[Dixielandjazz] UK Weather

[Judy Eames]

Rob Van der Plas emailed me to ask about our weather! (Thanks for your 
concern Rob)

Things here are pretty grim for a lot of people but I just think of New 
Orleans two years ago and realise that it's all relative!

We had three times an average complete July rainfall, just on Friday  (thus 
permanently cocking up the average).  Brize Norton... 4 miles away .....was 
reported as having the highest rainfall  but has been downgraded to 2nd 
place:-)  the prize going to Pershore in Worcestershire

Our neighbour was wonderful .....we had about three inches of floodwater 
outside with nowhere to go and the rain was coming down in buckets, so he 
hacked open the sealed downpipes to take some of the excess  and customised 
our pond pump so that we could direct the water to saturate my flower 
beds...... without his quick thinking it would have been a different story. 
As it was we got away with an inch or so of water indoors..... we'll need 
new carpets one day .... probably not in time for  visits from Jeff and Anne 
Barnhart who are coming to do a couple of gigs mid-Aug and the whole of the 
Boheme Ragtime Jazz Band who arrive the following week..... but hey what a 
wonderful excuse not to be smart:-)

If you are concerned about friends and relatives, the worst hit areas in the 
present flooding  (I think) are Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire 
and Berkshire but it's changing all the time.  Our landlines are down which 
also means email for those without Broadband and cellphone coverage is 
patchy. I'm happy to pass on messages if I can  but rest assured that this 
is all horrible and inconvenient but people are being looked after if 
they've had to leave their homes.

Incidentally I rang our insurers on Friday evening..... the next day there 
was a message giving me the  phone numbers I need ..... I made it clear when 
I first phoned that I was only logging my claim and was NOT a priority....so 
what a brilliant service at such a busy time.  they'll be organising 
de-humidifiers for us.. some time.....

I don't know if there's much to buy in the shops but I'm sure you'll be 
pleased to know that we took delivery of a couple of cases of decent red 
last week and we have several bags of flour and a breadmaker.

Cheers Jude

Judy Eames
Kaminsky Connection
Aston, Oxfordshire
UK
www.judyeames.co.uk