February 5th – One step forward, two back. I was again out early, and returned mid afternoon, and unthinkingly clashed with the school run yet again. I hopped on the canal as I did the previous afternoon – but the the day’s downpour had transformed the drying out towpaths of the day before into slimy, slurry-smothered watercourses once more.
Whoever’s doing the rain dance, you can stop now. Honest, it’s OK…
January 31st – It was a day of ups and downs. I had to get to the dentist, which is never pleasant, but the morning was decent, and the long awaited arrival of a new computer was good news. The weather turned about lunchtime, and cleared a little around 6pm. It’s really hard at the moment to find decent photographic subjects in a wet, grey or dark landscape. I find myself really craving spring right now.
I went down to Stonnall, and experimented with long exposures without a great deal of success. The long-distance shot from the quarry gates was interesting enough – although out of focus – to feature here. I did like the ones down onto Main Street, but others I took of the Chester Road were useless.
Some days are just to dark to do anything with.
January 30th – The return was equally wet and grey – but did have the added excitement of wet, sleety snow. The sluices are still shut at Chasewater, and everything is still sodden and muddy. The photography was awful. I was glad to get home.
It was nice to see Morris in the snow though, even if it was very short lived…
January 28th – I narrowly missed the heavy rain on both commutes, on a miserable day of stress and meetings bracketed by railway stations. I was out early, and back late, but there was a familiar lightness creeping into the sky. I just wish it’d stop raining for a few days.
It’s not too much to ask, is it?
January 21st – It’s not kicked off to be a good week. I’ve had a ton of work dropped on me, and the railway system seems to be in a permanent state of entropy at the moment.
I left work in Telford late, having tried all day to solve an ostensibly simple problem, without success. Riding back from Walsall, it was wet, but drier and warmer that the previous morning.
Tired and ground down, I remember little of the journey home, as often happens, but I did find this image on the camera I don’t remember taking whilst stopped on red at Rushall Square.
I’ve had enough of the dark and wet days. I need to move into the light.
January 17th – I went up onto the Chase. It wasn’t an inspiring afternoon – there was a good sky, but the light was poor and it seemed to be mostly on the point of raining. The forest was stunningly bleak and beautiful as it ever is in it’s winter jacket, but the going was made tough by the sodden ground. The trails and tracks were all muddy soup, and I was covered in it.
All I want is a week or two without rain, with some bright days. I don’t care if it’s warm or cold – but snow would be nice. Just an end to this ceaseless damp.
January 17th – Chasewater is brim full, in the most literal sense. When I passed this afternoon, the water was lapping gently at the top of the breakwater, but not quite overflowing yet. Given rain tonight and the continued filling from the creeks and springs nearby, and the spillway will be functional again in a day or so.
January 14th – Endless rain. It seems generally OK in the mornings – except today there was rather challenging black ice in abundance – followed by a wet commute home. I really am at my wit’s end with it. I just want a decent dry spell for a change, to let me, the bike and the countryside dry off a little.
On the footway beside the Black Cock Bridge the rain and the streetlights collided beautifully.
January 13th – Caught by the rain again, for heaven’s sake. My return from Darlaston was a hard ride – wet, the traffic was mad, and the New Ring Road in Walsall really shows it’s bad design in heavy rain – it’s just one long pool of standing water. Fed up with the traffic and looking for a good picture, I dropped onto the canal.
I got home soaked again. All I want is a dry week. Is that too much to ask?
January 8th – I wasn’t expecting to be caught by the rain this afternoon. For some reason I though the rains weren’t coming in until later in the evening, and I was caught without full waterproofs. To heap on the misery, I had to nip down to Stonnall on an errand on the way home. It was wet, but not cold. I got soaked.
Surely, this rain must end soon? I’m developing webbed feet…
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