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Started off grey, 18C with a few splats of rain. Cleared by mid p.m. and staggered to about 24C. Yellow thunderstorm warning all day but nary a rumble or flash was heard/seen.
18C, supposed to be heading towards 23C. Well windy (28mph gusts). Much cloud; some chance of sun p.m. Ten percent chance of rain but I’ll have to fit in watering for the baskets and boxes because they’re so loaded with flowers that ordinary Mk 1 rain just runs off the edges. Moreover, they need a proper feed.
Chucked it down most of the night. Now doing 18C and still delivering the wet stuff. Although now as showers rather than the night’s wall-to-wall downpours. Supposed to stop between 11am and 1pm but the thunderstorm warning stays in place. Hope for at least some dry bits as the baskets and boxes have taken a battering and will need some serious dead-heading.
To focus on the general side of the original post – Head or Heart? – I have to say that with the benefit of hindsight I will now try to choose with the Heart. This is largely based on the choice I had to make a couple of leases ago, between the Mini Cooper S and the Alfa Giulia. Both, curiously, about the same AP and I let my head convince me that the Mini was the better choice. Wrong. Had to do an early swap because the suspension made it unsuitable for us. Alfa had better, comfy suspension and was an extremely rewarding drive.
If choosing at the moment, would face extremely hard choice between the MX-5 and everything else. Quite aside from being an enjoyable shopping trolley (all we need) the Mazda is also the closest you can get to a pre-digital motor. I am told it has one small touchscreen which controls music (don’t use it) and aircon. Everything else (including aircon) has knobs, buttons and switches. Currently have a VW ID.3 and digital overload and interference in driving is not only annoying it is also dangerous – distracting attention from road to bloody screens and slamming brakes on to avoid leaf collision.
Seems most cars are being taken over by the digital demons and the MX-5 looks a really good deal for a proper motor car (and would be driveable by my wife who cannot handle all the digital touchscreen stuff).
21C at the moment. Forecast is 22C max. Reckon it’ll make 25ish. Much cloud; little sun. It’s already rained a wee bit. There will be more. Worst thing is the wind which is hitting 45+ mph making it feel much cooler than it is and threatening our window boxes and baskets. None fallen off yet but the flowers are being dried out so even if it is chucking it down I’ll have to water ’em.
Forecast is 21C; currently 23C. Reckon it’ll max at 25ish. Cloudy with some sunshine and a slim chance of rain. Wind is gusting to 35/40mph and making it feel cooler than it actually is. Tomorrow’s rain-carrying low-pressure zone has gone a bit north so it’ll not be solid chucking-it-down all day; just a slight chance of a heavy shower.
Temperature peaked at 27C, Still doing 23C now. All about to change, apparently. Bit cooler on Monday and much rain on Tuesday.
“…damp flannel on forehead and keep in fridge overnight”
Keeping forehead in fridge? Hmmm Can see problems with that – the low temperature will make it contract and it’ll not fit back on the head next day.
Weather here same as. Clear, bright, hot as hell. Max yesterday was 29C expect much the same today.
Forecast for today max 23C. Already doing 26C. Bright, clear and feels like it is heading for the same as yesterday which peaked at 30C around lunchtime. Even slower gardening than planned!
Met office says temperature here is 22C right now. My thermometer says 28C and rising. Bright, clear and well ‘ot. Much care needed with any gardening undertaken; much use of shaded seat and Panama ‘at!
22C right now. Should go to about27/28C later. Bright. Clear.Light wind so feels hotter than it is. Much watering again needed, especially since we finally finished planting baskets and pots yesterday. So feeding is on the cards too.
@Brydo Ah, timing of planting etc., another good reason to buy pre-planted baskets. The producers know exactly when the right plants should be started. Yours are looking OK though, even if a bit late. Keep ’em watered and feed the greedy little sods. You’ll be surprised at just how quick they’ll bulk up. Mine have tripled in size in a few weeks. Will try to get some snaps on here soon.
Weather is heading for heatwave-land again. 20C right now. Will probably make 25C max. Bright, clear and hardly any wind. Much watering will be done. Maybe even some mowing too – our lawn has gone from a greyish yellow to nearly full-scale green virtually overnight.
@Brydo Getting pre-planted baskets is, I reckon, the best way. Doesn’t cost that much more than buying plants separately and the baskets usually have moisture pads inside which helps. Tried DIY planting baskets one year and lost about a third of plants – probably because we had to raise them outside (no greenhouse) whereas the basket people have acres of glass.
A bit chilly this morning… 15C, with a forecast of 21C max. Some light rain but nothing like last night’s storm. Chucked it down in early hours too. Should stop and clear (a bit) by 11/12.
Grass/lawns are all very happy, thank you, and have gone from baked yellow to proper green overnight. Casualties are the hanging baskets and window boxes. Their flowers took a right hammering from torrential rain and hailstones. Urgent and extensive dead-heading is order of the day.
Weather gods really giving it some right now. Stonking great thunderstorm trundling along the coast; thunder rumbling constantly; hail crashing down. Everything v loud and wet. Only happy thing is the lawn which is lapping it all up.
Yup… “bleak” does it for the south coast as well. Barely 19C, grey as hell, damn windy too (40mph gusts) going to be rain pretty soon. Shouldn’t complain, I suppose, having had Mediterranean standards recently – AND it seems we’ll go all heatwavery again from Tuesday next week.
Met Office site says 18C; garden thermo’ says 21C.Should be clear and bright all day with a max of 24/25C. Not unpleasant must make the most of gardening today because forecast says it’ll tip it down for a couple of days from tomorrow.
Heatwave update: estimate of 28/29C (BBC forecast 25C) is way out. Now doing 31C and still climbing. No wind so feels hotter. Going into full Panama-hat/crumbly-bloke gardening mode. Chilled water in fridge, seats in shade/Will likely take all day to water the greedy baskets, boxes and pots.
Same as yesterday. 24C now, heading for 28/29C. Bright, clear. slightly stronger wind. Much relaxed gardening done yesterday – all at a very slow pace with plenty of pauses to listen to virtuoso blackbird and watch a skyfull of martins and swallows. Only problem was when our ants decided to swarm causing dash indoors for two hours with most windows closed.
24C in back garden now.Forecast says 26C later on but this will mean about 28C in real life. Bright, clear, very light wind so the “perceived” temperature is higher than measured figure.
Much the same as yesterday: 20C now, heading for 25+. Cloudy until about 10am when it goes clear and hot. Much lighter wind forecast which will make it feel even hotter.
@Footloose In my experience of these privately owned parking con-men, you don’t stand a chance, mate. I got a PCN in one for being 12 inches outside the bay marking line – had to do this because bay so narrow could not get out of car.
Was going to appeal but did some research and found that none of the appeals made ever lead to a cancellation of fine. This seems to apply to all of the different, private parking con-men across the country.
Research the management/staff/owners of “your” one. I bet you’ll find that the majority and got a criminal conviction tucked away somewhere; that they have been “directors” of at least six concerns which have gone into liquidation; that many of them have previously worked in “security application” aka club bouncers.
That is what I discovered about the firm issuing my PCN – they are a bunch of small-time villains who have discovered a perfectly legal way to rob you. They get the law to do it for them – if you appeal and take it to court, they WILL win. Moreover, they will tot up penalty factors and increase the amount they steal from you. In some cases a £60 fine has become £5-600 or more.
My advice, and it really sticks in my throat, pay the £60 and avoid all the angst, worries (and in some cases physical threats from the bouncers).
