WATER

Storm Arwen raged all through the night and this morning there is devastation everywhere.  Personally I've not been affected as much as some others.  When I opened my curtains this morning all 3 of my wheelie bins were on their sides scattered along my driveway.  And the fence between my garden and Jackie next door was missing ( turns out Jackie had noticed it had fallen down and she's put the bits in her garage ).  I got dressed but by the time I went out to sort the bins one of my neighbours had already done it.  He had also tidied up some of my garden lights which had been scattered about and put them in a neat pile.  As far as I can tell nothing else needs attention here.  The back garden is fine.

The power has stayed on here .... however we had no water this morning.  Most of the village seems to have been without water according to Facebook.  There was a burst water main as well as a pumping station out of action due to a power cut there.  Water was off for a while, then it came back but just a dribble, then it was off again.... and finally back on properly during the afternoon.  I was actually OK without water.  I didn't need any to drink, the washing up and other chores needing water could wait.  However one of my kind  neighbours went to the supermarket and bought some 5 litre bottles of water and put one on every doorstep.  I haven't opened mine.  Will keep it as an emergency supply for the future.  I'm sure some of my neighbours really needed water  as they have babies/small children.

Around the region there have been countless trees down, roofs off, walls down, caravans wrecked, power off, water off, the metro has been off all day, trains and flights  cancelled, roads closed, flooding, Christmas Fayres and other events cancelled etc.

The wind slowly eased during the day and the rain turned to snow.  Its really cold too.  I did intend walking to the Co-op this afternoon but around the time I was thinking of going there was a blizzard outside so I decided against it - so Ive had a day indoors.

Newcastle were playing away at Arsenal - kick off 12.30pm.  I listened on the radio.  Newcastle were Ok - ish  in the first half and it ended 0 - 0.  But Arsenal scored twice in the second half.  Newcastle should have had a penalty but it wasn't given so the final score was Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0.  The result was hardly surprising - Newcastle have actually lost 18 of their last 19 games against Arsenal.  Newcastle are still bottom of the Premiership table - 3 points adrift from the team above them. They are the only team who haven't won a game this season. Its a worrying situation.  They may have rich new owners and a new manager but they still have the same players who are not up to standard.  They may well get some good players when the January transfer window opens but by then it could be too late.  They really need to win their next two games at least to stand a chance of avoiding relegation.

Steps today - a measly 3,688