Flood!

Today has been, quite simply, unbelievable. We awoke to thick fog, and I got up with Keith as we were taking Mike to work, and then going on to Tesco to get our Christmas food shop. We left at 6am, and I told Sophie to go careful on her way to the gym because the fog was so thick. We literally crawled to the golf club in Kettering, and I did wonder how much Mike would be able to do today, with the weather conditions. The golf club was so dark!

Tesco was busy (yes, even at 6.30am!) but not too bad, and we were able to get everything we needed, and then some! We had £90 in Clubcard vouchers but we managed to exceed that! We did buy several bottles of wine, Champagne, a litre bottle of vodka for Sophie, and two Tesco Finest meal deals for Christmas Eve, as an alternative to going to the pub. We had booked for 6pm, but I was anxious about being inside in a warm and stuffy environment with lots of different people (Ian had said the pub was almost fully booked when we rang), so we had cancelled our booking. I felt guilty because the pub needs our business, but I just didn't want to risk us all being exposed to the virus.

We headed home with our booty, and an hour after we arrived home, Sophie came home as well. She couldn't believe the fog, but the weather was due to get worse...

I made a start on cleaning the house, and outside it started to rain heavily. I managed to do the whole of the house today and worked my way downstairs as I hadn't cleaned upstairs on Monday as I'd hoped. Outside it was still raining, and I mentioned to Keith that surely Mike would be calling us soon to pick him up! What could he do in the rain?

No sooner had I said it than the phone rang, so Keith and I went to pick him up. In Old, rainwater was pouring through one of the stone walls and flooding the main road in the village. We headed out towards the A43, and the road was starting to flood badly in places, with the water almost covering the surface. It was pouring off the adjoining fields, and the ditches were full of muddy water. We hadn't seen it like this for ages as some time ago the local farmer had dug grooves into the verges which dealt with any rainwater coming off the fields.

We picked Mike up from work, and the golf club was deserted. I would have been very surprised if anyone was foolish enough to be out playing in the torrential rain! The last time I had seen it like this was in 1998 when Northampton was flooded badly in the St James and Far Cotton areas of the town.

We headed home, and the roads were getting worse. Keith and I were going to see Mum and Dad this afternoon, and I was very glad that I'd asked Keith to accompany me, because when we ventured out again, the road was like a river, and the rain hadn't let up at all.

Dashcam footage!

We staggered into the care home with a big bag full of presents, and some shopping that Mum had asked for, along with the DVD player that Keith had managed to fix. We both got soaked! My parents were a little subdued this afternoon, and my Dad looked painfully thin but I'm hoping they'll both be cheered up by the presents we brought in!

We chatted for a good while before Keith and I headed home. This time we had to negotiate the flooded roads in the gloomy twilight when the roads were busier with people driving home from work. Several times I met an oncoming car and was sprayed with so much water I was momentarily blinded. It was not a good night to be out!

Thankfully, we arrived home safely and learnt that from Boxing Day, Northamptonshire will go into Tier 3, which means all pubs, restaurants, cafes and bars will have to close. Gyms can stay open but we won't be able to offer any fitness classes, so all the work Sheila did on Monday has been a waste of time (and me too, for checking them!).

What with the Dover fiasco (thousands of lorries were now waiting to cross the Channel), the new variant of coronavirus, the weather, and us going into a higher Tier, I feel like we're living in cursed times!

The terrible rain continued all evening, and became even heavier if that was possible! Tomorrow it's set to get much colder so I was worried about Sophie venturing out to the gym for her last visit before Christmas. She insisted on going, though but we'll have to see what tomorrow brings!