O Wind, If Winter Comes, Can Spring Be Far Behind?

That west wind that Shelley wrote an ode to has a lot to answer for. Borne on the jetstream it's causing havoc and there's more to come. :(

We went to the farm pool again today, negotiating a flood that got deeper while we were swimming. My pic is of the farm weather vane. I've never seen an apple and pear one before. The farm grows both and produces juice.

My maternal grandparents were apple growers and my father-in-law, who was a greengrocer and fruiterer in London, once travelled to the Dengie Hundred and bought my grandfather's whole season's production. This was before I was born. Mr Q had to help pick the fruit. Grandad grew lots of the old-fashioned varieties like Golden Russets, Blenheim Orange and Laxton's Superb.