Storm Arwen.

We woke this morning to the sound of Storm Arwen, the first of the winter storms, which had arrived in the night. Not only could we hear the crashing of the waves and the howling of the wind but we could see handfuls of sea foam being blown past our bedroom window. The storm raged all through the day with the Met. Office reporting gusts of up to 47mph and 2m waves and continues still with the warning

now upgraded from yellow to amber overnight. We can expect gusts of up to 70mph and power cuts. Yikes! I've made sure my Kindle is fully charged.

Today was the first day that we've kept the heating on all day. We shan't keep it on overnight as all the insulation keeps the place warm but I expect it will be needed tomorrow.

With tomorrow sounding like it's going to be even wilder I took advantage of a break in the rain to go down to the shop for milk, bread and croissants for Sunday. Naturally I went on to the beach and when I got to the slipway I had a long look at the clouds and wind direction before deciding that the next squall wasn't due soon and I could carry on walking along the beach instead of going straight to the shop. I was lucky and the rain held off until after I got back home. I was fully protected from head to toe in waterproofs but although my camera has a long strap so that I can slip it under my jacket earlier showers had been so heavy that I left my camera at home. And of course it was nice and sunny, though very windy as I walked along the beach. The only other walker on the beach was dressed in the same way, hood up and wraparound glasses to protect the eyes. As the saying goes, there's no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.

On my way back I called in at the neighbour's to let one of the carers know that the roof of their garage conversion was lifting off. Another of the white bars is also lifting further along and I suspect they may lose the roof overnight. It was be so easy for me to stand on the garden wall and pop a concrete block up there to weigh the end roofing panel down but in the past the carers have made it clear we are not to go on the property so telling them about it was all I could do. Earlier I had checked around the outside of our place to make sure nothing was blowing or flapping about. There is one clatter we can't pinpoint. It may be something up in the loft that's rattling in the wind but if it is it's not a problem and I haven't gone up there to check.

Apart from the usual household things and music practice all I've done is more sorting in the hall and our bedroom and finished off the Christmas cards. Postage is expensive but I feel that sending a card with a personal note and the annual letter is one way of staying in contact with people we rarely see.