A Break in the Weather.

[curiouswombat]

I am off work today - using up some annual leave days before the end of March. And it has been a beautiful day. I had to pop into town, and took a couple of pictures simply to contrast with all the recent ones.



It is difficult to believe that these two pictures are of the same sea we have seen so far this year...

Looking back towards Onchan.



The Tower of Refuge.



That is so perfect that it almost looks unreal, but it is entirely as I took it.

But looking down from the promenade along the sea-wall I could see this -



As the tide was quite low the storm-water holding tanks, built underneath the promenade walkway, were being emptied ready for the next deluge.

And a couple of other pics, just because I like them. I called at a friend's house on my way home and thought you might like her 'still-life with sheep' on the bench outside her door -



And I stopped to look at the dried rhododendron flowers in her garden. How amazing is it that, despite gusts of 70 - 80 mph winds on and off since well before Christmas, these delicate blossom skeletons are all still on the bush?





Totally unrelated, I have been doing a spot of tidying up over the past couple of weeks, and pointed out to D-d that, sitting upstairs, there was a ball of very thick, plush, wool and a pair of enormous needles, with a pattern, that had been a gift to her from my sister a couple of years ago.

The reply was "Yeah... but they're to knit another scarf! I don't need another scarf - I've got at least five already."

"Can I have them, then?" I asked.

"Please! Do what you want with them," she said.

I had no need for a scarf either - but there was just enough wool to make a very cuddly cushion cover...

Comments

[chaotic-binky.livejournal.com]

Lovely photos. I always wondered why water poured from some sea walls - now I know :)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. We have enormous tanks under the promenade and if there is a lot of rain, so that the drains have trouble coping, there is some sort of 'detour' in place that lets the rainwater run into the tanks. I would guess other places have similar ones, too.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Yay! for blue skies.

And that is a very nice cover.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The blue sky was a real treat!

The cover is really nice and soft -I might even get around to doing some more.

[debris4spike]

Brilliant pic scam - I must get back to dig out the camera ... so much of this year is just disappearing.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It was just such a lovely day - I sat on the promenade and read for about 10 minutes for the sheer pleasure of it, before it got too cold!

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

Oh, I envy you. We didn't have a bad day today, compared with most recent ones, but no limpid blue. Of course we're all keeping an ear out for the latest re the increasing flooding. So far the Thames barrier is keeping the tidal Thames in check (we hope, we hope), but upstream things are bad, and I have colleagues mildly affected already. More on the way, ugh.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The flooding across the UK is quite horrific, by now. Fortunately we still have good uplands to absorb a lot of rain, and the building of the storm water tanks has helped both with management and environmentally.

Here's hoping you keep your feet dry!

It's raining again, here, now...

[jay-of-lasgalen.livejournal.com]

Today's been lovely, hasn't it? I'm glad you survived the storms as well!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It was so good to have sunshine. Not a lot of warmth in it - but still enough to cheer us up a bit.

[shirebound]

Love that 'still-life with sheep'!

Pippin asks permission to curl up on that plush cushion.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that the still life with sheep is in any way planned, either. I think they are just a few pieces that my friend and her daughter had picked up on the beach last summer. Well, apart from the sheep!

Pippin would be very welcome to come and curl up on the cushion.

[mrowe.livejournal.com]

Lovely bit of knitting, and some nice quiet weather as well:-)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The weather was just such a nice change! The knitting was great fun as it grew so quickly - I did it in an evening.

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

Very nice snuggly cushion! And 'on trend' as the fashionistas say ;)

The rain really is relentless isn't it! All the transport down here in t'South is really suffering now. Even the railways! What with that and tube strikes ACK!!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Hmm - not like me to be 'on trend'!

I have been thinking about you when I saw the tube strike on the news. And today when I saw the Thames beginning to overflow badly, too.

[estelcontar1.livejournal.com]

Beautiful photos as usual. Enjoy your beautiful day! I wish some of your rain would come our way. It's been almost a month since we had our last rain.

Very cute cuddly cushion cover!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

We would be very, very, happy to let you have some rain!

The cushion cover is quite a success - more useful than if it had been a scarf, anyway.

[myrhiann.livejournal.com]

I love the cushion! My aching back yearns to settle against it's softness. Nice that you at least are having some settled weather. Enjoy it while it lasts. It is nice that you have a few days off to enjoy it.

I didn't know about holding tanks along sea walls. I learn something new every day.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The cushion is really rather comfortable - and a lot more useful than another scarf would be.

It was lovely to just be able to potter around today, and the sunshine really made it even better.

The storm water holding tanks were built under our promenade a few years ago - and have proved to be very useful. They help to stop drains being overwhelmed with the volume of water so we don't have it gushing up out of the grids rather than going down them, which happened in the past, sometimes. Then it is allowed out as the tide goes out.

[clodia-metelli.livejournal.com]

Your seascapes are so beautiful. That tower really is great. And I love the cushion cover! That's a great idea, I must keep it in mind.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The sea changes so much that it makes a very good subject.

The cushion cover is a long strip made into an envelope shape with three buttons along the flap - probably the easiest thing I have knitted since I made a scarf when I was about eight - and quicker, as the wool was so thick.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

What a lovely lovely set of photos! What a difference a few days makes! I love the Tower of Refuge...it IS perfect, as you say.

I do love the views around your island.
:)
That's a lovely cushion cover you've made!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I hope you get a sunny day or two, as well. It does make such a difference.

The cushion cover is snuggly - good for the not-so-nice days.

[mummy-owl.livejournal.com]

What lovely views - but the sea can so quickly change it's mood :-(

Your cushion gave me an idea - I have a lovely chunky scarf which I've only worn a couple of times because it's HUGE - like the old Doctor Who! It's just occurred to me that I could transform it into a lovely snuggly cushion cover (or two)....hmmm...plans afoot...

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The sea is a good subject as it rarely looks the same for two days in a row.

Have fun converting your scarf - I have to say the cover is rather nice and cuddly.

[gillo]

Lovely bit of knitting, that.

It's been grey, grim and damp here. Not exactly a change. We're much better off than folks down south, though. Dave gets cross about things every time he sees or hears the news, though.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is a rather child-like but of knitting - it amused me that I could knit a cushion cover with 32 stitches on the needles! And, as K said, why anyone would have needed a pattern to cast on 9 stitches, and knit to the end of the wool, was beyond her.

As for Dave - oh gosh, I can imagine - I think you'd better ban him from reading, or watching, the news for the sake of his blood pressure.

[kathyh]

We did have some sun here today, and then more rain, though in briefer bursts. Lovely photos and the sea looks wonderfully calm.

That rhododendron is a survivor!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

We had rain overnight again - it seems impossible to have 24 hours without it. But it is a nice, still, day today again, which is good.

The rhododendron fascinated me - it had 20 or more dried out blossoms on it despite all the wind and the rain.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

It really is hard to believe that's the same sea. And I love the Tower of Refuge - it's right out of Game of Thrones.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is amazing, isn't it?

I hadn't thought of the Game of Thrones and the Tower of Refuge, but you are absolutely right.

[sulien.livejournal.com]

Oh, that cushion cover turned out beautifully! That is gorgeous yarn and I love the pattern you used, it looks more like woven cloth than something knitted. In fact, I like that yarn so well that I may try to locate something similar here in the US to crochet a shrug, it would be really beautiful for that. I envy your knitting, by the way. I can't go a half-dozen rows without dropping at least one stitch. :-p

Also, it's good to see that I'm not the only one who likes to collect driftwood and shells to make little still life projects! I love the one on your friend's deck.

Thank you for sharing your photos, they are all lovely! It's wonderful to be able to see the world through someone else's eyes and to see places I'll likely never visit. :)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The knitting was very easy - as both needles and wool were 'outsize' so there were only 32 stitches across! I have to admit that I like the way it looks almost woven, too, to be honest.

The effect of being able to see the world through someone else's eyes is one of the real beauties of LJ - it gives us time and place to explain the what and why of the pictures.

[(Anonymous)]

The sea shots are very nice, what a neat way to handle your extra water, any way you can send it to northern California, we can use it there!

Oh, neat cushion cover, I do like the buttons, now all you need it a kitty to curl up on it!

Huggs,
Lynda

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The storm water tanks are very useful. If that water was going through the treatment plants it would overwhelm them, and if it was trying to go straight out into the sea during a stormy incoming tide, which it used to do in places around the island, then the sea would actually be able to come up through those pipes rather than the rainwater going down through them...

So there are similar tanks in two or three places around the island now.

I like the buttons, too, they added a bit of a 'designer' touch - and they weren't expensive, maybe $1 each.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

That really is a perfect photo of the Tower of Refuge. And your friend's still life with the shells and driftwood is really lovely, like something you'd see in a high end shop.

Fingers crossed that soon this horrible weather pattern both our countries are stuck in finally breaks!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I loved that little display outside my friends house; I should go beach-combing some afternoon.

I was just think how nice that, although it rained overnight, it was dry today - and pretty still - when I realised the wind speed is actually about 25mph - I've got so used to it that I hardly notice!

[deborahw37.livejournal.com]

Blue skies and calm seas

bliss!

Love the cushion too

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

We had almost as good today - until it hailed...

The cushion is cuddly, if not terribly stylish!