I’ve got a torch in my pocket …. [Gold Edit] in The odd entries from life …….

Valentines day and we’ve exchanged cards and gifts, I was about briefly about six thirty am, Lola was curled up on her bed on the settee in the kitchen; Ziggy was comfy on Sweethearts easy chair in the lounge. There was a wind blowing out side, but not enough to disturb our dogs; or to prevent me retuning to bed.

Today is our acrylic painting class in Falmouth on the other side of Cornwall, ‘our’ is myself and my Daughter and it’s Sweetheart on the internet checking the road between here and Falmouth, not trees down but flooding in three locations but no advice to avoid those roads. Even now after near five years here I haven’t got used to the scale of this western end of Cornwall, so with an impending storm we decided to set of a little early; eleven fifty rather than twelve twenty. The wind had been ok down in the valley, once out of the valley we could feel the wind rather stronger, and at the A30 roundabout where it is quite open; we could then feel the true gusting force of the wind coming from the south! I kept to our normal rout, passing the noted flooded areas there was just running water, and where hasn’t got running water today!

I parked the car at craft centre at twelve thirty, ready for our one fifteen class. As it turned out Judi was there already, so we were in side before one and had more time to get ready, there we share a table were as at the watercolour class we have a hole table each; ‘I must keep my elbows in - I must keep my elbows in - I must keep my elbows in’ …!!! The trip home was no worse, the wind had been worse at Falmouth, through the windows we could see the trees bending in the gusts where they had just waved in the wind. We had both enjoyed the class, the subject was still water and the landscape around it, I didn’t go to the Tuesday as I felt unwell; so I have yet to make a watercolour version!

Tonight the promised storm has arrived, now and there it rains very hard, it’s the wind that is sounding through the bungalow, and making the trees dance about. The are very few trains running in Cornwall tonight, and the replacement bus service has been cancelled because of the dangerous weather, there are many reports of trees down on the roads of Cornwall; the advice tonight is to stay in …..

We are all in, after dinner I watched ‘Star-Trek: Enterprise’ as well as keeping an eye on the fire, a very important job as Sweetheart likes the lounge warm when she watches television later. Just after Star-Trek: Enterprise had finished she came in with local news of the internet, she keeps up with friends on the ‘Friendly Beardie’ site, a few live near by in Cornwall, one was on line from their local pub, as well as beer it also had electric; their home was cut off; falling trees don’t only stop movement on roads!

Sweetheart was telling me their power was down quite often when there are storms about, and commented ours could go down, ten seconds latter blackness and silences! I’m quit good in the dark after years working in darkrooms, but I didn’t need to feel my way to the two magnetic lights on the fridge, Sweetheart had her torch to hand; so I made my way to the fridge. As soon as I had turned those lights on the main lights flickered came on and went of again, then came on again and stayed on. I went to our bedroom and put my little Mag-light torch in my pocket, and its still there until bedtime ….

Note, the sound outside is very loud now and then, it could be an all night storm …!

Note two. We have a Gold medal in the women’s skeleton at the Sochi Winter Olympics, Lizzy Yarnold continued British success in this event after Amy Williams Gold win at Vancouver four years ago; I always enjoy the Bobsleigh and Toboggan events. It stared when I watched a British two man Bobsleigh take the gold in the sixties, and I had to wait over forty years for a second gold; thankfully I only waited four years for the third ……. (08