In the chilly hours and minutes...

When the rain has hung the leaves with tears

No apologies for trampling over Donovan's Catch The Wind. I just love this time of day although for me it lacks the uncertainty of the song's lyrics.

It's Tilly's sofa!

A little while back I invested in some rather chic Natuzzi Italian leather lounge furniture... well you have to have some comfort in your old age don't you? Should have realised of course that one of the sofas would be commandeered by Tilly for her chosen napping spot.

Sleeping Dog

Or the place where she just hides from the rain!

I just can't stand the rain...

No you haven't pulled, but Get Your Coat!

You probably know the old chestnut "Get your coat love, you've pulled." People have been saying it for years, though I doubt it actually works as a pick-up line.

I found myself muttering something similar while looking at some incoming weather recently...

Get your coat - here it comes!

The rain arrived with a vengeance shortly after the above was taken and boy did it rain hard! Nice cloud formations though.

Doing the doggy-paddle

The sun shone for a while yesterday so Tilly took me for a walk down one of her favourite farm tracks... this track runs beside two reens and gives access to farm land between Magor and Redwick and Tilly usually loves it because there is always plenty to sniff and small rodents to chase.

Usually a favourite walk

Poor Tilly didn't so much walk as 'doggy-paddle' along the mile long track. She still managed to enjoy herself, but the expression on her little face when she realised the track was water covered was so sad...

It's going to take a while to dry out!

And of course the sunshine didn't exactly last long although we did manage to get home again before the rain started. Still it's dry again right now so we'll be going out for another 'paddle' shortly!

Think we'll give this track a miss today

Walking through the 'Rain Window'

It stopped raining this morning, the clouds parted and for a brief period the sun shone so I donned my boots and hit the roads for a six mile pre-lunch walk. Sadly the sunshine didn't last too long and there were a couple of showers, but for most of my walk it remained dry.

I considered branching out and crossing the fields though the deep mud and amount of water laying on the grass convinced me to stick to the tarmac. Even the roads were pretty wet in places and I ended up having a paddle on a couple of occasions. The worst flood I had to negotiate was through the hamlet of St. Brides on my route back toward Magor.

Flood Water at St Brides

No problem getting through this, especially if you happen to be driving a 4 x 4 or a truck. You need to be a little careful walking though if you don't want the water overflowing into your boots.

Bubbling Water

We've had so much rain the drains and sewers simply can't cope with the extra water flow... some of the excess water bubbles up through the manholes adding to the rainfall already laying on the roads.

Leaky Manholes

I wonder if the ducks approve of the extra thoroughfares? None around to ask today.

This is a Road not a Canal!

Typical!

So we had two dry days and I must say it was lovely being able to go out and walk Tilly in the sunshine. Even if it was damn cold, it was dry and both dog and I enjoyed it. But you guessed it we're back to normal again today and it's raining. :(

I suppose I shouldn't complain really... at least we didn't suffer the horrific flooding other areas had prior to Christmas, nor did we match Eglwyswru's 85 rainy days. That said I'd be interested to know just how many wet days we've had here in Undy over the last three months... seems like the hell of a lot to me!

Yet More Rain

All wet and soggy

Given the time of year I suppose I should expect my morning ride to be a bit damp occasionally, but this morning I got caught out in a torrential downpour. Fortunately it only lasted 15 minutes or so, unfortunately it left me drenched. So wet in fact I had to empty water out of my shoes when I got home!

Most car drivers don't appreciate why cyclists avoid puddles or riding in the gutter, but the reasons are simple:

• You have no idea what's in the bottom of a puddle
• If you're cycling in the gutter you get the hell of a lot more splash-back when it is wet

Don't know what splash-back is? Well...

Cycling in the Rain

Splash-back refers to all the water thrown up by the front wheel when cycling in wet conditions. The wetter the road, the more water is thrown back at the rider. In my case this morning there was so much water being thrown up from the road it streamed back down my shins and filled my shoes.

I was thinking as I ploughed on through the driving rain some kind of weather proof canopy would have been handy... then I remembered I'd actually seen one such thing:

Wet Proofing

Can't imagine me ever buying one of those somehow, but it is an intriguing idea.

So anyway since I was soaked to the skin I curtailed my ride this morning shortening my route to just under 14 miles instead of the 22 I had originally planned.

Shortened Route