weather – Page 23 – don't confuse the narrator

hot and cold

However bad the weather is when you’re reading this, I doubt any UK readers will be witnessing anything quite as extreme as that shown in the video of this news story:

BBC News story Yellow River waterfall turns to ice in China

What struck me, of course, was the “read more” headline at the end of the story. Why has the year 2014 been so hot?

winter sunshine

This was not what I expected to find when I went for a walk today:

It is, however, a useful reminder that some blog readers are enjoying glorious summer sunshine today. For others, whether they donned their best bikinis to eat their Christmas lunch al fresco, or wrapped up warm alongside a roaring fire while a blizzard swirled outside, it is presumably already the middle of the night and Christmas is all over, while I still haven’t finished cooking lunch.

There is no doubt some moral to be drawn from all this. Perhaps it’s a reminder that we shouldn’t assume everyone else is seeing things the way we do – that we are all in different places emotionally and physically, and our perspectives will differ accordingly; perhaps it’s a reminder that “Old Time is still a-flying”; or perhaps it’s simply a reminder that even in the middle of winter there are bright spots we can focus on.

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Edited December 28th to include additional paragraph:

The time stamp on the original blog post would suggest that I was at my computer writing rather than watching the Queen address the nation in her Christmas Day speech. Apparently, though, her message reached out, carried on the loyal air, to influence what I wrote. For others who weren’t watching her and who have avoided reading reports of the speech, I understand that she closed with the reassurance that, “even in the unlikeliest of places hope can still be found,” – a sentiment with which I must agree.

dazzle

It’s a grey day outside my window, so to brighten it up, here’s a photo taken a few days ago in South Wales on a small patch of land that had been seeded specifically to encourage pollinators:

On reflection, since cornflower is a natural herb used to brighten grey hair, I’ve just realised this is far more appropriate than I had intended.

(And the post title was chosen as a subliminal reminder of the old “blue whitener” detergent ads.)

magpies

One for sorrow, two for joy; three for a girl and four for a boy; five for silver, six for gold…

There were six magpies bickering in the trees by the river last night. Sadly, I fear they weren’t foretelling the imminent receipt of a large fortune, just the arrival of sunset over the lake:

unseasonal

The most that can be said of the recent weather is that it has been very English. Glorious sunshine and torrential rain.

Yesterday’s mix of seasons brought a stunning double rainbow over the back garden. The photo shows only one of the bows and doesn’t do that justice, I’m afraid.