We were never going to get a good view of the eclipse today unless we travelled to the other side of the mountain ridge behind our house. We don’t see the sun until around 10am this time of year. And the forecast was for 100% chance of rain all day long, so I didn’t fancy a hike over the mountain this morning.

But as the time for the eclipse approached (around 09:15) I did feel that I wanted to be part of it in some way so I decided to go ahead and do my normal dog walk. Whilst waiting for David to put on his shoes I stood and watched a blanket of cloud zoom up the valley and cover the village of Canillas de Albaida below us in a matter of seconds. But there was not a hint of wind so I was puzzled as to how the cloud could move so fast.

Unusually, Sheba the cat accompanied us on this rather eerie walk, she often follows us half way down the drive and then peels off into the scrubland to hunt for an extra breakfast, but today she followed us for 800 metres or so, wanting to keep close to us in these unexpected conditions, yowling in that special way she uses when she is very unsure of her situation. It became darker and darker, assisted by the dense cloud we were walking through.

And as we were on the home straight the promised rain started to fall – a few drops at first, and steadily getting heavier. When we reached the house, all of us soggy and dripping, I opened the door and there was Sheba was waiting for us – the sensible cat had made it home before the rain started.

All in all, a fascinating experience – and no need for special specs to protect our eyes!