To say yesterday was rainy would be an understatement. Storm Ciara brought window-rattling winds and a series of heavy downpours, drowning our patio and knocking all the daffodils flat. I tried to take a video to show you the intensity of the rain, but I'm not sure how visible it is:
Anyway, trust me -- a lot of rain! And what we got was nothing compared to some other parts of Britain, which experienced widespread flooding and power outages.
We had planned to get out into the garden and prune the roses and the buddleia, but that task will now have to wait. I'm already afraid we've let it go too long, because with our unusually warm winter, the roses are sending out new shoots.
Anyway, confined indoors, I inadvertently got sucked into a major photo archiving project. I store all my photos on a hard drive, and when I tried to upload my latest batch, I found the drive was full. I looked at my archives, though, and discovered that back when I was doing Bleeding London for the Royal Photographic Society -- that project to take a picture on every street in London -- I archived not only my pictures but also the confirming photos of the street signs, which I took just to prove I'd been there and to help keep the project organized. Surely I no longer need pictures of 2,000 London street signs?
So I spent a lot of time culling those pictures. Afterwards I think I'll download the culled albums, erase them from the drive, and upload them again -- hopefully keeping the data defragmented and making room for new photos. (Is defragmenting data even a thing anymore? I have no idea.)
Dave and I did manage to watch all of "The Irishman" on Netflix. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would, given its three-plus-hours length and its mob themes. I'm not interested in the mafia but for some reason I find Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance very intriguing. It's an unsolved mystery – a cultural black hole.
Here's my latest haul of pottery chips, from my walk on the Heath with Olga on Saturday. I am slowly developing a plan in the back of my mind to use these for something. Meanwhile they're kind of cool all on their own.
Finally, a shout-out to reader Charlotte, who relayed a message to me via Ms. Moon about the identity of the mystery plant in our garden. We've been thinking borage, but Charlotte suggested an additional possibility. We'll see what happens when it blooms. I appreciate the information, Charlotte! (The plant survived yesterday's wind just fine, by the way -- I've got it staked up.)
Oh, and that mysterious white object by our shed yesterday morning? A yard waste bag – and even one of our own, not a neighbor's. Not very exciting. I'm sorry I even brought it up.
With those pieces of "found" pottery you could make a mosaic. No need for a picture as such, just a random assemblage, forming a pottery pattern in a frame and then grouted.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was going to say mosaic.....maybe on the top of a little table for the garden?
ReplyDeleteSorry about the storm and your garden...I have an idea about the mystery plant as well, so can't wait to see if I am right or not.
ReplyDeleteYP & Frances: Yes! A mosaic is my thinking too. I do have some ideas but we'll see how motivated I get. :)
ReplyDeleteE: Everyone's on tenterhooks waiting for these flowers! LOL
I thought about you when I saw the forecast for that storm coming your way. Glad you survived! Weird is the new normal when it comes to weather, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteWe sure do have some sweet readers.
love the pottery shards. two of them look like they are from the same item. and I wonder what the one with the lettering said. and you aren't giving up the other possibility for the plant until it blooms?
ReplyDeleteJust think, at least your water supply won't be low for now. We had rain like that just recently, and the high winds too. Lots of folks lost their electric power. I'm glad to hear that you were okay. Those shards are really pretty. I was thinking some sort of mosaic too. Whatever you do, take a photo of your finished project to show us. You have a wonderful day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lotta rain! Our torrential rain the other day closed a road I usually use to get to work and I TOTALLY forgot & tried to go that way today. Thankfully the alternate route is just as quick.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see the blooms either! For me that's the most fun part of having a wildflower bed. Who knows what will be in there this year?
That's a lot of rain there. We're having crazy dry weather here in California, clear and cold. Yes to mosaics for those pottery shards. We have a friend in Santa Cruz who does mosaics. Her work is very inspiring. Here's a link: http://bethpurcellmosaics.com
ReplyDeleteThe raindrops in the big puddle tells me you've had lots of rain.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your post yesterday about the walk on the Heath, I went to the Abbey Road webcam to see if it was still a nice day. I saw that it wasn't. In fact the rain was coming down pretty hard when I viewed it. I can see from your patio that you accumulated quite a bit of water. I feel bad for those daffodils.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who made a table top with pieces of pottery that he found in various places. He did a great job of placing the pieces so they sort of fit together.
Whereabouts in Florida are you from? I'll be in Kissimmee a few minutes from Disney. The end of winter there is like late spring here. We've had this timeshare since the mid eighties. I love it there. Hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteA soggy day, in London Town . . .
ReplyDeleteEven if the rain isn't visible, it's audible! And easy to see in the first picture, pooled on the cement blocks. Wow. We've been having a lot of wind the past couple of years, in both summer and winter. It seems to be the new normal here, and I find it rather nerve-wracking.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of a mosiac with the bits you find.
I, too, wasn't sure I would like The Irishman, but wound up riveted by it. I really liked how reflective and almost meditative it was, the Hoffa story, and how Scorsese wove in the history of the time period. Remarkable. I thought DeNiro and Pesci were phenomenal. At last night's Oscars, the Director of Parasite in his acceptance speech said he watched all of Scorsese's movies while in film school. Scorsese (in the audience) was clearly moved. He learned from the master!
ReplyDeleteThat was quite a deluge; tears (sobs) over Brexit perhaps??
Ms Moon: Well, I honestly don't know how weird that storm was. England does get intense winter storms. What's weird is how mild the temperatures have been.
ReplyDeleteEllen: I have tried to look up variations of those letters on the pottery and I can't come up with an answer! I'm keeping the plant possibility quiet just because I don't want people to jump on Charlotte if they think her guess is wrong. :)
Edna: I will definitely let you know what I create! (If anything.) Oh, and as I mentioned on your blog, I'm from Tampa.
Bug: I agree about the wildflowers. The surprises are part of the fun.
Robin: Wow! Needless to say, any mosaic I make won't be that nice. :)
Red: Crazy amounts for a single day!
Sharon: I can't imagine doing a whole tabletop. I think whatever I make will be much smaller. :)
Catalyst: Definitely!
Jenny-O: Yeah, at least you get the sound effects. In the raw video you can see the rain pretty clearly, but YouTube reduces the resolution and that eliminates the detail. :(
Joanne: It was surprisingly good, wasn't it? I also loved all the production design -- the costumes and signs and cars and furnishings. Made me think of my own childhood. (Not that I am connected in any way to Hoffa or the mob. LOL)
Those pottery shards are beautiful. What a wonderful thing to collect and how lucky you are to live in a place where they’re found. Thanks for the info re The Irishman. It’s on our list but I wondered if I should keep it there. Oh, and even more exciting than the shards, the yard waste bag! Have you phoned the papers?
ReplyDeleteWhat a treat your rain video was in the months-long snow here, where it was 29-below this morning!
ReplyDeleteWatching and listening to it gave me the deepest sigh of relaxation. And a reminder of what I can look forward to if summer ever comes!
-Kate