Thursday 16 November 2023
Sunrise in Lewisham 07:19; in Selkirk 07:47.
Sunset in Lewisham 16:09; in Selkirk 16:04.
Weather in Lewisham, currently 6°C and overcast with rain to come; in Selkirk, currently 5°C and cloudy with rain to come.
It’s not so different today, though I know I wouldn’t be looking out the window in Lewisham and seeing four pheasants hoovering up the grass seed the Openreach cable-digging team scattered on the mud.
I hung out a wash on Monday morning, smaller items on the new heated dryer, larger items well-spaced-out on a normal collapsible dryer in my study (because of regular heating in that room). Had we left the heated dryer on all day, I expect everything would have been dry by the end of the day, though I think I expected it to be a bit more effective (a few items had small patches that hadn’t fully dried). I had to hang some thick jumpers directly over radiators when they were on. My overall conclusion is that the heated dryer is more realistic but that no-rain opportunities, especially if there is wind, are still the best bet, particularly for a fresh smell. None of our washing smells bad but it certainly doesn’t have that mix of line-dry and washing detergent that makes you want to sniff your freshly laundered jumpers.
I went out yesterday in pursuit of a letter box, cake and eggs. I parked Chris’s 4×4 on our side of the flooded road (yes, again) and walked to the flood. I decided against going through it, though I did watch the Tesco delivery van successfully drive through. As I walked back towards another road where there is another letter box, I started chatting to a couple who live fairly nearby and who I have spoken to before. I ended up walking back to the flood with them, thus seeing how much it had gone down by in about 45 minutes. They gave me a very interesting potted history of the river and the local politics concerning the river, etc. They also showed me the signs for when the flood is too deep and long to drive through. We watched a car, a van and even a motorbike get through the flood. It was amazing how much it had gone down (it had stopped raining a couple of hours before, though the problem becomes the rivers flooding over the banks and across the marshes). I walked back towards our Jeep with them and drove for letter-posting, cake and eggs and a bit more of a walk to get my 10,000 steps. Result, got everything I wanted and had a lovely chat with the couple and even saw someone else I kind of know. Felt uncharacteristically like part of the local community. Then I drove off back into the middle of nowhere.
A DPD driver, with a trainee, collected the mitre saw stand that doesn’t have compatible fittings for the mitre saw. They arrived in darkness at around 17:30. The driver said we were the last job and that they’d tried to come earlier as they were only a few miles down the road, but of course they couldn’t get through the flood. Facebook groups and talking to the couple I walked with; it’s apparent the flood issue is getting significantly worse and I am realising how little attention is paid to low-population areas. For our small community and those who pass through, this is a massive problem. For us, it blocks our main route to the nearest hospital, trains and roads to Edinburgh and most towns. Fortunately, the other direction, south, is usually okay, but it’s becoming a big stress and issue.