Thursday 5 January 2012

Out of the Wind


Gales blew in across the Forest today and whipped the trees into a frenzy. As I pushed against the wind to cross the fields, carpets of fallen brown leaves lifted into the rushing air. Hay refused to stay in neat piles and scattered across the grass. Hungry ponies had to work for their breakfast, following rolling wisps of hay until they caught up in the twigs of a boundary hedge. An old, dying blackthorn tree had cracked in the night and now lies, half broken , across a fence , waiting for its final journey to the bonfire pile.

As soon as I could, I gratefully came indoors. The sound of the wind rushing through bare branches and the rattle of roof tiles made an unnerving background to the hours. I spent several hours sorting out cupboards. A job I do not relish but something useful for a day not designed for outside things.

The dogs had the quickest of walks today. A brisk trot up to the heath for Old Dog. There were too many creaking tree branches in the lane to venture far.

The cats chose to stay inside. Lucy played chase with her catnip mouse but then decided to investigate a sweeter smell from the top of a bookcase.


All day the wind roared across the fields. It was a relief that the tall and spindly eucalyptus was no nearer to the house as it thrashed and swayed violently from left to right, hissing its silver leaves across the crazy sky.


14 comments:

Jenny said...

Hope you survived the gales! It was very gusty here on the IOW. Your post reminded me of when I kept a pony in a field overlooking the sea. One windy evening I carried a bale of hay on my back, battling with the force of the gale while my pony and two others waited by the fence. Halfway there the string came off, and the bale divided up on the ground. I rushed to get a wheelbarrow to rescue it, but in the few minutes it took me to get back the entire bale had disintergrated and blown away! Funny now I can look back on it!

Noelle the dreamer said...

Happy New Year!
Frightful weather everywhere...but not too bad here...Lots of rain of course, this being the Pacific NW coast and the island being close to the rainforest!
Winds at 30mph, alright for many but scary for us...we are surrounded by trees (lovely in Summer though)
Looking forward to hear more of your corner of the world. Love the 2011 photos!
Blessings,

Karen said...

And yet things are sunny, warm and calm here in North Carolina. We're expecting temps over 60F on Friday and Saturday. Winter seems to have bypassed us this year.

helen tilston said...

Happy New Year

I am respectful of wind and storms, I should admit that I actually fear stormy weather. Hope if subsides to a gentle breeze
Helen xx

Kath said...

You describe it all beauitfully. We got jammed in the gate yesterday as the wind was pushing it closed, with us half way through and one arm not strong enough to fight it!

Edward said...

Hello and happy New Year, we’ve had high winds where we are too. We are keeping the horses in the stables over night so they get their breakfast in the box before going out and having to chase it because of the wind. We have also been unfortunate like yourself and had a tree hit the fence, but this happened earlier in the week and we have now got it moved.
Regards
Edward

Ps love the photo of the cat behind the plant pot.

Bovey Belle said...

The gales weren't so bad here as you had them. A few branches and smaller trees down, but nothing major. Glad you didn't have any real damage.

rachel said...

Windy weather can be rather scary, can't it! And so untidying; tut tut....

crafty cat corner said...

First, thankyou for your comment on my post.
I was reading 'Life after Money' and saw that you mentioned 'Jude the Obscure' I have recently read this book and I think it is one of Hardy's best, I really enjoyed it.
It was one of those books that I can remember so clearly, and wasn't it sad ?
Briony
x

WOL said...

Sad when the wind downs trees, but the toppling and splitting of the old clears way for the new saplings to grow. I'm with the cats. A perfect day to hole up in a nice warm blanket .

Crafty Green Poet said...

its been very windy up here too!

Lucy looks funny on top of the bookcase!

RDA Pony Tales said...

Happy New Year! It has indeed got off to a very wild start over most of the UK. I hope you have had better conditions this weekend. Although when you own animals, you have to wrap up and just get on with feeding and exercise!
Thank you for your comments on my post. I think having rugs over winter coats makes the ponies very itchy. No wonder they get down to roll so often!

Rowan said...

The winds have been wild over the last week or two but I think we had an easier time than many other parts of the country. I lost a branch off a big old hawthorn tree but nothing worse than that. Hope things are calmer in the New Forest now.

Dartford Warbler said...

Thank you all for visiting and commenting. Welcome to Noelle.