A Wet Day

Early this morning I watched recordings of the Women’s Rugby World Cup semi-final matches between Canada and England, and between New Zealand and France – both much closer than heretofore in the competition, setting up a promise of an excellent final next week.

One of the consequences of moving from more than one home over the last decade and more, has been a plethora of pictures we have no room for in our current abode with its limited wall space, resulting in far too many stacked up in the library because we hadn’t the heart to abandon them. Today we bit the bullet and transported several boxes of them to Efford Recycling Centre’s Shop.

Perhaps reflecting our sadness at these losses, rain sheeted down, bouncing off the windscreen and the surface of rapidly filling pools as we queued for access to the facility. Having brought her new camera, Jackie had time to photograph the scene and e-mail her image to me.

The rest of the day was spent

watching more precipitation coursing down our windows.

This evening we dined at The Red Lion with Elizabeth, Jacqueline, and Danni. In pleasant company we enjoyed excellent food with friendly and efficient service. My main meal consisted of a plentiful well cooked mixed grill. Most of us enjoyed generous portions of sticky toffee pudding with cream or ice cream, and a very good bottle of Rioja was shared.

72 comments

  1. Be grateful for the rain, guys, our desert southwest is still in a years-long drought. My truck stays clean for weeks because of no rain. Please send some rain over here! ❤️??

      1. We may get a little bit of rain during the winter but it’s usually not much. Lat summer’s monsoons managed to raise Lake Mead 15 inches, any gain is good!

  2. Miserable day all round then. Except for the pleasant evening with your sisters and family. A lovely end to a wet and gloomy day.

  3. It hurts, I know. Even me, the doyen of decluttering, finds it hard to part with pictures and artworks. The decision was made for me recently when our garage flooded, and several were damaged beyond use. But I was able to recycle the frames, rescue a few, and find another wall space. There are still some in the garage, tempting fate, although now stacked higher up.

  4. How hard that must have been to get rid of those pictures! The day was suitably sad. Nice that you could go out for a tasty meal with sticky toffee pudding for dessert. (Never heard of sticky toffee pudding until I started reading your blog.)

  5. Yes, I have run out of room for all of the old Photos in my smaller abode, but I am yet to ‘bite the bullet’, and the sun is shining, for a pleasant 24’C here today …

  6. It’s hard to let go of old photos. I have several photo albums/scrapbooks from my parents in addtion to a few of my own, plus a couple of baskets. Your photos make me want to pay more attention to rainy windows. You’ve captured the coziness of being inside looking out at the rain.

  7. I have hardly any pictures of me when I was a child. I had to let them go when I moved to the US. Perhaps I was too young to see their importance. But, so far (knock on wood) everything that was important to me is in my mind, as vivid as was when my brain photographed the moment. Captured forever in my heart.
    Sooner or later we have to let go. In your case it’s later, which is good!

  8. As miserable as you might find the current weather, it is bliss for me to see these rainy scenes. While I love our bright blues sky, some heavy clouds and some ‘real’ rain would be wonderful to experience. I take my hat off to you both for finally parting with all sorts of items from your home … this is a v-e-r-y slow process here (with plenty of stops in between)!

    1. Same here re parting with stuff, Anne, assisted somewhat by having to fit in the masses of baby things needed at the moment – everyone bringing loads of the stuff. :). We actually welcome the rain at the moment. Thanks very much.

  9. A new camera for Jackie…Yay! 🙂
    The rain photos are beautiful and artistic!
    Yes, sometimes the weather matches our mood or it affects us and changes our mood.
    ‘Tis sad about the pictures…they always have memories within them.
    So glad the day ended with a lovely dinner with lovely loved ones! ❤️
    (((HUGS))) 🙂
    PS…“When life throws you a rainy day, play in the puddles.” ~ Winnie the Pooh 🙂

  10. Here on the high plains of North America, that rain would be welcome, any time Well, any time with the exception of harvest times in now or July (winter wheat). We’ve had our first snowstorm here this past week, and I managed to have a fall on some ice (no harm done).

    I empathize on the matter of the spare pictures that happen after a move. My front room looks like a Victorian art museum, with pictures hanging frame-to-frame. Unfortunately, they mostly are photos of family, making them impossible not to hang! I’m sure the clutter must make visitors claustrophobic! (Which might explain why so few come to visit! LOL!)

    It looks like you have restored access to WP. Hope so. I thoroughly enjoy your posts, Derrick!

  11. It is hard to part with old photos, or anything like that. We leave a trail of memorabilia behind us as time passes.

    I love the rainy day photos, Derrick and Jackie. We are solidly in our rainy season here now.

  12. I had a dozen large oil paintings of flowers done by a friend’s mother, who was accomplished enough that some of her work hung in the state capitol, and her workshops always were full. Eventually I culled them down to three, which I had room to hang, but I took photos of those that went elsewhere.

    One of the interesting things I’ve learned is that no matter what I get rid of — a painting or an egg beater — I end up not missing it at all. It’s allowed the culling process to go on a little at a time, without regret. Having hurricanes lurking about on a yearly basis does encourage the process.

  13. We have the same problem after 20 moves in 42 years. We did dispose of some on our move here but you just reminded us there’s still a trunk of pictures and photos in the garden shed.

    Hope the rain eases soon.

    1. I had a house in France while renting a flat in London and having a room in my sister’s house near Southampton airport – I spent time in both countries. When Jackie and I reunited we rented various flats in London and Hampshire before finding our current home. Thanks very much, Lakshmi

  14. Very encouraging – knowing that in spite of the wet weather, “In pleasant company [you] enjoyed excellent food with friendly and efficient service.”

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