Liberton Kirk

Mixed weather today, but cold.  By the time I had a wee wander round the block the sun was out and Liberton Kirk was looking bonny against the blue sky.

Visitors today, J & D came by on the way back from the Manor to discuss a care problem.  I now need to compose an email. 

Couple of hours of College meetings at lunchtime with the MInister and then a de-brief.  Not sure it got us anywhere but who knows.  As usual I sat as quiet as a mouse. 

Later, after the walk I got on with the #1 son project.  I'll get it finished at the weekend.

I also mused, in the middle of the lull between two storms about other storms I've lived through, without the media hype and dare I say it, hysteria.

January 1968 - Scotland storm, or hurricane.  It had a deadly affect in the west and Glasgow but even through here in the east we had very high winds, Edinburgh had 100 mph. Interestingly, according to the report, there was very little media coverage.

January 2009 - Tempete Klaus, a cyclone that hit SW France when we were staying there.  There was some media coverage.  The BBC late forecast covered it, mainly because the depression in the Bay of Biscay was so low.  We sat just under the main track of the storm, NW of Toulouse, and even there we had winds over 100 mph.  It was very scary and very noisy. I thought at one point that the tiles were going to fly off the roof.  Luckily our house, which faced west was partly shielded from the full force of the storm by the buildings next door.  But the next morning the road out of the village was blocked by a fallen tree and we all stood and watched with bated breath as a large pine swayed to and fro.  Had it come down a neighbour's house would have been damaged.  The next few days all you could hear was the sound of chain saws and the poplars lining the Garonne had come down like dominoes.  We had no power for 48 hours and no water on the second day. But we survived.  Perhaps that's why I couldn't get too excited about Dudley. 

Later I watched another episode of La Promesse, apt as it is set in the storm that struck France in 1999.