Was how the day greeted me this morning.
Because I had to catch up on Throw Down and CTMW, I was late going to sleep. And despite that, I’m afraid I was awake at some silly o’clock.
The weather was horrendous- strong winds and heavy rain. So heavy it was battering the windows, or so I thought. Only it must have been hail because I found giveaway white slush, crusting parts of the car.
Heidi did not want to go out and I did not want to get up. I did not want to drive through flooded roads and in torrential rain and squally winds to go swimming. But I did.
The sky was very strange- on one side, to the left, it was extremely dark and menacing, but to the right the newly risen sun was bright amongst bits and pieces of blue skies.
My familiar swimming companions were departing the pool as I entered and it was pleasantly calm and quiet. But then I was swimming much later than usual. Deliberately so because I had wanted to drive in daylight.
H was happy to see me when I returned, and we trekked out for a short walk in these dreadful conditions. However, I struck lucky and we walked in relatively dry conditions, and there was even some sunshine. I chose Streatley Rec because of the cinder paths surrounding it. Ha ha! They had become streams. More clouds were busy glowering so we retreated to the car.
Tony lies up there…on Lardon Chase… so many view points of his last resting place. This is just one.
It was soon time to leave for Thatcham where I was booked in for a CT scan at 16.30, but first I was heading for a nearby Garden Centre where I met up with Brenda and we put the world to rights.
I was spoilt for choice for routes to take to get there, but avoided my ‘go to’ route because it has a couple of locations where it floods easily. And after this morning’s rain , I saw floods where I have never seen floods before. So I expected lakes across the roads and I preferred to avoid them. . There were certainly plenty of new lakes in many of the surrounding fields.
I drove there via the A34 which was uncharacteristically quiet. I’m not sure if I imagined it, but I thought there were fewer lorries out and about. Perhaps they were wise enough to stay off the roads in these conditions.
After sorting out the world with Brenda, I drove the two minutes to the hospital, and they took me in early for my CT scan. I was at the hospital less than an hour and I had pitched up over 30 minutes early.
That’s what they suggest you do, because they say a full bladder is required. Advice is to arrive 30 minutes early and guzzle a litre of water while you wait. Just so you are desperately uncomfortable when summoned in for your appointment. The water bottle had barely passed my lips, so I suspect the full bladder bit is a fairy story.
My route home was via the M4. The satnav was not impressed and tried its hardest to divert me onto a country road route. This lady was not for turning.
I hope the technical people may be able to do the windscreen tomorrow. But more heavy rain is forecast.
The rest of the day passed in a whirl of tomato, beetroot and lettuce salad and an early doze.
In Silent Witness, Emilia Fox seems to have got herself in a pickle aboard an aeroplane on a flight from India.
Art tomorrow.
Thought for the Day
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