Icy Showers.

The storm raged on through the night but things have been relatively calm today as we've had a mixture of sun and icy showers. Other parts of the West Country have had flooding, many homes are without power and people are being advised not to travel.. (Read more here. ) This is all to do with the same weather system that is affecting eastern N. America.

Mid-morning I decided to escape the gloom of our shady valley and take a walk out in the sun. Unlike yesterday we are back to icy winds once more. There were a few piles of hail in the spots which hadn't had any sun. When the boys were younger I used to try and get them out for a walk on Christmas Eve. That was to burn off some of their energy and to give me a reviving burst of nature before the domesticity of Christmas.

Once I got to the top of the drive I had to choose either to walk eastwards with views to Exmoor or west to Bowden Corner. First I had to rescue our recycling box which had been blown down the road. 

I chose westwards as I love the colour contrast between the grey of the approaching rain clouds and the sunlit trees..

As I got to Bowden Corner I began to wonder if I was going to get caught out in the rain.  

 But luckily I was only under the edge of the rain which didn't start to fall until I was half-way down the hill.

Preparations for Christmas are very relaxed here as it is only the 2 of us at home. All the food has been prepared for our traditional (sort of) Christmas Eve meal. We will be having various salads and cold fish though I have got some breaded scampi to put in the oven. I reckon they count as fish. 

Peter has been at work today but he has added some extra days to the holiday so he will be able to rest for 10 days. This afternoon I made the mistake of walking down the stairs with a bucket of hot soapy water and a cloth. No - I didn't trip and spill the lot but I noticed that the white painted bars under the banister were looking in need of a wipe down. Then so did the skirting board beneath them, and  then on the other side of the stairs and of course there was more woodwork to wipe in the corridor and so on. I called a halt in time to listen to the  Festival of Nine Lessons from King's. Right now I've got Fantasia playing on the TV. (That was the first film I ever saw at the cinema.) I've hung some glass drops from conifer branches in a big jug as my token decorations. Makes a change from my usual explosion of tinsel and decorations all over the house.