Sunday, August 31, 2008
31st August The month ends with a bang.
Strange Sunday!
We got up early and decided to pop up to the big local car boot sale at Pease Pottage.
This was a good decision - not because it had lots of things to buy, but because a quick getaway was possible.
The light was eerie as we left - a mist made a shroud over the trees and the sky was grey. The mist had an aura of deep deep indigo and a deep yellow.
But the sun seemed to be about to creep through a crack in the cloud and we were feeling good. After all, yesterday had been so lovely.
The sky just got darker and the air felt more ominous. Soon there were streaks of lightning flashing down with loud roars of thunder to follow.
Very exciting!
People began to scurry for their cars and stall holders frantically began to protect their wares.
We got into the car just before the heavens opened.
Some people sat tight in their cars, assuming the storm would pass. The storm passed, but the rain did not.
We were glad to go home and get the kettle on.
Of course, this was just a moment of extreme weather which affected our day.
It was nothing compared with the weather in the Caribbean and heading for New Orleans.
It has been terrible for millions, but our minds focus on our distant cousin Mark (who we play Boggle with), who must now be somewhere away from his home in New Orleans.
This seems to be such a short while since he had to escape Hurricane Katrina and it took months before life got to something like normal again.
But then today we heard from a woman (on TV) who had received the keys to her new home only yesterday - having been displaced since Katrina; and now today she has to leave her new home and find shelter somewhere.
So many people must face the elements at their worst and others have to face the effects of man at his worst all over the world. It makes a slightly inconvenient life here in the UK seem like heaven.
We only have higher fuel costs to grumble about.
And Boris Johnson!
Though we have all grumbled about the weather during this August - it has been one of the greyest, wettest and windiest on record.
Mind you inconvenience and grumbling were central to one part of our day.
I list things on EBay using TurboLister. It is exceedingly convenient and much quicker than listing one by one.
But on my computer it has seemed very fragile of late - don't know why.
Today I would click on it, see it for a fraction of a second and it was gone again.
I just couldn't bring it up to use.
With many difficulties en route we managed to completely uninstall it. This would lose all the listings I have done over the last couple of years.
Then we managed to get it reinstalled - a blank canvas, so I shall now no longer bother to save listings once they are finished with. It was really only a bonus when I found a second copy of a book that had been listed before.
This afternoon, whilst watching some athletics from Gateshead, we listed another 10 items. I have already been contacted to see if I would sell a Manchester United penknife directly. The answer was "No" - we never finish an auction early.
So, today has been a pottering at home day since about 8 o'clock. Our brief trip out to Pease Pottage being over by then.
I think this is a good evening for an early snuggle down under the duvet.
Goodnight.
We got up early and decided to pop up to the big local car boot sale at Pease Pottage.
This was a good decision - not because it had lots of things to buy, but because a quick getaway was possible.
The light was eerie as we left - a mist made a shroud over the trees and the sky was grey. The mist had an aura of deep deep indigo and a deep yellow.
But the sun seemed to be about to creep through a crack in the cloud and we were feeling good. After all, yesterday had been so lovely.
The sky just got darker and the air felt more ominous. Soon there were streaks of lightning flashing down with loud roars of thunder to follow.
Very exciting!
People began to scurry for their cars and stall holders frantically began to protect their wares.
We got into the car just before the heavens opened.
Some people sat tight in their cars, assuming the storm would pass. The storm passed, but the rain did not.
We were glad to go home and get the kettle on.
Of course, this was just a moment of extreme weather which affected our day.
It was nothing compared with the weather in the Caribbean and heading for New Orleans.
It has been terrible for millions, but our minds focus on our distant cousin Mark (who we play Boggle with), who must now be somewhere away from his home in New Orleans.
This seems to be such a short while since he had to escape Hurricane Katrina and it took months before life got to something like normal again.
But then today we heard from a woman (on TV) who had received the keys to her new home only yesterday - having been displaced since Katrina; and now today she has to leave her new home and find shelter somewhere.
So many people must face the elements at their worst and others have to face the effects of man at his worst all over the world. It makes a slightly inconvenient life here in the UK seem like heaven.
We only have higher fuel costs to grumble about.
And Boris Johnson!
Though we have all grumbled about the weather during this August - it has been one of the greyest, wettest and windiest on record.
Mind you inconvenience and grumbling were central to one part of our day.
I list things on EBay using TurboLister. It is exceedingly convenient and much quicker than listing one by one.
But on my computer it has seemed very fragile of late - don't know why.
Today I would click on it, see it for a fraction of a second and it was gone again.
I just couldn't bring it up to use.
With many difficulties en route we managed to completely uninstall it. This would lose all the listings I have done over the last couple of years.
Then we managed to get it reinstalled - a blank canvas, so I shall now no longer bother to save listings once they are finished with. It was really only a bonus when I found a second copy of a book that had been listed before.
This afternoon, whilst watching some athletics from Gateshead, we listed another 10 items. I have already been contacted to see if I would sell a Manchester United penknife directly. The answer was "No" - we never finish an auction early.
So, today has been a pottering at home day since about 8 o'clock. Our brief trip out to Pease Pottage being over by then.
I think this is a good evening for an early snuggle down under the duvet.
Goodnight.
