WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT

Well prepared for the great storm to come we went to our beds last nigh as the rain fell in torrents.Hours later it was still raining as hard as ever and the lane looked like a river when I got out of bed to take a look.

With my television on the news channel I was kept up to date with the progress of the storm and it soon became apparent that it would not be so fearsome as we had expected, since I sleep directly under a very tall chimney pot and have a tall tree close enough to demolish the house if things got out of hand I was much reassured at this news.

Towards dawn the wind increased and although it's strength was considerably lees than was forecast the gusts were strong enough to cause damage and unfortunately death.

The Breakfast News was almost comical as one by one the poor reporters who had spent all night waiting to be blown to blazes did there level best to make the worst of things! Irate commuters moaned incessantly about the cancelled trains an subsequent delays .It was,in fact a no win situation for London Transport......for what it's worth I think the did the right thing, but try telling that to those poor souls queuing outside railway stations this morning.

Avies Small World suffered some casualty’s , I am sorry to tell you that an ancient oak tree containing a colony of very rare bats was blown down in the storm, splintering in to pieces as it fell.

In the shelter belt more trees some of great age has also succumbed to the wind and I felt very sad to see them laid low.

I am glad that the storm was less damaging generally than was expected and I do not think that was should be hard on the meteorologists,some one has to make the call and I am sure that it is better to prepared for the worst than to footle about and the get caught on the hop!

Last night my bed was warm , my room cosy with candle light and I counted my blessings that neither I, nor any one I loved was out in the wind and rain. Even our beloved cats had snuggled up for the night ,they were relaxed yet still slept with one eye open,cats are cautious creatures to be sure.

Today the wind,still strong has become much colder since yesterday and I think that last nights storm brought winter in it's wake.

Here, for now at least, all is well,I hope that you too pasted the night in safety, as warm and snug as we did in Avies Small World.