Morale is not high.  I won’t say it’s at an all time low but it is not high.  I am not, as you will have surmised, Street Pastoring tonight;  I’ve been obsessively following Hampshire weather reports all day—those of you who follow me on Twitter will have seen a few RTs on the subject*—and when the wind started up mid-afternoon right on gindlefarbing schedule** I sighed a heavy sigh and emailed Fearless Leader that I was staying home tonight.  I’m being a good responsible citizen, ratblast it, the cops keep tweeting ‘if you don’t HAVE to go anywhere STAY HOME.’***  I don’t even know if there was enough of a team left to go out;  I know we’d lost more than just me.

I’m not quite sure what I have done today besides get wet to the skin† in the company of various (wet) hellcritters and feverishly look for more weather reports.††

And listen to the wind.  I am not looking forward to the last hurtles of the evening.†††  The rain is coming in sideways, in this wind, like spears, and I swear the points have been sharpened.  May we at least continue to have electricity.  And hot water.  And an Aga to dry and re-dry and re-re-re-dry wet critter towels.

I hope we don’t lose any more trees.

* * *

* And anyone who hasn’t seen the photo of the Winchester Cathedral crypt ISN’T PAYING ATTENTION since it’s a big favourite with the media at the moment for a symbol of South England Under Water:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-26186875 ^

^ Mind you, the cathedral was built on a marsh, so there’s a certain amount of hoisting by own petard going on, as it has gone on for the last thousand years.  Very sturdy marsh, that one.  And surprisingly forgiving of large piles of stone.  Maybe it was less of a marsh in the eleventh century.+

But we in New Arcadia are NOT built on a marsh and we object to all this superfluous water cluttering up the place.  There’s nowhere to put anything down.  Like a dog, for example.

+ The cathedral was also a good deal smaller to begin with.  They kept adding bits on.

** Why can’t the frelling meteorologists be wrong about something you’d LIKE them to be wrong about?  How many times have you got caught in rain/sleet/hail/yeti invasion because the weather report was for clear and mild and since you wanted it to be clear and mild you were a little foolish?  Arrrrrrgh.^

^ Of course over here it’s a major piece of cultural history that the meteorologists—and one TV presenter in particular—missed the Great Storm of 1987, worst in three centuries, and forecast a little wet weather and some wind.  La la la la la.   Hope everyone had their small dogs and children on short leads.

*** Alternating with a tweet saying PLEASE DON’T TAKE CLOSED ROAD SIGNS DOWN THEY’RE THERE FOR A REASON.  Duh.  Good grief.  I will certainly go have a look down a closed footpath^ but in daylight at walking speed you can see before you get into any difficulties, and you also won’t stall out if water gets up your tailpipe.  You may have to carry your short-legged companion through the swirly bits.^^  But take closed road signs down?!  At very least, if you’re going to be a sovereign idiot, put the sign back after you’ve driven through it toward your fate.^^^

^ Although Pav and I had an epic hurtle this morning because we went down to the river and turned the other direction and it never occurred to me we’d be able to keep going. . . .  I now have a pair of yellow All Stars that will take a week to dry out.  At least I remembered the plastic bags over my socks today.  Practise makes perfect.

^^ I do know that currents can be dangerous.  Trust me, I’m timid.

^^^ Oh yes and when you have to ring up to be rescued be sure and mention that you drove through a closed road sign so they can put you at the bottom of their list.

† I have two raincoats and they’re both sheeting wet.

†† Well I’ve done some knitting.  Got some lovely big fat gauge 100% merino wool on insanely cheap sale and then bought a set of 10 mm needles when I discovered that that is approximately the ONLY size I haven’t already got, 10 mm being the recommended needle size for this yarn, and I was already trying to decide whether I was going to make this pullover or that pullover out of it^ since I’d bought this book on sale a little while ago, as I settled down to make my swatch.  I like making swatches.  It doesn’t matter if something goes wrong, it’s just a swatch.  Which is why my swatches never go wrong.  I save going wrong for the pattern.

AND I DON’T LIKE THE FABRIC ON THESE NEEDLES.  THEY’RE TOO BIG.  THE FABRIC IS TOO OPEN AND LUMPY.

So now I get to start over with 9 mm and 8 mm and . . . just by the way . . . with finding a new pattern.  There probably is a way to adapt a bigger gauge pattern to a smaller gauge—isn’t there?—but in the first place it would require MATHS and would be beyond me and in the second place . . . I’d run out of yarn.  SIIIIIIIIIIGH.^^

^ I’m really good at starting projects.

^^ Furthermore I think I have to make a cardigan.+  I was just thinking this morning that my two woolly brown cardigans are the sand end of brown and I need a chestnut end of brown.  This yarn happens to be chestnut.

+ Deep v neck.  Less yarn.  Three quarter sleeves!  Less yarn!  Cropped!

††† I have a cranky hellterror underfoot as I (try to) write this blog.  She’s forgotten our epic hurtle early today and WANTS MORE ACTION.  She couldn’t get back indoors fast enough however when I took her out for eliminatory functions and indoor action is limited.^

^ Especially since she’s still a little too interesting to hellhounds+ so I am forced to stimulate her brain by long down which tends to need fairly regular upkeep.++

+ Who still are not eating enough to keep one-third of a slow elderly hamster alive.

++ No, lie down.  No.  Lie down.  No.  Lie DOWN.#

# She actually is at the moment.  Don’t anyone breathe loudly or make any sudden gestures.