Celia Hart's blog about what's going on in and around her studio.
Art, printmaking, inspirations, gardening, vegetables, hens, landscapes, wild flowers, East Anglia, adventure, travel.

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Rain stops play

It seemed like a good plan, when we left home this evening and drove towards Cambridge the sun was shining, although there were dark clouds in the distance we could see brightness beyond them. We arrived and parked just around the corner from King's College Gardens, carried our picnic into the garden and settled down on a bench next to a colourful flower bed to eat our picnic before seeing the performance of Henry V.

We had just started munching our cheese and onion pie when we felt a few spots of rain, "It'll blow over" we said. When the rain got a little heavier we retreated to the cover of a large Lime tree where we settled down on some convenient chairs and waited for the rain to ease up.



But it didn't, it got heavier! The girls who had arrived to sell tickets for the play ran for cover and joined us under the tree with the other picnickers.



The rain got much, much heavier; so heavy that the tree gave us no protection at all from the monsoon-like deluge. We were soaked, the picnic was getting soaked, it was time to call it quits and run back to the car carrying our soggy possessions.



The camera got stuffed into my bag so you'll just have to imagine the next scene as we ran around the corner through ankle deep puddles, water was spurting out of the drain-covers in the road like fountains!

Back at home – would you believe it – it had hardly rained at all!

We spread the salvaged remains of our picnic onto a tray and put it onto the table – not quite what we'd planned! But it still tasted pretty good.

Maybe we'll try again tomorrow night?

13 comments:

  1. just got back to mums who is kindly looking after our dog whilst we're down in London (she lives here... we live in Lincolnshire) and she said they took Holly (the dog) out for a walk and the weather was amazing, then halfway through the walk they got totally drenched by an almighty downpour... dog now staring at me with sad eyes...

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  2. Rain is never welcomed at a picnic lunch,but it does keep the ants away.

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  3. Oh dear! Not sure the forecast is great for this evening either.

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  4. We got stuck in one of those last Friday in London Soaked we were, hope you get to see it in the late summer sunshine!
    love
    Lyn
    xxx

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  5. deluge must have been very localised as we experienced here, but then we are Cambridge shire. Looking on the bright side it saves having to water the garden!

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  6. you still got some lovely photos out of the rain ;)

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  7. Perhaps there is a market in England for picnic baskets with water wings?

    Sorry you were rained off :(

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  8. Goodness and you are in the dry part of the country. It's lashing down here in Cornwall as I speak, but it seems to have been like this through much of August. And what happened to the play - or have I missed the point and it wasn't to be performed in the park?

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  9. Hi Dom - we're certainly getting a few downpours!

    Hi Susan O - hee hee - no didn't see any ants!

    Hi Gina - planning to try gain on Friday.

    Hi Lyn - just to see it in the dry would be good!

    Hi Janyce - it often happens, the rain stops at the Suffolk border!

    Hi Petoskystone - good to look on the bright side ;-)

    Hi Emma - that's why we're obsessed with the weather!

    Hi Feltmaker - now that is a good idea.

    Hi Choclette - the play may have gone ahead, but I doubt that there were many in the audience. The action was due to take place in the garden.



    Fingers crossed for Friday evening...

    Celia
    x

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  10. I've always wanted to visit Kings College! Maybe I will one day. Yes, strange weather at the moment but we do need the rain desperately. You on the East Coast will certainly need it, but it missed your garden, and it always misses mine too for some reason!

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  11. Hi Matron - we have had a good amount of rain now and my garden has perked up considerably! But we missed this massive downpour.

    This garden is King's College Fellow's Garden - for the private use of the 'fellows' except for rare public openings - that's why the Shakespeare Festival is so good - you get into places like this!

    King's College Chapel and the famous quadrangle next to it are on the opposite bank of the River Cam separated by 'The Backs'. You now have to pay to go into the College grounds.

    Celia
    x

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  12. Oh I have been to this garden! Very fine and loved the sense of a private glimpse. Love picnics, hate being rained off!

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