Good Morning Thursday

Wet and windy here - but nothing disastrous. DH kept me awake 1/2 the night pacing about and worrying about just about everything a strong wind could do - tiles, trees, windows..... Now quite tired!

Just before New Year, Galen

"Beautiful railway bridge of the silv'ry Tay
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last sabbath day of 1879
Which will be remember'd for a very long time." William McGonagall

My GGF would have used it to go to the office in Dundee but not on 'the sabbath'.

37 mph now in East Renfrewshire. Just had torrential rain/sleet. Now the sun is out! Hope you get home from work ok baubles

Galen keep warm and cosy

P.S. I was looking out of the 'wrong' window! Just walked into my bedroom and looked out (West-facing) to see the trees whipping about! DUH!

Galen the Ellan Vannin set sail for Liverpool from Ramsey on 3 December 1909 and hit a terrible storm in the Irish Sea. It sank and 36 passengers and crew were lost. The Spinners recorded a song about it - it's on Youtube.

My siblings and a lot of my extended family live in the Isle of Man so Manx history is well known and discussed in the family.

Enjoy your duvet day!

anno - would just like to comment that pre-tragedy drawings of the Tay bridge look as if it is very fragile indeed! Spindly, I'd call it. And it was this high middle part that collapsed.....

Galen I also had relatives who went to the IOM, and I will look at the Ellen Vannin disaster too

The gale force winds and rain were supposed to miss Brum today - they didn't.

Here, in Cheshire, the trees stopped tossing and started bending and thrashing. The wind is still gusting but I think it is beginning to calm.

New neighbours have just been to tell me that a fence panel had come adrift and was leaning against my car. I don't think it could make the car look any worse than it is . The husband moved it out of the way and we'll replace it when the wind dies down. Good to have helpful new neighbours.

Moved the panel, that is, not the car, though I could do with replacing that!

I loved both the spinners song and the poetry. I have a book of his wonderful poems by my chair as we speak

I've only just come in after another day of glorious weather here, temperatures of 18C the last couple of days, though it drops rapidly at night.
I haven't seen any UK news yet today, (apart from reading this thread!)and so hadn't realised how bad the wind and storms have been. Stay safe overnight everyone.

McGonigall - bad enough to be interesting? He was well remembered when I was in Dundee.

Bit blowy here and has rained when I was in meeting this aft, but could be worse.