Treading water . . . then a Severe Alert!

 I was very - for me VERY - late to bed last night, as the hooligan Pippi decided it was SUCH a balmy evening after a hot day where she'd had to hide inside, and perhaps she would stay out longer.  I can't sleep unless she is in.  I was ready for bed at 9.  She FINALLY came home, all innocent, at 11.30 . . .  She had never been out after dark before and was clearly making the most of her freedom.  Needless to say I have been tired today and stayed indoors after I had watered round. Payment has been some small tomatoes which I had at lunchtime, and a cucumber. New folk come to stay from this weekend.  It has thankfully been cooler today  - only 24 deg after yesterday's 31 or 32 deg. which was suffocating.

This is the pattern and I am doing version B.  It's all cut out and I have been working (slowly) on the shoulder straps this afternoon and have them assembled and gathered and just sewn one end onto the wrong side of the fabric.  So I will get back to it tomorrow.  I know, a pathetic amount of "work" on it, but been distracted by other things.

I have been listening to a programme about the Folklore (worldwide) associated with giving birth, from The Three Ravens podcast.  Having put the sewing aside, till my brain is more awake, I began cutting up windfall apples to cook up with some of my recently picked and frozen blackberries, to make Blackberry and Apple Jelly for Thankyou gifts/Christmas gifts.  

The fires seem to be all under control now but a lot of damage done.  Horrid to read about the ones in Stourbridge and Dudley where homes have been lost.  

I am covered in fresh bites and can report the damage done when a bitey thing gets inside your knickers . . .  I have bites everywhere - this hot spell obviously encouraged more bitey things to hatch out.

Praying for rain here . . .  The 30% chance of it hasn't shown up today . . .

Just leapt out of my seat when my phone came up with a Severe Alert!  Unfortunately all in Welsh so I couldn't translate it.  Went to the Gov.uk site and it's warning everyone here not to have fires, BBQ's, etc etc . . . as if the intelligent enough amongst us didn't already know this!  Gosh, that really startled me.  I thought there was a fire in the vicinity.  Then it did it again in English . . .  Didn't jump so high then.

According to NASA, Powys is the worst affected by wild fires - 166.  Then Blaeneau Gwent with 113 and Carmarthenshire with 101.