Monday, July 27, 2020

Caught in the Rain


The forecast didn't call for rain yesterday, so I felt reasonably confident setting out with Olga for a walk in the early afternoon. Sure, the sky was a bit gray, but gray clouds don't always mean rain, right?

Wrong. At least in this case.

We were caught in a downpour at the cemetery, and forced to take shelter under a tree (there was no lightning!) until it slackened enough for us to walk to the chapel and wait it out under a real roof. It's interesting how dry we were under the tree. Those leaves really do block a lot of moisture from reaching the ground.


After a while the rain stopped and we were able to finish our walk. We saw some critters along the way, like this poor bedraggled gatekeeper butterfly. It has definitely seen better days!


This hoverfly was mopping up nectar from a flower...


...and this common blue butterfly was flitting among the thistles.

And that's literally all I did yesterday of any interest. Ho hum. Again.

Remember how we were having a friend over on Saturday? Well, we cancelled because of the rain -- we wanted to have drinks in the garden. And then we cancelled yesterday too. Hopefully at some point we'll have a dry evening so we can make that plan happen!

17 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Went down to the cemetery
Ho-hum
Some things just ain't meant to be
Ho-hum
The rain fell down upon my head
And there I sheltered with the dead
Ho-hum, ho-hum, ho-hum...

The Padre said...

Just Singing In The Rain

Cheers

Anonymous said...

Oh the luxury of meeting up with people. It as about this day last year when we were staying for one night in a stinking hot hotel in London.

John Going Gently said...

On the last blog entry
Welsh dragons have feet
That may be a sea serpent

Edna B said...

I love that photo of the cemetery. I has such a misty look about it. And yes, trees really do give us lots of shelter when we need it. I don't think I've ever seen a blue butterfly. It sure is beautiful. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

ellen abbott said...

About the only thing we're not doing that we were doing is going to the movie and our social group game night every couple of months over at friend Edith's. and it's still too hot here for any entertaining outdoors.

great shots of the butterflies especially the blue.

Red said...

It's funny you didn't blame the shower on wrong weather forecasting. It always amuses me when people blame the weather forecaster.

Anonymous said...

We haven't had any rain in months, but it's been foggy overcast gray misty kind of summer here. A little rain would be nice. A little sunshine would be even better. A world without Covid would be great!

Sharon said...

It's great that there are nice big trees available to hide under. My friend Glenda moved into a new house back in April and I have yet to visit her since she moved in. I did visit the place while it was being remodeled before she moved in. She moved a whole lot closer to me and we were looking forward to doing lots of things together. We hadn't counted on a pandemic.

Catalyst said...

I envy your rain. We've only had one day in this monsoon season where it rained enough to form a pool (puddle) in the yard. It's hot and dry and we long for cooling moisture.

The Bug said...

Ooo - that blue butterfly is LOVELY!

Moving with Mitchell said...

Ah, Steve, your photos are always a delight. I love sheltering under trees in downpours (without lightning). I also love getting soaked through and through. And I would REALLY love that now. Sunny, warm, and humid (with hot quickly arriving) is getting boring.

jenny_o said...

I don't mind a warm rain, although it makes it hard to see when you wear glasses :) I'm glad there was no lightning, though.

Thanks for the info on your lamp. Sounds like it gives plenty of light, and it's a great space-saving design, long and lean.

jenny_o said...

"tall" and lean, maybe? lol

Michael said...

Murphy, my dog, and I went for a walk the other day and the sky was blue. As we walked, the sky began to get cloudy. Thankfully the sky filled with clouds as it was really hot, 90+ degree. We got home and the sky opened up and there was a 30 minute downpour. We were lucky that we got home just in time.

Steve Reed said...

YP: Excellent songwriting skills, as usual!

Padre: Just like Gene Kelly!

Andrew: It seems so silly to call it a luxury, but it is, isn't it?

John: The proprietor of the cleaners' tells me that the previous shop owners were Welsh and they had the dragon installed. I suspect the absence of feet is purely a stylistic decision.

Edna: That "mist" is actually rain!

Ellen: I miss going to museums, or getting on the train and going to another town. (Since we don't have a car, we're essentially stuck in NW London.)

Red: Well, I know the forecaster isn't responsible for the weather -- just for being accurate with the forecast!

Robin: A world without Donald Trump as president would be phenomenal!

Sharon: Just one of the many normal social interactions that have been put on hold, right?

Catalyst: When does your monsoon season end?

Bug: They ARE pretty, aren't they? And they're quite common. We see them in the garden, too.

Mitchell: I'm not crazy about getting soaked, but yes, I'll take damp and rainy over damp and sweaty any day!

Jenny-O: Yeah, it's a good lamp. We got it from the parents of one of Dave's former students, when they moved back to the states.

Michael: Good timing, indeed! Does Murphy get upset at thunder? Some dogs freak out, but Olga doesn't pay it much attention.

Michael McEwen said...

The older he gets, the more he dislikes it. He comes to my side and won't leave it until it goes away. If it is at night, I have a sleeping partner.