Tuesday 14 November 2023
Yesterday, it rained and rained and rained and rained. Our very small waterfall doubled and became two waterfalls, though a few times there has been so much water that the two have merged and the water has then gone over the ‘tunnel’ it otherwise goes through to end up in the river. The road was of course flooded and impassable for our cars, though we hadn’t planned on going out. Today, more of the same is forecast, though it feels a bit like the quiet before the storm right now.
We did a clothes wash yesterday and hung smaller items and two t-shirts on the new heated dryer and the rest of the tops and trousers on a normal drying rack in the room where I was working and where the oil-filled radiator was on. The clothes in my room didn’t dry as much as I expected, but I realised that they had dried a bit better on a previous occasion, when I’d had the mini hot air blower directed at them more than at me. Heat alone, ie the oil-filled radiator, isn’t enough and it made my room feel damp. This is not surprising, I know, but I wanted to see the comparison. The heated dryer, which is one with a cover, did seem to work well but I didn’t expect it to take so long. Apparently, they don’t use much electricity but we had it on for about six hours, then another hour and a half and it will need more. Chris Googled and said that it would need about nine hours. I’ll put it on again when we’re in the “cheaper” three hours of electricity and then just leave it on until it hopefully dries. The weather forecast is not currently showing a window of opportunity for any outdoor drying in wind-but-no-rain.
I managed to do just over 7,000 steps yesterday, which, considering the hideous weather, isn’t too bad. I did my “patrol” around the garden and up the top, then across the very wet and boggy area, where I discovered my (very old) right welly has a leak. Walking back along the road, I was very, very lucky no vehicles came past as the road was extremely wet and the grass verges even more so. I do have a second pair of wellies but they’re a bit snug around my toes and are basic, thin rubber. The ones with the leak were thicker and significantly more robust, plus they had multicoloured stripes whereas my others are dark grey. Anyway, I’m now on the look-out for wide-fitting, chunky, colourful wellies that aren’t pink. Basically, I want the same pair again but I bought them over ten years ago in a small shop in Whitstable and they’re not a known brand. I’ll see what I can find.