, just soft people.
The weather is part of the British (and I use the word with care) psyche. We can't have a conversation without it cropping up, we can't write a letter without mentioning it (as if anyone really cares what my weather is like when I write to them), so much that we do is dependent upon it and our moods are so often governed by it. Generally speaking I claim (incorrectly of course) that my moods are not governed by the weather. I am too logical and independent of thought.
What rubbish. What cant! Who am I to be so superior and different? Never has this been made aware to me as it has this morning. After a full day's rain and wind yesterday this morning has turned out to be even worse. I'm not sure whether it is the state of semi-lockdown we are in with socialising so restricted or whether it is just a change in me but this morning I am really peed off with the weather. Yesterday I didn't set foot outside the house. I didn't even visit The Polycarb. Mind you I got one helluva lot done indoors.
Usually I'd don all my wet weather gear and set off for The Castle Grounds and walk in the relative calm of the woods and end up at The Woodlands, divest myself of all my wet weather gear and settle down to a companionable coffee. Not today. Even if The Woodlands was open for morning coffee (it opens late for lunches at the moment) I'm not in the mood. I'm sulking and I don't like this 'me'.
Even the poppies in my garden, which were in profusion at the weekend have all been blown flat. That's the last straw.
Fortunately by the time I've had my virtual coffees and discussed the weather ad nauseum I will doubtless feel on top of the world again.
It's what your poly tunnel is for. Deckchair. Wireless. Whisky. Let it rain and blow!
ReplyDeleteTasker, The Polycarb is far too full of garden stuff at the moment to be a comfortable place to place a deckchair and apart from to brave the elements for the 3 or 4 metres between the door and the rain gauge (23mm) I've not ventured out again today despite wanting some stuff from the garage - wanting , not needing. And now, with my umpteenth cup of coffee at my side I shall answer a few comments before it'll be time for a wee dram.
DeleteI forgot to mention that not only do I love weather chat, I especially love Scottish weather - so much so that when I need to feel comforted, I play a four-hour-long YouTube video of recordings of the BBC Shipping Forecast on loop while I sleep! The tales of gale force winds, "showery" conditions, and the rest just make me feel as if I'd been wrapped in a cosy blanket and sipped a cup of hot tea...
DeleteWe used to listen to the shipping forecast just for the music that preceded it. OK we listened to the forecast because we needed it but the music was a bonus - a kind of certainty even when the weather was threatening to take us on a rough ride.
DeleteTigger, Sailing By has to be one of the most iconic songs on the radio. As you can imagine The Shipping Forecast is very important to residents of Lewis (amongst many other places of course).
DeleteI chuckled a little, Graham. If you really want to talk about weather, and griping, come and talk to a few Canadians after a straight week or two when the temperature never gets above the category known as bine-chilling, and it has snowed every day, and the schools are closed, and you have to shovel your driveway ad nauseam, and the path to the front door is a tunnel. I will leave it to you to set up a Zoom meeting where we can all assemble, bellyache, and drink virtual coffee. Then we might all feel better! Be sure to let me the date and time!
ReplyDeleteDavid, I've been in Sarnia when it's been like that and -26º showing on the bridge across to the USA. So I appreciate that I've nothing really to complain about because I'm not needing to get to or from the Mainland. I've only been on one multi-country Zoom. It was an interesting experience with different time zones (New Zealand and US) and I'm glad that I didn't have to organise it.
DeleteShould say "bone-chilling" not "bine-chilling"!
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, David, I read what was supposed to be there not what was actually there. Our minds are strange places.
DeleteWhat I wonder about is how the British (and, like you, I am using this term with care) became so convinced that they are the ones who endlessly talk, think and write about the weather. Other nations (as a whole) are no different! Talk to anyone around here, sooner or later they will invariably mention the weather. The weather forecast is the conclusive feature of our main news on TV every night. Websites like wetter.de are incredibly popular. Everyone I know who owns a smartphone frequently checks their weather app (myself included).
ReplyDeleteWhen I was still part of a Sicilian family, it was the same (minus the smartphones etc., as they did not yet exist) - and that although there is a lot less variety in weather on Sicily than here.
Depending on my mood - and not the weather! - I enjoy a walk in wind and rain as much as in the sun, provided I am suitably equipped AND can look forward to a nice hot drink and maybe a piece of cake afterwards.
I hope you will soon be able to go walking around the castle grounds and visit The Woodlands.
Meike, you give me hope. I think that the British as a nation despite their arrogance in many ways are also very self deprecating in others and they do tend to feel that they can be very boring about the weather. Living where I do the weather is constantly changing and very important in our lives to an extent that I never felt in New Zealand because it was really only the farmers who were concerned about the weather. Where I lived the weather was, compared with here, remarkably seasonal and relatively predictable in the summer allowing for the fact that it, too, was a large island mass.
DeleteYes, Meike, but it's a matter of degrees. Germans will mention weather once they have run out of local gossip or discussing the merits of existentialism. Only then will they resort to the least contentious of subjects, namely weather. Weather is indisputable. It's there. We are all in it together. Wet, sun burnt, hair standing on end, overturned umbrellas - weather will not only provide you with social niceties it'll also allow endless complaints. I call it the safety valve of polite society. And the British are masters of the art. Let's not deprive them of that accolade amongst all their (current) failings.
DeleteU
We agree with Ursula about weather as a subject - and to be the object of endless SAFE complaints; the kind that can't offend anyone elses sensitivities.
DeleteI hope your mood has now improved a little after your virtual coffee chats, especially as that forecast in your image is not likely to help matters.
ReplyDeleteJayCee, on the rare occasions that I do get slightly below par cheerywise I soon come out of it. I think it's the first time I can recall the consequences of the restrictions caused by Covid-19 getting me irritated. I may be wrong of course. I may just have a bad memory. The forecast is not good.
DeleteA the baromater on the wall or the human body's devices, living Earth is a system for the most part, we can be figured out or have a scientist do it for us. The other parts rain blah. It is meant to be, methinks, to balance sulking with happiness. I rather enjoy a short sulk, pout, and woe is me, in moderation.
ReplyDeleteMaywyn, I'm afraid that I usually have a rather annoyingly sunny disposition even in the midst of gloom and despondency all around me. I'm not really a good person to have at a wake.
DeleteI dropped lucky. If I'm ever stopped from going out then I just say. "Off to feed animals." This situation is as bad as one makes it. They can enforce bugger all but will get better at it as time passes. It's not going away.
ReplyDeleteI recall you have a DashCam to pick up others misdemeanours; just think if it picks up yours in the coming police state. Ditch it and your phone if it's a smart one, go back to CB radio or email and enjoy life.
It's fun pissing government about but not fun arguing with shop staff when one is getting messages for the infirm and terrified. Not that most shop staff could give a monkeys. I just say I have emphysema if challenged, I don't but should have if the warnings on my overpriced tobacco were to be believed.
Adrian, I am not in the least concerned about going out and about as far as Covid-19 is concerned. I meet friends just with more care than before. We just don't entertain in each other's homes. During lockdown it was different but I had lots to do during the summer outside anyway. My dashcam was initially to record the fabulous journeys I went on in New Zealand and I use it now to record anything whether it be my or anyone else's fault at the wheel. I've caught a few doozies I have to say. I don't give a tinker's cuss (which is probably non-pc these days anyway) who knows where I am. There is little one can do these days that isn't recorded somewhere.
DeleteGlad to hear you are normal, I hoped you were not being disingenuous, posh word. We used to call Covid man flu. What is the fuss about. Are women now getting what we had to suffer? It's only a heavy cold for fucks sake.
DeleteI, for one, absolutely care what the weather is like when you write me a letter!
ReplyDeleteI keep a "garden journal", have done for years, and it slowly morphed into an actual journal which includes regular life as well as what's going on in the garden. Each and every entry starts with the date, the day of the week, and what the weather is like. I don't go into specific data like temperature, other than to say things like "chilly" or "hot and windy" or whatever. To me, having a bit of weather sets the tone for the rest of the entry - when reading a letter, especially, I like to picture the person that I am hearing from in their setting. Knowing what the weather was like as they were writing helps me to craft the picture with more color... so I imagine that my inclusion of a little weatherly description at the beginning of each journal entry will set the tone when I read over it years from now.
Also - I know Brits claim to be the biggest weather-heads, but trust me - New Yorkers blab about the weather just as much! Especially at work, where people are loathe (or should be) to delve into deeply personal topics... the weather is number one on everyone's "small talk list".
Marcheline, I'm learning a lot from the response to this post. I've never kept a journal and it's a bit late to start now.
DeleteNEVER too late! Would be lovely to write a journal of your favorite memories, from childhood on up. Just jot down your favorite experiences, who was there, (what the weather was like), etc. It wouldn't even have to be chronological - just whatever comes to mind.
DeleteMarcheline, at my age I'm too busy living and remembering to bother with a journal. I kept one in my teens and 20s but it doesn't exist any more.
DeleteYour blog is a journal - just not with the meditative benefits (for you) of handwriting it.
DeleteTigger, I don't know why I didn't think of saying that because that is exactly what by blog started out as. My New Zealand one so that people in the UK knew what I was up to and vice versa. It saved a huge number of emails all saying similar things. I'm actually having the New Zealand blogs transferred into book form. As for the joy of handwriting, I write at least 10 letters/notecards each week all using one of my collection of fountain pens. It is one of my (many) joys in life.
DeleteI can just about tolerate a bit of wet weather, it's day after day of relentless wind and rain which gets me down. It's just not conducive to an enjoyable walk.
ReplyDeleteJules, living in The Lake District it's a good job that you can tolerate some wet weather. I always recall as a tiny child my Mum telling me that the wettest place in England was Seathwaite and I assume it still is. Certainly all my August holidays in the Lakes would be empirical evidence in my eyes.
DeleteI love the weather in this maritime nation. You never know what you are going to get. Ups and downs, gloom or glory, hot or cold. It is genuinely marvellous. Such variety. It keeps you on your toes.
ReplyDeleteYou have a good point, YP, but I sometimes think it would be nice if it was more cooperative occasionally. It was today. It was the perfect weather for working in the garden. 60mph gales and rain forecast for tomorrow.
DeleteI'll be honest and admit the heat certainly does affect my mood. It didn't when I was younger, but now that I'm getting as old as Methuselah it does. I'm already dreading summer...which is drawing near.
ReplyDeleteI don't like strong winds, I love rain, day and night. Wild electrical storms are not a favourite...nor are cyclones. When living in the tropical northern areas of Qld I experienced the anger of cyclones.
I love winter. Of course, our winters here in south-east Queensland are much milder than yours and than those in the southern states of Oz.
Lee, I'm assuming that you get humidity with the heat which is very unpleasant. I could cope with the dry heat we usually had in Napier.
DeleteYes, Graham...the heat and humidity go hand in hand...great mates they are! :)
DeleteFor Aussies its all about RAIN too...usually the lack of it.
ReplyDeleteWhen it's going to happen, IF its going to happen, how long since it happened, how much we need, how much we've had so far the year...….
Other times (though more rarely ) it's how much we've had, how high the flood waters have gone, the record high of flood levels in the past.....
I think the weather preoccupies all of us, just in different ways .
Cheers
Helsie, I'm the first to admit that here in the Outer Hebrides we rarely have water shortages. Occasionally we used to have plenty of water but in the wrong place ie the reservoir for the area would run low. So we added a pip from another loch. I'm not sure whether it's ever been used in anger so to speak.
DeleteI like to hear about your weather. Now some fall weather gives me the blues. the first killing frost is a downer because then I know gardening is finished and I have to clean up my yard. So All is good. Weather can give us the blues.
ReplyDeleteRed, frost is a very rare occurrence here as is snow. I've been clearing parts of the garden today but because of all the gale damage yesterday.
DeleteI'm sure it was said about one of the Scottish Isles that if you can't see the mountain it's raining, if you can see it it's about to rain. Your predicted weather doesn't look too good!
ReplyDeleteCro, everyone in the Islands uses that saying - it's part of the Scots gloomy side.
Deletehey Graham, I'm afraid I have to say I would probably love it there, Winter is my thing and I would swap with you in a second. Are you by any chance near the Callanish Standing Stones? That place is only bucket list.
ReplyDeleteWell, Amy, if you ever want to see the Callanish Standing Stones they are about 30 minutes from where I live. They are a must-see on any Lewis visit. I have to admit that the weather in Northland is a bit too humid when it's hot for me. I love dry heat but the temperatures here are okay for working when it's not raining and very windy.
DeleteOh, Amy - go!! I've been to the Callanish stones thrice in my lucky, lucky life - it's one of the most wonderful places on earth, as is Scotland in general and the Isle of Lewis in particular. Don't wait until you're too old to get out there and tramp around in the hills... whatever you have to give up to save the money, it's worth it!
DeleteFirst thing I do, once light outside dawns, is look out of the window. To gauge the mood (not mine, that of the skies). Then I'll compare that to the weather forecast online. Doesn't matter if they don't align as long as the official forecast is for cloudy whilst outside my window the sun is shining.
ReplyDeleteLike you I can live with any weather. Particularly when I am indoors. However, and this is a BIG however, wind - strong winds - do have potential to sweep me off my feet. There is a particular corner close to where I live which, once or twice, I have only been able to navigate by holding onto the railing; carefully calibrating my next move between gusts. Yes, I know, I am a lightweight. One has to work with what one has got.
Come to think of it, I do miss the occasional drama of thunder and lightning. We don't get them down here. Maybe the gods don't go bowling in the South of England.
As long as the polycarb stands up to the elements . . . And let's not forget that old wisdom about things we can do something about and those we can't. The latter best met with a shrug of the shoulder.
U
Ursula, it has always been my mantra not to worry about things about which I can do nothing. Hurricanes are a bit of an exception because I once lost part of my house and that could have involved personal danger.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment, Jill, which I read in my emails. I was amazed and edified.
DeleteMy goodness, I didn't know it would come to you in email.
DeleteThe rest of us are not amazed and edified, as the comment is now gone. I must spend the rest of my day stultified and ignorant.
DeleteMarcheline, it really wasn't all that amazing; Graham was just being kind. I told him of the range of weather we can experience here in New Mexico at over 7,200 feet altitude ... sun, then rain, then sleet, then hail, then snow, and then back to sun all in one day.
DeleteIt's so very unusual for youto sulk, Graham! You have a right to get peeved though. Coffee and chat always cheers me up :)
ReplyDeleteKylie, did I say I was sulking. Oh dear. That isn't like me. I must have been having a pre-coffee moment.
DeleteYou didn't, I did ☺️
DeleteHissy fit was more apt
Ah, right. Thanks for the explanation, Kylie.
DeleteI love weather chat, although I'm definitely a "soft person". Wind, particularly, can drive me demented. When I lived in London, it would tickle me that "dreary" would be an official adjective on the weather report.
ReplyDeletePipistrello, it gets better. Cue hats. Yes, hats. In England, as a woman you can't go to the races (Ascot), the regatta (Henley), your mother-in-law's funeral or a wedding withOUT a hat. It's mandatory. In the land of WIND. I tell you the British are dead set on fighting on the beaches, despite the sand; fighting with the elements, in face of wind, whilst trying to hold onto their hats (if not their dignity).
DeleteU
I adore the wind!! Granted, not when I've just done my hair and am headed to some fancy function (but that never happens any more, so...)
DeleteSome of my fondest memories are wind-related. When I was a child, and the family would take a long car trip, I'd roll down the window and put my face in the wind, imagine I was riding a huge black stallion. Some years ago, my mother and I stood on a cliff top in the west of Ireland and literally leaned forward and the wind held us up - it was one of the wildest, most wonderful feelings I've ever experienced! West coast of Scotland, too... wind and crashing waves make my spirit swell up like a huge happy balloon. Windy beaches are my favorite, I think. I stay out of high-rise buildings for the most part - don't think I'd like high winds while in a tall building. But on a beach, yes please! I also love flying kites, and you can't do that without wind. Love wind chimes, too, albeit with breezes rather than gales.
Ursula, on Lewis a hat for church in the Free Church of Scotland was mandatory 45 years ago. Even here things have moved on.
DeleteMarcheline, I love the wind in the situations you are talking about. That is very different, though, from living with it on a daily basis where just going out in the car is a battle and working in the garden can a trial beyond me these days.
Pipistrello, you have just made me realise that the term .dreary, probably comes from or has the same root as the Gaelic 'dreich'.
DeleteAhh, Graham, that sounds rather like a hissy fit. I was going to say a spak attack but thought perhaps you British don't have them? I would so love to witness that, it's so unlike you to not be on an even keel. Give yourself a day or so to be really annoyed about it all, kick the imaginary cat and you'll feel better.
ReplyDeletePauline, it's a little while since I heard that term. My grandmother and mother both used it and I used to as well. It was a hissy fit in that it was short and sharp and, if I'm hones, by the time I'd actually written the post I was over it.
DeleteSweden is another rather weather-obsessed nation. Ours being an oblong country with four seasons and a lot of variation in weather and temperature etc I suppose that probably comes natural. The weather is no doubt the most common topic here to open up a conversation, especially between strangers. But also in pretty much any other situation where you don't quite know what to say or where to start.
ReplyDeleteWell, Monica, it appears that my belief in the eccentricity of the Brits was quite misplaced. We are just normal. Either that or all countries with some variety of weather are eccentric.
DeleteI have just realised that this comment makes 55 comments. If comments is a measure of a post's success then 'The Weather' seems to have the medal.
ReplyDeleteWell there you are... People just LOVE talking about the weather!!! 😉
DeleteI hope you are now feeling more cheerful, and that the weather has helped a bit too. One of the (many) reasons I enjoy reading your blog is how calm it makes life seem even when things are otherwise up and down. I am sure that living in Lewis (and, previously in NZ) helps: a sense of remoteness from the world's turmoil.
ReplyDeleteJenny, my lack of cheeriness was very short-lived (hours rather than days). Yes, we do, in some ways, feel a bit remote from all the turmoil.
DeleteHaha, don't you just love WEATHER!! Sometimes I think it is good to listen to our inner self and just take a day off living - read a book, have a stiff drink, nap by the fire, generally doing nothing much at all. Tomorrow will be a better day :)
ReplyDeleteMargaret, like many I have a love/hate relationship with the weather. For me a 'off day' is a day in the garden. They will be fewer now that the days have drawn in and the winds are blowing.
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