It's been a wild and wet Christmas here on our Welsh hillside, and boy are we glad we live on the hillside and on this side of the road at the moment.
The almost non-stop rain and storms of the last seven weeks meant that when the heavy rains of the Christmas period fell there was nowhere for them to go, the ground was already saturated and as the river swelled with each incoming tide the water levels rose dramatically.
The little dark thing you see in the centre of this picture is actually the top of the gatepost, and within ten minutes of me taking this it had vanished from sight.
Our Christmas Day visitors, Mum and Graham escaped just in time on Boxing Day before the roads were completely closed, Torrents of water flowed down the hillside and across the road making it too treacherous for all but the highest of vehicles to safely cross.
Lovely Hubby went over to our neighbours to see if there was anything he could do to help, but they had already coped with moving what they could and relocating their chickens to the log shed, just as the henhouse floated off. There was nothing they could do to stop the water reaching the caravans that they have on site, they were already as high up the field as they could get them with the water lapping at the doors.
I'm loving the better zoom on my newer camera, this shot is taken from exactly the same position as the one below ....
... which shows Lovely Hubby (in the pink hat), chatting to our neighbour Steve.
But for all this water we have escaped lightly when you look at the homes and businesses that have been flooded in other parts of the country, and my thoughts go out to them.
Yesterday morning the sun shone and a light breeze was in the air, it worked wonders, and with a slightly lower tide meaning less pressure on the river the water in the fields started to gradually soak away. It will take time for things to be back to normal, but for now things are improving and once again we can see some green and the sheep are once again venturing further down the fields.
Here on the old homestead we have our fourth visitor of the festive season, my eldest son Simon, and as usual he is throwing himself lock, stock and paint brush into helping out. This time he is aiding and abetting Lovely Hubby in putting up the framework ready to hang doors for the workshop.
Work might have stopped briefly for Christmas but it's never long before we're back at it ... but this time we are all fuelled by homemade soup and Quality Street :-)
A little bit of live action from Boxing Day.
Sue xx
My goodness, Sue...that wind is really blowing in your video, and so sorry for the flooding. Water out of control is so hard to deal with. Our neighboring towns had some flooding last Spring, and even some lives were lost. Glad things are calming down for you and drying out.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're safe and dry, hope your neighbors dry out soon.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise you lived so close to the river, glad you are safe and well x
ReplyDeleteWe don't..... there's usually a field, the railway track and another field beyond that and THEN the river :-)
DeleteI must admit, when I saw where you had moved to, I was glad to see you were up the hillside.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, what a lot of water. We've had a lot of flooding in the southern part of the U.S. as well. Hopefully it will stop raining soon and things will get back to normal.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing to look for in a new house is whether it is on a hill or not!
ReplyDeleteHeavens, that looks horrid Sue! I had no idea you had a river anywhere near you! And the gate post - was that your gate post?? That water is FAR too close! Keep safe, and dry.
ReplyDeleteI really feel for all the people who have to live through all these floods. My thoughts are with them, of which I'm aware, doesn't really help them.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are okay. Keep safe and dry. xxx...x
Here in Carmarthenshire, we live over 100 feet above our river, which is just as well as it was across the lane both sides a couple of weeks back, and 5 foot deep on the far side, but that was still 2 metres below the levels in 1987 (the year before we arrived). The river goes up incredibly quickly and the power of it is frightening to behold. There's a lot to recommend hillside living . . . I feel so sorry for the poor souls across the country who are being flooded (and in Cumbria, flooded again).
ReplyDeleteI have been watching the news here with horror seeing how the UK is at the mercy of the rain. Hope everything is ok.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that you are all safe, I hope that you stay safe and that there is no more scary weather like that. xx
ReplyDeleteThat is a big worry for you to watch the water wild and rising and I am happy to hear the rain has let up and you and your homestead are ok.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I was thinking of how the rain would be affecting your area. While you were battling rain storms we were on the alert with a massive bush fire in the area I was visiting over Christmas. 116 homes destroyed but no loss of lives thankfully. My sister's home, where our family gathered for Christmas day, was just an hour away from the front and we were slightly nervous. Mother Nature!! So glad you were OK.
ReplyDelete