will get some more rain. It least it is a lot cooler

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rain
at last,
fine and gentle.
Will it be enough?
Showers.

Today

After intense heat
today it is bearable.
It might even rain!

Weather

Early out on the bike,
ahead of the weather.
Now drinking warm coffee
waiting for the rain.