I always worry about the birds during these severe gales and storms .The Crows don't seem to care .
It has been wild !
So we were happy to see the Choughs whilst out on our walk across the cliffs .
There were about twelve of them here on this occasion .
I couldn't get any closer to photograph them because I was , stupidly ,wearing a bright red cagoule .
It was still quite breezy on our walk .
Yesterday was a day of sunshine and we got out into the garden to tidy up after the storms .
While the sun was shining , it was nice to feel the warmth of it on my face . Not the slightest breeze at all , felt strange after days of such severe gales .
Up in the shed -
I pricked out and potted on my Lettuce and Tomato seedlings into 3"pots and feel very pleased with myself for getting on with it .
My heart is going pitter-pat at the sight of the first true leaves of this Lettuce seedling .
So much storm damage all around ....but my Sweet peas survived ! Happiness !
Yesterday afternoon , we took a walk to see the Snowdrops that are blooming on the Cornish hedge along our lane .
It rained on and off over night and it seemed that right on the dot , at 7am Storm Eunice arrived .
I made haste to get the kettle on and have a nice cuppa tea and a hearty brekkers before any powercut should happen . Poached eggs on cheese and marmite on toast with baked beans 😊
View from bedroom window - looking very gloomy and I haven't caught it here but those trees were already swaying and bending over in the wind .
Another lovely Epiphyllum flower on the windowsill .....and ......
...I could see something happening inside this mini propagator .
My Tomato seeds are germinating ! I'm SO happy ! I could dance ! Yay !
Or I might have danced , but for this going on outside .....sigh ....
We didn't dare go outside until much later ,when the wind had died down , to have a quick check around the place.
We were hoping to get another year out of the workshop and woodshed and have been fixing it up time and time again .
All our fire wood is under there and we need to keep it dry . I did cover the log pile with a weighted down tarpaulin a few days ago as an extra precaution , but if the roof were to come off , that too could easily have blown away . So while there was a lull in the storm and the sun did come out for a short time , we used whatever we could find to patch it up and fasten it all down with old fence posts and even an old picnic table and we just about managed to get this done before a deluge of hailstones came down and the wind picked up again .
I had cooked our dinner yesterday, in case we should have a power cut . It didn't go off until later on and I was able to re-heat our meal . We could have had it cold .
Husband had the camping gas stove at the ready , but I really did not want to be playing with that indoors unless we really had to , like if the power went down for several days .
I had also brought in a huge pile of split logs for the wood-burning stove , but we did not want to light it while the storm was raging ,the strength of the wind could have made the fire uncontrollable , blowing down the chimney .
We'll light the fire again when the storm passed . It actually was not too cold a wind , the storm coming from the South West .
We did have a power cut , but it wasn't off for too long and came on again by itself , thank goodness !
The good news is that my rickety old greenhouse is miraculously still standing !
I did not dare to open the door , but through the window I could see my Veltheimia bracteata beginning to bloom at last . Two flower spikes this year !
I felt like dancing again ...until I noticed the fence was also down .
This little chap was also a bit disappointed to find I'd taken in all the bird feeders from the poles just while the storm was doing it's worst . I really didn't expect to see the Squirrels ..I thought they'd be snuggled up in their nest !
I needn't have worried . Turns out he had a little stash , buried away down below !
I hung out all the feeders again ....
One very happy boy !
We are just grateful that the storm damage has only been minor inconveniences really for us here . We are grateful that we are safe and our roof and home seem to be o.k.
We are only now beginning to hear of the damage and sadness the storm has caused in it's path up and across the country .
You are all in my thoughts and prayers .
I took one from my garden . To study close up . Sweetest little flower . Soon they will be finished .
Go out and see them now !
The scene is still that of Winter .
Look closer to see the most intimate signs of Spring .
Ah ! At last ! They are beginning to open their petals .
I love this Rhipsalis for the beautifully elliptical shape of it's modified stems or phylloclades . I especially love the sweetly pointed new growth and often wonder why it was not named after this most obvious feature of the plant .
