It's Turned Out Nice Again

Finally it’s raining. We now seem to be getting all the rain that shoulda, coulda, woulda fallen over the course of the summer, all in one go!

Weather Vane

The United Kingdom’s obsession with the weather has long become almost a part of our cultural identity. It has been used to gently poke fun at us, hook us into advertising campaigns and is probably still one of the most widely-used conversation ice breakers.

Infamous Weather Man Michael Fish

It seems a long time ago now (1987) that the weatherman Michael Fish told us not to worry because there wasn’t a hurricane coming. I seem to remember waking up and groggily asking myself on the way to the bathroom, why the landing was so flipping bright that I was squinting! Well….the loft hatch was gone and there was no roof is why.

Devastation in 1987

I still mentally predict the weather by the “Red sky at night” proverb, cows laying down or standing up, pine cones open or closed methods and you can’t beat the “animals going mental” sign of a coming storm.

Antique Umbrella

Us humans have been coping with what Mother Nature throws at us for a long, long time. From stilts, to parasols, umbrellas to skirt lifters. From barometers to weather vanes, anemometers to almanacs. We’ve had to adapt. All these things are a rich source of collecting.

Clock Barometer

Of course, it’s not all doom and gloom. The mornings as a child when you peer out of the bedroom window and see your garden covered in a blanket of snow were quite magical.

For now, I’m just celebrating the tomatoes. It’s been a long summer of having to water them rather than rely on the rain. Maybe I’ll take a nap later listening to the Shipping Forecast……

Tracy Skeates