Windy forecast the good 'spell' we're currently enjoying. To my delight, he bases all his forecasts and his maps (coloured in with his wee boy's felt pens) on what the weather will be like where he lives in Auchterarder. The BBC online forecast can't even stretch to telling us what the temperature is in the West of Scotland, as if Edinburgh and Glasgow were subject to the same weather systems. Windy also has a (nearly) friendly bit of rivalry going with Sean Batty on STV. I think in terms of accuracy, Windy is winning.
Windy is forecasting even more good weather when the Spanish Plume hits Scotland this weekend.
I think we'll cope. A friend has asked on Facebook if it's wrong to superglue a small child's hat to her head to stop her pulling it off in the sun. Several friends are sporting rid-raw sunburn, having forgotten to buy in sunblock and discovered that the stuff they bought in Boots two years ago for that holiday in Ibiza doesn't work any more. And the gingers are unhappy, as are the hay fever sufferers (including me).
I don't want to rain on anyone's parade (pun intended), but this good spell is not unusual in Scotland. This is a moderate country weather-wise: not too hot, not too cold, pretty rainy. Floods, storms that stop the boats sailing in the west and knee-deep snow are all, like pestilence and plagues of frogs, fairly unusual here. We've had a run of pretty bad weather in the last few years but May and June are usually pretty good. It's only when the weans get their summer holidays in July and August that it all goes to hell in a handcart. Going back to school mid-August might be seen as a blessing by some. At least it lets your feet dry out.
My working life used to involve persuading foreign language assistants and visiting teachers that their entire time in Scotland wasn't going to be spent holding an umbrella. I always asked them if they liked our scenery. O yes, lovely. So green, so fertile. (They all went to Skye. Why they always went to Skye I don't know, when there are much nicer islands closer to hand. Islay, Colonsay, Mull...) It's the rain, I would say. That's why Scotland is so green. Rain is the price we pay for living in the most beautiful country in the world.
So here's to summer. Our gardeners at Walton Court are out in force planting up tubs and pots. As soon as I get rid of TBV (see previous post), I'll be out there with them.
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