Lovely Sunshine

katie · Post by **katie** » 17 Apr 2011, 07:38

Isn't it lovely being able to use the cooker, breadmaker, dishwasher, washing machine etc. and not worry about using power from the national grid thanks to our solar panels. Let's hope the sun stays out!!

Katie

hardworkinghippy · Post by **hardworkinghippy** » 17 Apr 2011, 13:14

Oh no, we need rain for our corn, to grow grass and hay for our animals, to water our forests and gardens.

We're doing rain dances here in South West France - this "good" weather is driving us nuts !

Katie, we've loads of electric power but without food to stash away for the winter we're stuffed.

katie · Post by **katie** » 17 Apr 2011, 14:42

Sorry about your rain - it's a pity we couldn't send some from the UK next time it rains here. I've just had an email from a friend in mid-France saying they are desperate for rain.
We just came back from Florida where they are also desperate for rain. We had a storm lasting a whole day with torrential rain (plus thunder, lightning, gale-force winds and some tornadoes) which covered about one third of the state. Next - day - zilch - not a sign of the water anywhere. I don't think they have reservoirs there so it all seems to have been a waste & they are still desperate for water.

Katie

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 17 Apr 2011, 22:36

It's a bit parched here, we don't seem to have had any proper rain for weeks and weeks. We've had some great PV figures (and second FiT payment to boot) but the new stuff in the garden is really suffering. It'd be nice if it rained at night but it's just not happening.

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 18 Apr 2011, 11:29

Did I hear a report that it was the driest March for a long time in England? Too lazy to check. Ironically I took the kids out for a walk without coats on Saturday, and got soaked. Drove home wet, to find not a drop had landed on our parched garden.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 18 Apr 2011, 15:02

It's not that long ago I heard (I think it was on Coast) that it on rains one in two days in Ireland. A bit of a generalisation; the north-west tip might get rain that often, possibly making the blanket statement sort-of true.

Between January and May, almost half the year, it rains on average 1 in 3 days, when some of that rain might be a light shower, just enough to say it hasn't been a completely dry day.

Yes, it's always raining in Ireland.

We have friends in Ireland for the coming bank holiday and rain is forecast. That's more like it!

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 18 Apr 2011, 22:30

Ooh I forgot about all the impending bank holidays...there's some hope for rain after all

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 18 Apr 2011, 22:42

katie wrote:We just came back from Florida...

Sailing boat?

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 18 Apr 2011, 23:43

hardworkinghippy wrote:Oh no, we need rain for our corn, to grow grass and hay for our animals, to water our forests and gardens.

Don't forget the fungi. I'm not forgetting we had hardly any rain in Sussex between April and July last year.

I love the sunshine too, but I'd like one week of nice wet weather once a month, please.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 19 Apr 2011, 11:25

RalphW wrote:Did I hear a report that it was the driest March for a long time in England?

We had some rain (ie, it could have been for a minute or two) on seven occasions in March 2011.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 19 Apr 2011, 11:26

biffvernon wrote:
katie wrote:We just came back from Florida...
Sailing boat?

As if.

katie · Post by **katie** » 21 Apr 2011, 16:25

I know we need rain & the hot sun is causing smog to develop now but I'm still really pleased at making 22.45 KwH's yesterday for the first time since my system was installed at the end of last August.

Katie

rue_d_etropal · Post by **rue_d_etropal** » 23 Apr 2011, 14:20

Typical, the weather has now changed in UK when I want it to be hot in attic to dry some art stuff. Only been back in UK a week and wish I was back in France.
Looks like it is a bit cooler on French south coast, rain in Montpellier? But I dont hold out much hope for more rain, unless it is sudden downfalls like last year which caused problems near Nice, and this year in my town in France in March when it rains solid for 3 days(one more day and there would have been real problems). There has also been no snow along south of France, whereas last year there was snow in May in the mountains above my french house.
Fortunately as I have no land and am therefore not growing anything I can survive when it has been as sunny/hot as it has been over past few weeks. Nice thick stone walls keep me cool inside, but I can still make use of that sunshine.
Remember this time last year the skies were quiet because of the volcanic eruptions.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 23 Apr 2011, 15:49

http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/c ... bcam.shtml

Just been for a dip. Beach is packed, sea is almost empty, as you can see from above webcam picture. Water is freezing cold and rather scummy...

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 23 Apr 2011, 16:06

UndercoverElephant wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/c ... bcam.shtml

Just been for a dip. Beach is packed, sea is almost empty, as you can see from above webcam picture. Water is freezing cold and rather scummy...

UE, there's no need to be quite so disparaging about the day trippers.