November saw Richard getting nervous about my blood pressure… so I was nervous, with the result that our blood pressure monitor began to show some very high and alarming readings. It was a very old monitor – at least 15 years – and not an approved type. In the end, I borrowed one from dear Sarah (who insisted on measuring my BP anyway, in efficient nurse fashion) and found that, in fact, I had nothing to be concerned about and all was fine. Bought a more modern and up to date device, and that was that. Phew.
But the real concern of the month was Storm Ciaran, due to
make landfall the night of November 1st. For a week, both the news and the weather reports showed
experts carefully tracking the storm, trying to predict where it might make
landfall. The radar pictures were quite
astounding.
We prepared, along with the rest of the Channel Islands.
Unusually, Guernsey and Jersey were named frequently in the weather reports and
we knew that we would bear the brunt of the weather. Several rounds of the
garden, stowing away all loose objects, moving tables and pot plants into
shelter – or even inside the house – and even moving the motorhome to a more
sheltered position, tucked in the L of the house to protect it from the wind.
We had really no idea of how bad it would be.
And bad it was. I slept through most of the wind overnight,
using ear plugs, but was awakened around 4.30 am by the wind buffeting the
house, roaring around it in a way we had rarely experienced before. Rain lashed
the trees, the storm stripping them of their leaves and tearing at branches.
Opposite, our neighbour had a dying conifer down, inconveniently straddling the
hedge across half of the road, with the result that all traffic had to slow
down and stop in order to avoid it. The neighbour’s hedge was/is in dire need
of cutting in any case…
At 8 am our neighbour next door, Catherine, spoke on the
radio of how she and her husband had been awake for much of the night, listening
to tiles falling off the roof. (Her children were unconcerned: two cool teenage
boys and their younger sister, who slept through most of it!) We found shards
of slate in our garden and pieces of tile on the roof, even though the tiles
had come off the roof on the opposite side: it was almost as if a mini tornado
had hit, as the direction that the tiles had been carried made no sense. A week
later, I even found a whole, large slate lying in the middle of a bush at the
back of the garden, well away from the neighbours’ property.
The storm raged all day as we all sheltered indoors. Schools
had been closed and the public urged not to travel, as the emergency services
and the tree surgeons worked to clear the 70 or so trees which had fallen all
over the island. We watched with sadness as television reports showed how a
whole estate on Jersey had been destroyed and families made homeless. We felt
we had got off very lightly in comparison…
It took a little time the next morning to sweep up the
patio, littered with leaves and berries, and tidy up the front drive. We helped
our neighbour remove much of the tree – although there is still a hefty chunk
peeping out of the hedge.
We began, also, to prepare for our trip to Tanzania at Christmas.
I spent some time, as an avid recycler, in sourcing a second-hand (but barely
used) suitcase to replace an old one which had ripped the last time we
travelled. As a bonus, I found a pair of very comfortable winter boots in my favourite
make for comfort, and two kitchen bar stools to replace ours. Cheap 7 years
ago, they had begun to wobble somewhat dangerously and we knew that it wouldn’t
be long before they broke. Plus a few visits to the toy department of our charity
shop for items for Finn….
And Richard spent his days up in the loft, installing modern
insulation – at the expense of his back, which became very sore… (and is why we
had to travel Premium Economy to New Zealand…)
The month moved on, the weeks full - as was the bonfire pit. The rear of the garden is prone to flooding and we soon found that the pump would be put to good use as Guernsey endured three times the average amount of daily rainfall within a few hours...
It carried on!
