Today's Weather

    A friend of mine who lives in Paderborn (D) was telling me that they had snow over the weekend, when they had planned a family barbecue for his birthday!
   

    -@Cynic

That's quite a bit further North of here.   We have no mountains but we have large hills to the North.  I do notice a noticeable temperature difference in the woods (on the hills) to down on the plain (where the house is).  The dog doesn't notice.   We're 300m (I think) above sea level and far from the sea. When the asteroid hits and the tidal wave comes in, we should be OK.

Weather has been dreadful this week.  Raining constantly.  Just today, 15mm since midnight. 

Temperatures way down, hardly even over 10C.  Had to use coats the past few days as too cold and too rainy. 

Upsides are sunrises and sunsets improving, days increasing - sunrise around 05.38h and sunset 19.46h.

Temperatures should be up towards the weekend.

Same temps here, currently 7C and cloudy; had a few rain showers overnight, but nothing during the day.  It's dried out enough that the council have got the grass cut and the farmers have been able to plant stuff in the fields around where we live.  Forecasting 15C by the weekend, with good air quality, so be out and about annoying my grandkids.

    Same temps here, currently 7C and cloudy; had a few rain showers overnight, but nothing during the day.  It's dried out enough that the council have got the grass cut and the farmers have been able to plant stuff in the fields around where we live.  Forecasting 15C by the weekend, with good air quality, so be out and about annoying my grandkids.
   

    -@Cynic

We should be up to the early 20s by the weekend. It's been a week since I could do anything  outside due to wind, rain and low temperatures.  It's a very dodgy and dangerous business to use electrical tools in the rain!   I've got to use angle grinders, welders and spray painting gear in this coming week - I'm making various things.

We've planted some more grass seed to fill in some patches so we won't be mowing for a short while.  But does it grow fast.  We'd have to keep on top of it.  It grows so much at this time of the year.  We convert it to compost but we'll need a bigger heap with the way it's going.

Looking at the Fluffy Towers weather station, we're at 11.4C, wind of 1.7 m/s.  Sunset at 19.47h.  Barometer shows low pressure so rain could be coming.   UV is higher than expected.  It's occasionally sunny.

Mrs F has mentioned going to the countryside to look at some land my MIL owns.  It's a "fishing camp". Ok, just a bit of land on the banks of a (famous in HU) river called the Tisza.  Relatives use it for fishing. There's a shed on there one can camp in or next to.  I think we'd just go for the day though, have lunch on the way etc.

We don't have any grandkids (yet) but there's always a possibility with the 2 older ones who are going steady.  I do think possibly the cost of housing and just low salaries isn't really creating the right environment for them to have kids.   One of them already spent a few years in NZ and is considering leaving for Canada now as they just cannot get on in the UK.

Finally 25°C today!!

    Finally 25°C today!!         -@SimCityAT

It was pretty good today.  With nice weather comes a plethora of outside jobs. Some more risky than others.

Mrs F and I had a lot of jobs to do today around the area and at home and the change in weather really helped us out.   The only problem was we didn't get back home until mid-afternoon and there wasn't  a lot of time do anything proper. And we were knackered anyway. 

Mrs F is always worried about us using power tools on Sunday because of the local religious sensibilities.  We can paint or sand or garden as they don't make a lot of noise.  It's weird as we never felt this need to try and appease the neighbours before - we just did it.  Now it seems, they can indulge their quiet hobbies but I cannot do mine which involves often, banging, mixing, grinding, cutting and welding.

On Friday  I made a huge mistake - I drilled through a high power cable taking electricity from the house to the shed. Luckily I have some special kits for outside/underground cable repairs.  Within 4h, I'd put it all to rights. Luckily I'd insisted on plenty of safety measures when we had the house wired. Way beyond what is normally required.  It saved me.  Me and my drill could have gone bang!  Learnt a bit of a lesson there.

Forecast is showing 22C for Sunday,sunrise 05:32h and sunset 19:50h.  Pressure is good. UV had been high during the day.  Moderate breeze.

After a bit of a run of nice weather, it's cooled down somewhat.   Looking at 17C today with some rain showers, possibly even thunderstorms. Pressure has dropped and there are rain clouds on the barometer.   

UV 1.8, wind 1.3 m/s, sunset 19.57h.

I planned some car washing and painting outside.   Obviously I'm taking a chance on bringing the rain gods on.  I have car repairs to do but doing that needs a run of about a week of no rain just to make sure weather is not a factor. Mrs F says I should stay in and do my normal work.  I will be finished with a major piece of work this week (hopefully) and I can do outside stuff without any guilt!

14C and cloudy here; forecasting rain for tomorrow.

Few days of 27°C....... today its been 22°C and we had a few drops of rain at 8am, but we now have a blue sky.

    Few days of 27°C....... today its been 22°C and we had a few drops of rain at 8am, but we now have a blue sky.         -@SimCityAT

We're all cloudy here 250km further East. 

We did have a splash of sun but it was short lived. 

We had a few drops around 9am and some more at 12'ish when I was buying some paint rollers.  I am not sure if just buying the painting stuff qualifies for angering the rain gods.  That said, we're expecting some further rain this arvo.  Might be fate. I shouldn't have thought about painting anything. I also washed the car.  We're doomed.

Well, not sure what's happened, but we now have clear blue skies, and it's up to 18C.  Forecasting thunderstorm to the south of us later tonight and heavy rain up here by tomorrow breakfast.

We're entering a period of rubbish weather. 

It was about 23C but now it's 20C and we've just having a few showers. 

That's good in some ways as we need some water on the garden.

UV has dropped to 0.  Sunrise 05.06h and sunset 20.14h.   Only a month and a bit to the longest day.  It's all downhill from there.

I was just about to go outside and work on some garden jobs and the heavens have opened

I'll just have to go to Obi (DIY store).  We've got aphids on our plum tree.

It was going to happen at some time, the heavens opened up at 3am this morning and lasted for a good 3 hours with a heavy downpour. Lucky for me it stopped just in time for me to go my course. It gave me enough time to get home.

Now at 1.30pm the rain is going down hard again. Slightly cooler than it has been. It's only 15°C. So glad I have a long weekend ahead as we have a public holiday on Monday. I am quite drained. Having an extra day I can recharge my batteries. 

    It was going to happen at some time, the heavens opened up at 3am this morning and lasted for a good 3 hours with a heavy downpour. Lucky for me it stopped just in time for me to go my course. It gave me enough time to get home.
Now at 1.30pm the rain is going down hard again. Slightly cooler than it has been. It's only 15°C. So glad I have a long weekend ahead as we have a public holiday on Monday. I am quite drained. Having an extra day I can recharge my batteries. 
   

    -@SimCityAT

Ah yes, May is the month of 4 day weeks in Germany/Austria etc.   It's not the same here.

Dreadful rain and high winds early today.  Temps way down.  Only 14C.   Sun has been out a bit though and dried up some of the water.

We're going to the countryside tomorrow - near Romania - so I hope the weather improves before we get there. 

Update:

Thunder and lightning.  And now we have a power failure.  One of the phases has gone.  This has happened before but usually it's back quickly.  Not today.

We're a bit unusual having 3-phase electricity here.   Been off for several hours before I actually noticed. Mrs F is calling the power company to get an estimate of when it'll be back.

@fluffy2560

We had thunder and flashes, but all clear now. We also have power cuts, but touch wood, we have not had one in a while and it only happens after a storm we get.

I just asked Alexa for the weather tomorrow and we have no rain and a high of 25°C.

I might have to start collecting snails now, after the rain they are everywhere outside 20+

We're going to the countryside tomorrow - near Romania - so I hope the weather improves before we get there. 
   

    -@fluffy2560

23°C in the Romanian border tomorrow with clouds, but you will be leaving 24°C with rain in Buda.

    @fluffy2560
We had thunder and flashes, but all clear now. We also have power cuts, but touch wood, we have not had one in a while and it only happens after a storm we get.

I just asked Alexa for the weather tomorrow and we have no rain and a high of 25°C.

I might have to start collecting snails now, after the rain they are everywhere outside 20+
   

    -@SimCityAT

Have you tried an old flower pot, filled with beer? 

The snails make a dash for it, fall in and die.  Very eco-friendly but a waste of beer. Better than slug pellets. 

I made up some soapy water to spray the aphids but the weather had other ideas.  I also want to repair the car.  The weather doesn't want to know. 

It's like the Truman show. Everytime I want to do a job outside, something messes it up!

@fluffy2560

Dont mind them, as we can at them. They are tasty  But no idea where they all came from.

Its the slugs I hate.

Get power back?

    @fluffy2560
Dont mind them, as we can at them. They are tasty  But no idea where they all came from.

Its the slugs I hate.

Get power back?
   

    -@SimCityAT

Yes power is back. It only affects some parts of the house. Kids PCs were off so that's a blessing to see them doing something else.

I don't think you can eat domestic garden snails. The French ones are specially bred.

Slugs are good for the birds or compost.

@fluffy2560

Oh so wrong..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt0rOX2tKqk

    @fluffy2560

Oh so wrong..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt0rOX2tKqk-@SimCityAT

Ye gods, snail poo, cooked live!   

The whole idea is weird but the smokey bacon looks good.

I've eaten mussels many times though.

Despite being told it was going to rain yesterday in the morning and it didn't, it did turn out to be a nice day with a hight of 22°C. Looking outside it must have rained in the night.

Today its going to be 24°C and a thunderstorm. Got a few little jobs to do around thee house. No urgent ones, but the ones you save up for days like this.

Last night we had a massive thunderstorm complete with hail.  Rivers flowing down the street and gutters overflowing.   Obviously the heat of the past few days brought it on.   We were lucky to walk the dog yesterday when it was warm and dry.  The doggy is a mud magnet and rushes over to all muddy puddles to frolic around.  We've dodged that extra work.

Recently we get pressured by the neighbours over our use of machine tools during these kind of religious holidays.   I'm making quite a few things these days with my metal working tools and these are noisy - grinders, compressors, drills, cutters etc.  Even the lawnmower is off limits - the grass won't get mown now. 

It's just inconvenient.  It never used to be like this.  You could do what you wanted previously and no-one complained or questioned it.   It's good to have consideration for your neighbours but they should be considerate to us who have to find time to do these things.

Well no rain or thunder and we have a nice blue sky. I guess I will go outside now and have a potter around in the garden.

Another storm last night - high winds, black clouds and torrential rain.   

Now it's cloudy, 17C, slight breeze, sunset 20.23h.  Cooler than it has been of late.

Outside work suspended due to general wetness.   I had some painting to do.

I'll wait a day before taking the dog walkies otherwise she'll be frolicking in the mud.

As they say in Dutch, vandaag hebben wij het kutweer!

    As they say in Dutch, vandaag hebben wij het kutweer!        -@Cynic

I wouldn't go that far as it's improving here with some sunny patches. It was raining earlier.

I'm almost on the verge of taking the dog for a walk. 

I bought a new ceiling fan which arrived today.  I've removed the old one (it'll go in the bedroom).  I'll have to fab a slightly different bracket for the new one from some fairly thick stiff steel sheet (actually an old drain cover).  Cutting , grinding, drilling and painting needed.

Which to do first? 

At Fluffy Towers, decisions plague us all the time.

22 C, brutal in the sun, UV very high 8.2, extremely sunny, humidity 58%,  steady pressure BUT very very gusty.

I'm going to get technical here as I don't have an Absolutely Anything Else outlet.

I'm draining the gearbox oil out of my hobby car.   When the wind blows, it blows the oil as well as I'm on  the last dregs.  I'm hoping to fully fix a persistent oil leak I've had in the gearbox today.  New cast aluminium oil pan (previously it was pressed steel), a new official gasket and a new seal on the gear box shifter mechanism.  The latter was really difficult to find.  And it's a real sod to get to as it's on the top side of the gearbox. It'll be like dentistry or keyhole surgery and you need child sized hands not clumsy great mitts like mine.  I should have asked DJT to join me for these car repairs but he's busy.

Previously, due to lack of gaskets, I actually made my own gasket out of a special paper. It has worked - in places. I am also using a special gasket sealant called Hylomar.  It's the same stuff they use on Rolls Royces.   I've told the gearbox what is going to happen and what it's got to live up to.   Don't leak!   Fingers crossed.

The wind is a problem as I lie on cardboard sheets and these move about in the wind.

Only 20C and plenty of showers (almost 16mm since midnight).

Humidity is high at 74%.  UV 1.8.  Sunset 20.36h. 

Barometer shows fair weather and steady pressure.

North Yorks.  Currently, 15C; high later today of 18C.  It's raining at the moment, but forecast to stop late afternoon, then clear skies with typical summer weather but low temps (16C) for the rest of the week and into next week, which I guess is associated with Northerly winds.

20°C now and dry. But last night the fire brigade was deployed over 500 times in Lower Austria due to flooding.

Going to get warmer over the next few days. 25°C.... Thursday they say we will have a Thursday storm.

    20°C now and dry. But last night the fire brigade was deployed over 500 times in Lower Austria due to flooding.
Going to get warmer over the next few days. 25°C.... Thursday they say we will have a Thursday storm.
   

    -@SimCityAT

I saw reports yesterday that Bavaria was hit very badly with floods causing deaths and injuries.   It probably means it's coming your way down the Duna.

We've got a sunny spell right now but black clouds are lurking.

I don't remember it raining like this in June. It's usually hot spells with a giant thunderstorm, then straight back to hot weather.

We're hoping for good weather for the first two weeks of August as we'll be in Balaton where we'll do some camping in the garden of the Mrs Fluffy family holiday "house" (cum shed). 

Lower Austria

@SimCityAT

Pretty good they have those volunteer fire services available.  From what I've seen, they've got top gear as well.

It's really hot right now - weather station shows 29C on my roof.   I was planning to do some garden and car work but it's too much.  I'll go out maybe around 4pm when the sun has moved around behind the trees. 

In the meantime, we've put the airco on.  That's really quite rare. I think we only use it maybe 2-3 weeks a year but we sure need it.

I believe it will be even warmer next week - into the 30s.

Bit chilly here today in comparison; the wind and rain earlier made it feel colder than it was; forecast is for 18/19C later on this week,

We bought a Google Nest device to integrate our heating a few years ago; it takes into account things like actual weather/wind and temps and the effect this has on our house, to work out if the heating is required.  It's currently in eco-mode which means the boiler is shut down until the outside temps fall below 8C.

    Bit chilly here today in comparison; the wind and rain earlier made it feel colder than it was; forecast is for 18/19C later on this week,We bought a Google Nest device to integrate our heating a few years ago; it takes into account things like actual weather/wind and temps and the effect this has on our house, to work out if the heating is required.  It's currently in eco-mode which means the boiler is shut down until the outside temps fall below 8C.        -@Cynic

It's now 18.10h and it's still 29C outside.  Mrs F says she's not going to help me dig in the garden until 20h when it might have dropped back to say, 23C.

I thought about a Nest to control our underfloor heating.  We don't have Internet enabled heating controls which would be much better.  Seems obvious now.   I want to be able to control the underfloor heating we have in some areas (kitchen, bathroom, hallways).  I tried to explain to the guy who installed the heating what we needed but he couldn't get it - too fancy.  So we ended up with simple zones upstairs and downstairs which isn't good enough.  I think we can retrofit so it's not all lost.  In the summer, we simply turn off the boiler controls for radiators.  If it gets a bit chilly, we can put on the airco in heat pump mode or light the woodburner (that's really too much).   I cannot see the radiators being used for several months.  Maybe October'ish we might start again with heating.  We should spin up the pump occasionally as they seize up through lack of use.

Today's weather:

30.5C in the sunshine, 41% humidity, 5.4 UV (quite high), pressure steady 1022 hPa, breeze is from SW at 1.3 m/s.  Airco is in use.

Sunset 20.44h (sunrise was 04.46h this morning). 

Only 3 days to the longest day and then it's all downhill.