Grey skies and chill give way to days, or maybe only moments, of sunshine before reverting unpredictably to downpours of rain.
Suddenly it's September and you're blinking in disbelief: 'that was it? that was really summer?'
There's only one thing you can rely on: around April/May every year without fail there will be confident predictions of a 'bumper, barbecue summer ahead!!' and we'll be bombarded with bright displays of garden paraphernalia, sun-loungers, picnic fare ...
Five years down the line I've come to rather admire this peculiarly British brand of optimism as a kind of triumph of hope over experience.
This was my garden in a sunny window of a couple of hours last weekend.
Even Toby, who's gone through his own complex adjustment to his adoptive homeland (in which the discovery of heated floors has registered prominently on his personal Feline Joy scale) appeared to understand the wisdom of seizing the moment. He ventured forth, in a rare spurt of energy, for a sortie to the Great Outdoors ...
... truly a model for Hills' Science 'Senior Light' cat food!
Five years of 24/7 heated-floor sprawling ...
(no, he's not a normal cat really)
alternating with armchair-lounging will tend to pile on the pounds around one's middle ...
But oh dear, only moments later this was the view from the window ...
(spot the spider-web glistening with rain on the olive tree ...)
Toby knew there was only one sensible thing to do in the circumstances ...
Hope your weather is better! Me, I'm planning my hols in warmer climes ...
