storms | The Little Room of Rachell

Hello, have you all survived the storms, if you’re in the UK and Ireland? It’s been WILD the last few days. Last night with over 50 mph wine it sounded like a high-speed train was rushing past the front of the house.

To my surprise, this morning, my few little plastic pots of chilli peppers and parsley in the garden are still standing! Today it’s a total contrast, sunny and bright with a bit of breeze. Lovely and far milder this week at 10°.

It’s hard not to begin January blog posts without a weather report, but amusingly I’m not the only one.

I really appreciative the sun so I could take a clear picture of my Ana Lucia shawl this week. It was the total opposite last Wednesday.

I was tempted to work on something else at the weekend for variety, but actually I want the prospect of a finished item. So I’m going to go on with this until I a) finish it or b) run out of yarn. B is a distinct possibility, or even certainty. If I speed up my crocheting and play yarn chicken, I’m pretty sure I cannot do all the repeats. I may be able to get some of this discontinued yarn on eBay. I’ll first message my local yarn shop, where I impulse bought this ball, just in case they’ve got some tucked away.

I remember when I went to browse and treat myself to something new, I was aiming to change my palette a bit, go for something neutral. Ha!

I saw that this was included on Audible’s Plus Catalogue so gave it a whirl, but preferred to read it at my own speed rather than the author’s. I ended up buying it on Amazon. It’s the diary of Ben who needed somewhere else to live in autumn 2020. Winnie had advertised for someone to live with her and lend a helping hand, be a presence in the substantial house. Family moving in with her had not worked out at all…

Winnie is 85, has lived in the house in Wimbledon, in south west London, for decades. Ben is 35, it has to be said is rather under her thumb, within a very short space of time. He wisely chooses the path of least resistance on most things. The peppercorn rent must have helped too.

Winne is extremely idiosyncratic, as we all are in the comfort and familiarity of our home, but additionally she is up and down emotionally as she is grieving the loss of her husband of 60 years, who died only 10 months before. On top of that the second National Lockdown comes only 10 days after Ben moves in. (Incidentally, we moved days before the first lockdown. It took ages to get to know neighbours, unless waving while trying to clap and banging saucepans counts. Doesn’t all that seem strange when we think about it now? Daily walks and socially distanced chats with strangers in the fields were highly valued.) Anyway, back to Ben and Winnie. So, life is not at all he imagines or is used to, in a nutshell he ends up spending most of his time with an octogenarian.

There’s a lot of humour in the diary. I recognise Winnie and like her immensely. She reminds me of family and people I’ve known. She recounts stories to Ben of places I know very well. I’ve slowed my reading right down. I know that I do this when really enjoying a book I don’t want to end. I did the same with Nina Stibbe’s most recent diary.

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Joining in with Kat and the gang for Unravelled Wednesday to also share what I’m making and reading. Why don’t you too? Or at least have a look at the links. There were some cracking blog posts last Wednesday.

It’s been pointed out to me with a burst of laughter that we had 50mph wine last night. I’m keeping it! Must be iPhone dictation’s sense of humour.

Gah! And this is why I should never crochet while drinking cider.

I realised that the stitch count was really off in the section with the stitch marker, but in my tipsy wisdom did quite a few decrease stitches to get the it right. Then I carried on going around and around. In the morning I realised I’d have to rip it all back, in an acknowledgment that it’s not my way of doing things. I’m a perfectionist and those rogue stitches would forever bug me.

The blanket was pretty large, so it took A LOT of unraveling and winding yarn. I undid the whole yellow section. Once again…Gah!

I keep thinking I should be at expert level now, these kind of silly mistakes where I have 17 stitches in all other sections and find 22 in another should not be happening…it was definitely the cider.

The Chevron Cowl made it up to the NE coast, just in the nick of time! I offered it to friends and Safron jumped at it. Of course she’s perfect for it; she never shies away from wearing bright colours, plus always looks great in yellow. Doesn’t it match perfectly with her grey beanie too?

We’ve been battered by the weather since last week. We had Storm Dudley on Wednesday, followed by Eunice on Friday, with 75 mph winds and then Frank on Sunday with 60mph winds and very heavy rainfall. There are trees and branches down, but luckily nothing worse. I did wonder if the conservatory roof would lift off at one point. It’s still intact, thank goodness.

I think (and hope) that’s it now. The morning is calm and sunny, so far. It’s half term around here and parents are breathing a sigh of relief to be out and about again. I can hear the birds for the first time in days. They must be ravenous. How does a little robin or wren withstand 70+mph wind? They must go deep into foliage and hide?

Thursday really was the calm in between the storms, fortunately we managed to get out and do a new 6 mile circular walk. With an unplanned pub lunch in the middle. Anything more than a snack was probably a mistake. There were still steep hills to walk up, to loop back to the starting point, but I enjoyed being out for lunch very much. At least I could keep pausing to ‘take photos of the view’ while not fooling either of us.

Aren’t those aconites beautiful? The leaves are such an unusual shape, sort of rectangular. They were next to a huge clump of snowdrops near to where I parked the car.

I wonder what the aconites look like now? The garden here is full of croci and surprisingly they haven’t been flattened. The Christmas tree went over in it’s very heavy concrete pot early on when Storm Eunice arrived. A huge clonk and then bumps and bangs, as rolled back and forth whacking into the side of the house. We had to run out and rescue it, into the safety of the garage. It was wild out there. Scary, but exhilarating too. The rest of the time it’s felt like Lockdown, taking advice to stay indoors and stay safe, out of the risk of falling trees and flying debris.

I was on a FaceTime call during Storm Eunice and saw a fat pigeon being blown sideways in the wind. That was pretty funny.

The other week I swapped a novel for this Mollie Makes Crochet book at an exchange. It’s fairly basic, aimed at beginner crocheters, but it has some little things I might make.

My poinsettia lost 90% of it’s leaves, as I suspected it would, so now the cyclamen takes its place. Something red this time of year makes a darkish corner a bit brighter and cheerful.

Are you reading a good book? I’m gripped by the latest from Lisa Jewell. I’ve waited months for it from BorrowBox the library app and it’s not disappointing. I read about half in a day. Book details here on GoodReads.

If you’re in the UK did you come through the storms unscathed? Maybe you’ve got snow or floods, or are sweltering in heat?