Thunder at Last

Towards the later days of the 2018 heatwave we have seen news reports and pictures of spectacular thunderstorms elsewhere in the country.   Thunderstorms do tend to be rather isolated and showery so it is all a bit hit and miss.   This afternoon we had our very own thunderstorm so daughter Lorna and I decided to go and sit it out in the roof room, in the middle of the action so to speak.

We were not disappointed and had a lovely hour of daddy and daughter time whilst savouring the storm and pestilence.

Then the sun shone so we went to the cool of downstairs.

Bess the dog obliged with this lovely 'after the storm' picture.

click to enlarge

Since my brush with death I spend happy morning hours in that chair doing the Telegraph crossword and watching the world go by.   The dog appreciates the ceiling to floor window too and has become quite a local talking point.

Besides doing a heroic amount to work around the house for her ageing parents and doing a 10km run Lorna has taken some super Settle photographs on her iPhone.   Here are just two:

Did somebody mention the word walk?

This has been a parasol free post.

Simply the Best Perch in the Dales?

The heatwave has been tamed with the successful installation of the orange parasol to the south end of the tower.   Within reason it is immune from the effects of wind gusts.

It is undeniably visible from The Sidings but not when, most of the time, it is furled shut.   Even when open the sheer bulk of the tower dominates the view and distracts the eye:

Parasols on an industrial estate?   Whatever next?   Neighbours DCC Components have created an oasis of relaxation in what used to be a pretty unlovely area.

From the station drive the parasol is invisible.

Neck Surgeon Happy

First post operation outpatient appointment yesterday with my neck surgeon Mr Ansar at the Royal Preston Hospital.   He will keep me under review for two years and yesterday ordered a neck x-ray.   I shall try to get a copy to satisfy the curious (me included).

He showed me the post-op x-ray on his screen - lots of metalwork but very neat indeed.   He secured a metal hook to the topmost vertebra, the Axis or Cervical 1 - not to the base of the skull.   That left the Axis vertebra to do its job of enabling the skull to rotate on it so I have a good deal of head movement now - and increasingly so.

There was essentially nothing left of C2 below so wires connect C1 to C3 and 4 which are plated together.   Clever, delicate and life saving stuff.   He was at pains to convey to me that I had been 'very seriously injured indeed'.

I shook his hand warmly and shall see him again in three months.

With all her visits to see me at the Royal Preston Pat knew her way around.   She pointed out to me the Emergency entrance where I had arrived at the dead of night on April 10/11.   I don't remember a thing but perhaps its design explains my recent obsession with parasols!

Strings Attached

We are lucky enough to have two sun decks on top of the tower; north and south.   This enables us to bask in sunshine or shade right through from sunrise to sunset.   That's OK but summer 2018, so far has been hot, hot, hot and there is more to come so direct sunlight is simpy too hot, as well as too unhealthy.

Each sun deck has a table and chairs - and a parasol to enable instant shade if required.   They are those huge parasols which are fine on still days but in the slightest breeze they threaten to take off.

I think I have solved the problem by equipping each parasol with four guy ropes and tensioners which hold the whole parasol and table system solid as a rock:

We  have very strong railings round the top of the former water tank onto which the distal ends are secured so the guy ropes are well above head height.   You could not do this without four tall securing points near to the parasol - as with a walled patio maybe.  The umbrella has to be raised underneath the guy ropes.  The actual ropes are parachute cord - 4mm diameter, strong and with a slight 'give' to them.   I got a 100m drum of it from a military surplus site on Ebay for about £8.

On the top of each parasol is a large plastic boss with a long bolt beneath it - ideal for fixing the guy ropes centrally and strong enough to take the strains.   Today's parasols have easily replaceable  covers in all diameters if the originals rot or fade.

I have abandoned those winders which are meant to raise the parasols.   They never last.   I did however retain the small pulley at the top of the mast for use with a bit of dangling para cord to assist with raising the canopy.

Obviously, out of season the parasols and ropes will be stored under cover.

This shows the system in action on a cloudy and slightly windy day.   The guy ropes not only hold the central pole rigid. they act as steadies to the erected canopy:

Place Names

Found this on a curious little website dedicated to drinking tea:

they have captioned it "I think we're in Settle"

POTUS Has a New Perch

Our modest contribution to Settle's annual Flower Pot Festival is POTUS (Google it if necessary).

Here's POTUS on his 2018 perch, involving less ladder work than previous years:

Settle's annual Flowerpot Festival is in full swing - see today's Times, no less. Flowerpot POTUS is paying a non-state visit amid allegations that Settle Town Council interfered in US elections. "Why would they?" POTUS told the Craven Herald in an exclusive. He later changed this to 'wouldn't', claiming he had misspoke. "Settle is, and always will be a valued part of the US" he said, later correcting this to Seattle.

Long Delayed Job Being Well Done

The south facing end of our tower has always leaked somewhat when there is a strong south or south westerly wind and heavy rain.   The problem is with holes in the pointing between the roof parapet stone overhang and the tops of the tower wall.   The gaps may be small but the effect is big when air pressure outside exceeds that inside so rainwater draining off the parapets get sucked in.  There appear to have been attempts to cure this in the past with painted on tar but this has failed.   The fix is to scrape out the joints and to fill with modern sealant.

In a gap between illnesses and operations (!) I put up our scaffolding tower over the front door for access.   Then it rained a lot and my succession of medical problems intervened.   The scaffolding has therefore been in place uselessly and unattractively for a year or so.

To the rescue has come faithful and fearless ex-Royal Marine paratrooper Steve (Scouse) Roberts - once again.   He spent yesterday morning fixing the area accessible from the tower:

 He's a bit of a poseur sometimes.   Here he is afterwards having a vape and taking a selfie wearing his 'parachute harness':