A slack news day! & A book mission for me

It must be a slack news day at the Express - - - the banner headline "EU raises risks" is more of a concern though, its long been thought that these type of attacks are being played down or even ignored. 

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Straight to the local stuff today because i have been away on a "book mission" for a couple of days. 

Before i went i managed to walk down by the river after Sundays soaking form Storm Katie 

 early on in the walk i passed what is normally only a small trickle of water under this stone bridge 

 although the worst of the storm had passed the sky was still very full as i looked towards Peak Tor 

 Not all that clear but the run off water is flowing down both sides of the small road down towards the A6 causing quite a bit of standing water on the main road 

 down at River level our multi million £ cycle path looks in fine condition as runs alongside the re-cycle centre, Juxtaposition or what! 

 this is a wet area anyway but the cycle path looks to be helping stop it draining now, this has happened elsewhere -  - - 

 the River looks like it has risen by about 4 feet just now mind you we did have 32mm of rain almost all overnight 

 my ransom study seems to be enjoying the soaking 

 the outfall from the small stream is also helping swell the already swollen river 

 this is what it looked like a few days earlier 

and the usual final photo from my walk 

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I shot off early Tuesday morning to drive down to Hereford in connection with my book.  A literary agent, a friend of a friend,  was going to give it the once over and then hopefully point me in the right direction. 

 Walking into town to the appointment with an old friend the River Wye looked to have risen quite a bit 

 its over 40 years since i crossed over the Victoria footbridge !

 a stonemason beavering away outside the Cathedral 

 an old watering hole still functioning 

 standing in the sunshine in the middle of town i scanned all the "over 60's" faces wandering passed wondering if i knew any, within 5 minutes i was approached by an old colleague and his wife for a chat!  

 still not visited the black and white house museum!  

 our business concluded we cross back over the river, after lunch we donned our walking kit for a walk down memory lane 

 Once again its over 40 years since i crouched by this gate soaking wet in the dark with 3 others after practicing "operations" up on the hill in the background - - - it even started to rain just for old times sake ! 

 striding up the hill we look at the views from the top, no Black Mountains in view today  

 years ago our little cold wet group walked up to this position by way of the line of large trees! 

 in the gathering rain we take one last look down the hill and then decide thats enough nostalgia for one day and make our way down to the small road back into town.  At the bottom of the hill a wiry figure in running kit approaches us and then turns sharp left up the muddy track to the top of the hill.  We have one envious look after him before heading into the wet and windy weather.  

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I make the trip back home early the following morning with Boris at a sedate speed and once there run a few errands before settling down in the sunshine to watch the fish in the pond, it has to be said that both filters and UV lights appear to be working very well because the pond is crystal clear at the moment. 

The garden is still springing into life but once again the blossom on the Peach (I've been calling it a Nectarine!)in the top greenhouse 

has the look of most of it falling off whole, fingers crossed! - - - the thick frost this morning won't do it any good!

How good are you at recognising your garden birds? 2 minute Sky News recognition test try it 

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WEATHER NOW 06:30 

There's an optimistic bent to the forecasts today with many indicating it will not rain.  This http://www.xcweather.co.uk/ link has a couple of showers at the moment but our area is clear 

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still below freezing at the moment, the sun will be up soon to warm things up, at least there's no wind  

the weathercam has grey look about it but there isn't any cloud, very frosty!  - - - come on sun! 

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Enjoy the day

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Its all about Storm Katie today, oh and the hail of yesterday

Spot on Mr Express, Spot On!  the banner headline about Foreign Aid  rankles a touch! but its nothing new we have been supporting bonkers projects for years  - - -

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  This photo fronts a story just posted on Sky News about Gatwick Airport diverting flights as Storm Katie lashes the area, and there's more to come! 

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THis BBC Report also covers Katie 

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WEATHER NOW  

The current Netweather rain radar indicates we are in the middle of the heaviest rain at this time.  We have had 1.14 inches/29mm of rain, the majority overnight and its looking like we will be in for another hour or so before it slackens off 

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 quite cold out in the breeze and the rain is hammering down just now 

 this was the weathercam shortly before 06:00 the shaft of light makes it look like "the aliens are arriving" I think its the IR light from one of my cameras on the "seaweed" 

The current weathercam shot shows off the rain although my "seaweed" isn't indicating dripping any rain right now.  This morning will remain cold wet and windy as Katie traverses the area, the rain is expected to clear the area around 12:00 when it will remain cloudy breezy and cold the rest of the day 

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KATIE'S PRELUDE 

 Around 16:00 yesterday Storm Katie announced herself with a hail storm 

 it was quite impressive as it appeared out of nowhere 

 it did however pass quite quickly 

 and by the time i got to the garden to check the daffs it had rolled on by  

even with its mantle of hail the garden looked good and no significant damage to report! 

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CURRENT WEATHER UPDATE 07:41 

its started snowing now and the accumulation can just be made out on the hills over the other side of the valley!

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UPDATE 09:50

 The rain has all but stopped now as one of our pair of collared doves has a late breakfast 

still very grey on the weathercam and the seaweed shows the brisk wind is coming from the North 

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Enjoy the day

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Fightback says the Express & pond pipes swapped

Interesting headline on the front of the Sunday Express  

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I've never been one to take notice of "astrologers" but Sally pointed this out to me.  Quite amusing The Dark Side of Your Star Sign!!  - - - works for me! 

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This wild sea photo fronts The Metro story of Storm Katie bringing the Monday morning blues tomorrow. The story was written on Friday so its a bit old, forecasters have watered down (NPI) the scale of Mondays onslaught in our area but its still more than likely to be a wet and windy night tonight followed by a blustery day tomorrow 

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With Sally and her Big Sis on a special mission from 08:00 yesterday i had the place to myself and with an eye on the weather which i knew to be turning nasty i set to sorting out the pond pumps and filters.  As i started out i could feel the odd spot of light rain on the lively wind that was already blowing and the Netweather rain radar showed a huge blob of rain advancing slowly Eastwards towards our coast from the Irish Sea.  I imagined i would have until 13:00 before it started to take effect 

The problem in the pond is the new Jebao 6000 filter overflowing a little and i had imagine that the 2500 lph pump it had feeding it could be changed for the 1500 lph pump i had on the other one. Alas when i got both pumps out of the pond they were in fact both 2500 lph!  

The only difference then was the Pontec Multiclear system came with a narrow diameter pipe and on the Jebao i had fitted a much lager one.  The solution was to swap them over hoping the Pontec could take the faster flow afforded by the larger pipe.  The Jebao then would have the smaller pipe and would either not overflow or take longer to get to that state.  

With the wind whistling around my ears both these jobs were completed by 13:00 as the rain started and i had a break for lunch. Just to be prepared for the usual algae induced green water onslaught of high summer i set up the old Claritec pressurised filter which i had initially abandoned this year as a back up so all i need to do is if it is required is put in the UV bulb pop the pump on the end of the intake pipe and that will be running as well.  

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Retreating to the greenhouse as the rain started to really come down i had the opportunity to have a go at my Aldi tomatoes. 

purely on a whim i had picked up the little greenhouse like pot as we entered the shop.  Having had not a great deal of luck with Toms we had decided not to bother this year but i couldn't resist the offer of £1.99 for 6 plants 

 as i was transplanting the last one i noticed that there were in fact 2 plants in the last slot but one was being overshadowed by the other.  I gently removed "the runt" and put it back in the little plastic greenhouse hoping it will grow larger without its neighbour towering over it  

 I look at the grape vine every year thinking its died, they always look like this don't they?, all dry and looking like they have no chance of producing the foliage and fruit like there's no tomorrow later in the year. Ah ha!  i exclaimed as the rain hammered down outside and i noticed way down on the stem 2 drops of sap from where the pruning has taken place, - - the vine lives another year! 

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Flushed with the success of my labours i dodged the rain as i made my way indoors to watch a, it has to be said, rather dull penultimate stage of the Tour of Catalunya, today is the last stage which is hilly and with 5 GC contenders within 17 seconds of each other team tactics will be to the fore i imagine. 

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WEATHER TODAY 

pretty cool this morning and the wind is strengthening after abating overnight.  The belt of rain crossing the country yesterday had its downpour around 17:00 and then quickly fizzled out after that.  

A pleasant enough view on the weathercam with a bit of sun breaking through, the forecast is pointing at rain between 11:00 and 17:00 and the predictions for a watered down wild Monday are still on the cards 

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Enjoy the day

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