Tuesday 22 August 2023
We have had our first repeat visitor, Carla, who initially came to stay in February when our boiler had packed up and the house was bitterly cold (she reminded me that we’d recorded the temperature downstairs as 7°C). I had warned her that the house was still cold in August, particularly downstairs, so she packed layers. When she arrived on Saturday afternoon, to grey sky, on/off drizzle and a chilly wind, she was wearing shorts and a vest-top, it being suitably hot for such attire in Yorkshire when she’d set off about four hours earlier. Within minutes of being in the house, she was wearing winter slippers and what I referred to as pyjamas but what she insisted on referring to as leisurewear.
Before she arrived, I went to Galashiels and Melrose for some shopping errands. It had been raining on and off a lot and continued to rain on and off a lot, but I hadn’t thought it was enough to be concerned about the road flooding and being closed off. I’d driven Chris’s 4×4, only because it needed diesel and for a tyre to be pumped up. On the way back, around 13:15, I was listening to loud, dancey music and imagining how great it would be to be driving along that curvy, scenic road on a motorbike. I’m sure it was because I was in a kind of invincible mood that when I saw the road had flooded, I registered a lot of water but didn’t think twice about driving through it. Were I in a more normal, sensible frame of mind, I think I would have stopped before entering the water area. I continued driving, realising the need to drive slower and slower as the waves grew. There was a point where I had driven maybe ten metres and couldn’t see round the bend in the road to a point where it wasn’t flooded. I could also see that significant amounts of water were pouring across the road still, making it deeper very quickly. Fortunately, my resolve hadn’t quite waivered and the empowering music was still blaring out so I carried on driving. As I continued, still with no end in sight and the water a bit deeper, I did have a fleeting concern that the car and I might end up stuck in the water and I knew that I was at the mid point where no one would see me or the car if they didn’t also try to get through the water. I saw the end, carried on, the car sounded and was fine, but I did stop and take a photo through the rear window. I am fairly sure I would not have driven through that much water, with no sign of a clear road ahead, had I not been in a higher-up 4×4, listening to energising music and having been visualising myself soaring along the road on a motorbike having a great time. By 14:00 the road was officially closed, some cars having apparently been parked up on either side of the flooded area. It reopened around 21:10. Had I not been able to get through, the detour, having just looked on Google Maps, would have been 56 miles, at least an hour-and-a-half. That road floods and closes very roughly fifteen times a year. I wouldn’t have expected the flood season to start in mid-August. I am most glad that I got through the flooded section unscathed, but I am certain it was only because of my uncharacteristic, kind of invincible mindset at the time.
Fortunately, that was not the direction Carla needed to drive from and all was fine for her. She stayed until Monday afternoon and on Sunday we worked on the foundation stones for the cabin. I have worked on that site with two friends now and it’s been a lot of fun, very rewarding and we’ve had some great conversations. I am not at all convinced I will start on the structure (well, very unlikely this year), let alone finish the cabin, but it has confirmed that digging is very satisfying, I seem to like getting muddy (I think it’s just that it makes it look like I’ve been working hard), it is a great distraction from everyday thoughts and stresses, it’s fun to chat and have a laugh with friends while working and it is ridiculously satisfying seeing the progress. Carla and I have now laid five of nine foundation stones and I am confident that I will finish that element of the foundations off when it isn’t raining over the next week or two.
Yesterday, Carla and I had a great walk through Ettrick Marshes in on/off rain, admiring the fungi, moss and lichen. We then sat in a hide to look out for birds, drink coffee and eat cake. We both stopped a few times to hold our phones up to see what birds we could detect on the Merlin bird identification app we are both obsessed with. The birds all seemed to go quiet when we stopped to record their song but we recorded tree creeper, wren, bullfinch, siskin, chiffchaff and coal tit.
Today, I have a lot to do indoors, work. Outdoors, it is allegedly 14°C and most definitely rainy with a top temperature of 18°C. In Lewisham, the same app tells me it is currently 18°C and sunny with a high of 26°C. I’m happier with the temperature here but some sun would really be wonderful.