Saturday, February 21

I had an undisturbed night’s sleep and sprang out of bed to let Rosie out at 6:50. Should I go back to bed or not? No, I decided. Let’s put the washing machine on. I hosed the garden while the bedding went round and round.

In the morning I brought administrative and digital things up to date and then carried on reading Stephen King’s collection If It Bleeds.

Rosie arrived home covered in black mud so I grabbed her and showered her before she forced me to wash everything visible in the house.

Supersää had said that weather here would change today, and the next week would be a combination of thunder, lightning and heavy rain. In the morning a tiny shower dropped for five minutes.

In the afternoon we could hear some thunder and when Irma forwarded a message from Appu I decided to have an early dinner at Oyster. As I left the house the sky darkened and clouds raced into position.

I had our usual table on the beach and had my usual meal. Loud thunder clapped and rumbled overhead, and forked lightning appeared over the sea. At one point I got up and went onto the seawall to photograph it. I caught the sky and the sea but not the lightning.

No rain appeared but just before bedtime we had a power cut which brought Rosie to sit by my side, and eventually left me tidying the house, locking the doors and going upstairs to bed lit only by the torch on my phone.

Just as I got into bed the fan sprang into life. How entertaining.