Friday 23rd May - Cast ne'er a clout til May is out

Last night we put the blanket back on the bed - after a few sunny, summery days it has gone back to feeling like early spring again.

As dusk fell, huge black clouds were piling up towards the south, and there had been heavy, thunderous showers in the afternoon.

Today was cold - I eventually added a thick jumper to the layers that I was already wearing because I couldn't get warm. I went upstairs after lunch to snooze and read my book, and a cold wind was blowing straight across the room into my face from a small window in the corner.

That is, until about 4pm this afternoon - I got up ready to teach a piano student, and the sun was out, and I was too warm, and needed to open a window to let some fresh air into the room...



a few days ago

The first rose buds have already opened and gone over

 

today













The garden is bathed in sunshine (but still a little bit cold for sitting out). It looks ok from a distance.

A few Christmases ago I was given some poinsettias in rather pretty glittery containers. I have found them to be perfect for protecting my lettuces from slugs and snails. I just put the tub with the baby lettuce plants on the upturned containers and those marauding molluscs are defeated.

 

 

 The glass frame to the right of the lettuces is my "cold frame" - actually the window that fell out of the back of the shed, leant up against the house wall. "That's going in the skip as soon as we get one" remarked BB when he realised what was going on... he's got a point.

 

When we lived in Indonesia and Singapore, you could set your watch and your calendar by the weather. The same thing happened at more or less the same time in the same season. A friend had a visitor from Peru last month (NOT Paddington Bear). The visitor was constantly amazed that we could have so many different weather events, and temperatures, in the same day, and was totally unaccustomed to changing what you wore - adding and removing extra layers of clothing as the day progressed.

 

 

It fascinates me going into town at this time of year, seeing people wearing everything from full winter coats, hats and scarves, to shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops. I have been wearing cropped trousers, t-shirt, cotton cardigan and sandals all week, until today (jeans, socks, thermal vest, thick cotton overshirt, guernsey-knit cardigan).

 

 

Oh well. It will soon be what I call "frittata weather", when we sit under the apple tree at the bottom of the garden eating frittata, salad, olives, and drinking wine, and watching the bees in the flower beds. Back in 2012 that was 27th May. And last year, not until June,  after we got back from our stay at Dover Castle.

 

Now there's a thing. We stayed there for a weekend at the end of May last year, and I don't think I mentioned it on this blog at all. Mysterious. But can be explained by the fact that there was no internet signal at all there. It was a good weekend anyway, and I'm glad to have been reminded of it.