Cold right now

It has been an incredibly cold day! At least, it has been to me, anyway. It's been the first time in ages that I've had to wear three layers of clothing to keep warm. Perhaps the worst part has been my cold hands. My hands are usually fairly cold but when the weather itself feels as though it's freezing...well, my hands become even colder and it can be tough to typ.

With the cold temperatures - combined with strong winds and heavy rain - today has definitely felt like a winter day rather than a misplaced fall day. Fortunately, my brother and I are doing something tomorrow that should warm me up: the next baking batch! I'm looking forward to it; I'll be sure to take some pictures of the baked goods.

Summer ends

Well, the summer has officially ended and fall has begun. I hadn't actually thought about the change in season until someone mentioned it earlier: The recent weather has been consistent with what we would usually have in the fall (cloudy weather, some rain); that the season has now changed seems more like a mere formality!

Today is also International Day of Peace, which celebrates and encourages world peace. If you have made amends with someone today or at least attempted to, then you have contributed, at least in a small way, to furthering the goal of world peace.

I hope everyone had a pleasant summer. Happy fall/autumn and International Day of Peace!

The resilient roses

We are now a month into the fall, yet the roses in our yards refuse to acknowledge the season despite my family's initial thoughts to the contrary. For the past few weeks Mum has wanted to deadhead the roses, but with all the buds still growing it is not yet possible for her to do so:

I took this picture with my phone two days ago. Unfortunately, this particular flower has been knocked off the plant since then, but several flowers growing below the top of the fence are still intact. They truly resilient roses!

Barbecued salmon

We have left the summer and have now entered the fall, but Dad has still been able to do a barbecue for the majority of the past few weekends. Just yesterday Dad barbecued some vegetable sticks, but the meat he barbecued was fish - salmon, to be exact.

I am ambivalent towards grilled salmon, but barbecued salmon is delicious - whether it is served hot or cold. The usual taste of fish mixed with the barbecue flavour is wonderful; we usually have salad with the salmon, and when it comes to the leftovers we often mix the fish in with white rice. There's nothing wrong with eating it on it's own, either!

I should have taken a picture of the salmon after it had been barbecued; given the sudden change in weather since yesterday I will be surprised if we have another barbecue this year! If you ever feel like having fish and a barbecue simultaneously, barbecue some salmon!

Hosepipe ban

Tomorrow, we will be under what is called a "hosepipe ban". Essentially, this means we will officially be under restrictions on how we use water: we will have to keep an eye on how much water we use when doing something that requires the use of water, such as dishes or having a shower (and we can save water by making efficient use of left over water from dishes and timing our showers).

Among the things we will not be able to use a hosepipe for include: watering our lawns/gardens, filling up a personal pond/water feature, washing home walls and windows; and cleaning cars or boats. There are exceptions to these: giving animals water (livestock, fish in a personal pond), and washing away health hazards and graffiti are exempt; and as far as I know we will still be able to clean windows and outside furniture by using a bucket and sponge rather than hosing them down. Anybody who has a pipe connected to a personal water source or rainwater instead of through the mains is also exempt from the ban.

I expect the ban to remain in place from now to throughout the summer, unless we somehow get massive amounts of rain all over the country during the next two months. I am not familiar with how long these normally last, but I do not anticipate it being lifted until fall or winter.

The part of this I find hilarious is that for the last couple of days, including today, we have had rain! Unfortunately, as said just above it will not end the hosepipe ban before it even starts, but I do appreciate the irony in it raining when the ban is about to take effect.

August 31st

I am amazed at how fast August appears to have gone, for in a few hours it will be September. Still, I should not be surprised as it has been an active and exciting month, with the trip to Nottingham and all that: to think that a mere three weeks ago we were bowling, and four weeks ago I had beaten my brother in an incredibly close game of Run Off.

Summer is not quite over, but it feels like it came and went ages ago: the majority of our really warm weather took place back in spring, and summer's weather has mainly been what we are used to from about this time of the year to October (cloudy, rainy, and/or windy). Last winter was very cold even by British standards, so I am curious to see just how cold this winter will be too, but before then, we now have autumn to look forward to after this fall-like summer.

Oh, a little off-topic, but remember the rafting trip I mentioned a couple of months ago? I checked, and that adventure took place exactly eight years ago to the date.