kimbofo

Think I picked the right week to take off

After so much crappy weather these past few weeks, I'm so pleased the sun's decided it might be worth making an appearance this week.

[Post courtesy of my neighbour's unsecure wireless connection -- we are still without internet.]

A weekend of wet and occasionally sunny weather

It's been one of those weekends where the weather has conspired to keep us indoors. We've had intermittent thunderstorms, accompanied by very heavy rain and light hail, throughout yesterday and today.

I made it to the supermarket yesterday afternoon for a quick top-up shop without getting too wet, but it wasn't so much the rain I was worried about but the cold. The temperatures have plummeted and I've resorted to sitting on the sofa every evening wrapped up in my fleecy rug. (T thinks it is hilarious -- I've told him it's genetic, as my late maternal grandmother was notorious for sitting in front of the TV, an assorted pile of handknitted/crocheted rugs tucked up under her chin to ward off the chill. I've now named my rug the "Florrie rug" in her honour.)

Today has been similarly cold and wet, but there have been bursts of occasional sunshine too. It was interesting watching the London marathon on my laptop, seeing the runners pound the streets under sunny skies while here, about seven miles west, it was teeming with rain. Some 15 minutes later the rain reached central London and drenched the athletes while outside our window the sun was shining brightly. It was like this all day -- downpours broken by short periods of clear skies -- so goodness knows what the rest of the week will be like.

My sister, who lives in tropical Queensland, arrives from Australia on Friday, so I hope she's packed something warm: she may be in for quite a shock when she gets to Heathrow, and I'm not just talking about the state of the airport!

Snow

I awoke this morning to find it was snowing and, unlike the snowy Easter weekend, a light dusting was on the ground.

Foolishly I didn't take any photographs. Instead I turned on the heating, made myself coffee and toast, and then snuggled up under the duvet with a good book.

By the time I got up the snow had stopped falling from the sky and everything on the ground had melted away. The sun was shining brightly and no one would ever have guessed it had been so cold and wintry earlier in the day.

An almost white Easter

Place: View outside my bedroom window, London.
Date: March 24, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

This is the view I've woken up to every morning this Easter weekend: flurries of falling snow. Fortunately, the ground has been too wet and therefore too warm for the snow to pile up on the ground. But it hasn't been like that in other parts of the country, as this photograph gallery on BBC News attests.

The snow flurries, however, have been the least of our concerns. In the course of 24 hours we experienced a thunderstorm, severe winds, hail (on several occasions), bright sunshine, grey clouds and rain. This, coupled with the early morning snow flurries, has been repeated on a seemingly endless loop across the course of Saturday, Sunday and today. I'll be glad when things settle down and this changeable weather gives way to proper spring sunshine and blue skies!

Glorious sunset

I've just witnessed the most amazingly glorious sunset from the comfort of my bedroom window. After such a nondescript day it was totally unexpected to see the sky turn from a dull washed out blue to this canvas of stunning pinks and golds and purples. It played out for about 20 minutes until eventually everything turned the navy blue of a mild winter's night. Gorgeous.

Snow on the way

The BBC is reporting that snow flurries are expected across the UK tomorrow and Friday.

"The Met Office has forecast most of the snow in southern England for Thursday morning, with about 2cm expected in Hampshire, Lincolnshire, Kent and London."

Snow in London, no matter how light the fall, usually means one thing: complete and utter chaos. The whole city shuts down. The tubes don't work. The roads grind to a halt. People start raiding the supermarkets for canned goods and non-perishables, because they're convinced the world is coming to an end and want to stockpile as much food as possible -- just to be on the safe side. Anyone would think the place had a tropical climate and wasn't prepared for anything remotely winter-like.

Oh yes, exciting times lie ahead over the next couple of days...

Fog-bound

All pictures taken: Olympia and West Kensington, London.
Date: Sunday December 23, 2007.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

I woke up at 8am to discover the world outside the bedroom window was shrouded in fog. It was so white and so thick I could barely see the houses on the other side of the street.

With no sun to burn it off, it stayed like this for the rest of the day. At 2.30pm I popped out for a little shopping excursion and took these snaps (while juggling two big bags of groceries in either arm), but they don't really convey how mysterious and eerie the streets looked, although you should be able to tell how dark it was -- all the cars had their headlights on.

Blue skies

Place: The sky above South Bank, London.
Date: Sunday July 8, 2007.
Camera: Sony Cybershot DSC-W1 using wide-angle lens.

After the wettest June on record, blue skies have been few and far between lately.

My father, visiting from Australia, endured a month of crappy weather and so much rain I was beginning to think we might need to build an ark so that he could float home instead of catching a long-haul flight! When he flew back home on Wednesday the sun came out for the first time in what seemed like weeks. Typically, the weather's been on the improve ever since.

I took this photograph as I walked along the Embankment this morning. I'd just been to see the caravan flythrough of the Tour de France en route to the first stage in Kent. The organisers -- and the riders -- must have been delighted with the almost too-perfect-to-be-true weather. They couldn't have planned it better if they tried.

Murphy's Law

How typical is this?

The weather has been wintry and miserable all week, but as soon as my father jets off to Spain for a 16-day sojourn the sun decides to shine over ye olde London town!

And judging by the BBC's 5-day forecast (above) it's going to be warm and summery right through until Wednesday.

I couldn't make this up if I tried.

A dip in the Irish Sea

Place: Curracloe, Co. Wexford, Ireland.
Date: Saturday April 21, 2007.
Camera: Sony Cybershot DSC-W1.

Take five Irish brothers and one Canadian, dare them to go swimming in the Irish Sea one April afternoon and what do you get?

Hypothermia.