Monday's painting...

... I have never ever seen anything like  this vehement weather, wind and rain, I was seeing yesterday afternoon.

Storm Dennis began  to gather  in a fuller force than before, and I had thought the night a couple days previously was bad enough with flying fences...

Suddenly before 5 pm last night the sky turned black with rolling clouds. A white/yellow lightning strike across the sky. Then everything exploded literally with noise almost instantly like the heavens were about to fall in. And a massive hailstorm. Then the wind got up like the fury of hell flattening all my bushes and then  twisting them this way and that.  I have never seen a wind as hell bent as this. Then the rain. I couldn't even see out of my windows for the vicious slicing driving rain. 

More overhead lightning and horrendous thunder. I normally love thunder and lightning and will go outside to watch it, but this was another whole dangerous level. I was holding my breath. 

This had gone on for nearly three quarters of an hour at this intensity. The thunder and lightning went on and on.

I love storms and lightning I have always said that. But this Storm Dennis episode was a whole new level of unbridled fury. 

My internet had gone for the phone as well as my wifi being down by then. I was trying to catch up on Blipfoto.

I was petrified.  And the driving rain.  I realised my heart was pounding.  I don't think i have ever had that before. When it subsided somewhat I went to make a cup of tea. But I couldnt do it. My kettle boils and puts the water direct in the cup...I didn't put the cup under it. Don't worry I was fine, I didnt get scalded. I couldn't do anything. So I went to bed and took a book to read, but I couldnt read the words. 

Popeye laid on my chest in his I am guarding you position and he didn't go to sleep and I felt the vibrations of his purrs all night. I did sleep. He didn't. Each time I woke up he was watching me. 

So I got up at 4 as I usually do and did this painting of a storm, but I needed the charcoal and graphite, and that was in the garage. So a torch and I went and got it. It is messy stuff which is why I dont do it in the house. But it was needed for my storm clouds.

So you can see the materials I used in the extra photo. A kneadable eraser and a electric eraser, and other stuff.

And you can see my painting desk is one complete mess...I started this charcoal on top of everything else...

I was brushing the charcoal and graphite off, but that was making a bad black dusty  mess on top of all my other stuff. Then I remembered, I had bought a handheld rechargeable  vacuum cleaner last week. Would that take the charcoal and graphite dust off...it did!!!

I am still shaky from yesterday.  Like I have probably said somewhere before, because I live high up, I am never going to get flooded in the way all those poor souls have been with rivers running through their houses. So I have a lot to be grateful for. 

When I went out at daylight to see if any damage, I didn't see any on a quick inspection, but the broken fence debris in front of the gate which had been blocking my exit, had been blown away from it, and I could more easily get out now...

My internet connection has been intermittent all day. It's been hard to use. I am going to make a cuppa and try to catch up on comments and posts the best I can.