Summer - It's Official

Jan1 wrote:What a difference a day makes ...
All the rain yesterday and today sunshine and a few clouds - think you must have sent some of your sunshine down to us Graham ... thanks. LOL

All the best Jan

Had another good day Jan plenty of sun and a bit warmer too, should really have spent some time gardening but still a bit sore from Saturdays mishap   so just sat outside with the radio on and a cup of tea 

graham64 wrote:

Jan1 wrote:What a difference a day makes ...
All the rain yesterday and today sunshine and a few clouds - think you must have sent some of your sunshine down to us Graham ... thanks. LOL

All the best Jan

Had another good day Jan plenty of sun and a bit warmer too, should really have spent some time gardening but still a bit sore from Saturdays mishap   so just sat outside with the radio on and a cup of tea 

Sitting outside with the radio and a cup of tea sounds an excellent idea.
Yes, it may be a little while to recover from Saturdays mishap ... sending good wishes to you.

Woke up earlier to some lovely sunshine, long may it last  

All the best Jan

MORE rain, thunder, wind and general gloom. Even when the sun comes out I don't trust it. Yeah I can't decide if it's been more like March or October. At least the first half of the harvest is in, haven't yet checked on the yields or prices but it looks like the wheat isn't going to go so well.

Driving through a Hampshire village earlier today we saw some Morris Dancers ... I know not everyone seems to like this ... but it did add a festive air. The beer festival, which was being run close by was proving popular, and no we didn't stop and sample any ...

The sunshine was a welcome sight today, although the breeze was still a little cool.

All the best Jan

Well at least the house is less full of flies now the manure piles are being ploughed in.

Spent a little time with family again recently, which was lovely ...

We ended up playing fun golf with three of the grandchildren and had a brilliant time - who said there was any cheating going on with our youngest grandson, LOL!
At five years old he did very well and keeping score was very important!

He really likes dinosaurs and his knowledge is amazing. Grandma did you know?
When Grandad asked him did he learn all about dinosaurs at school, he replied 'no You Tube'  

We were fortunate with the weather we chose a nice sunny day, good job it wasn't yesterday we had a lot of rain.

Shame to think summer days are dwindling, the nights seem to be drawing in that much faster now.

It's the eclipse on Monday, we should be able to see the partial one here in the UK but in the US many will experience a total eclipse.

Have a good weekend, whatever your plans

All the best Jan

I went out a few nights looking for meteors, saw a few but not nearly as many as in some previous years. A giant moth about the size of a Spitfire flew past, one or other Hawk Moth, which sometimes come in the house. In fact not so many moths of any kind in the house though there are about the usual quantity outside, and sometimes beating themselves against the kitchen window when the light is on. I can identify most birds and flowers (though I often need some prompting as I tend to forget more things from one year to the next) and quite a lot of butterflies, but my brain filled up and moths pretty much defeated me. And as for beetles, let's just not go there!

Flies are finally diminishing. They brought back memories of my Aunt who kept chickens and turkeys on her farm and who had fly papers - the old fashioned sticky brown paper kind - hanging from every light fitting in summer.

Alan was out desperately combining all night down the valley until the rains finally came in the early hours. Meanwhile the back field was glyphosated after all the barley volunteers germinated and yesterday the contractors came in and spread fertiliser, cultivated the stubbles again and sowed what I assume is going to be rape.

I've been out for some not-walks several times after the shopping, when a rainstorm has suddenly blown up and eclipsed the sun.

What is it with kids and dinosaurs? I was also fascinated by them when I was young, and most of the other kids had their dinosaur books, and I seem to remember collectors' cards, did they come with tea or breakfast cereal?

Chris asked - what is it with kids and dinosaurs?
I know our kids and now the grand-kids are fascinated by them, and enjoy learning about them.
I'm not too sure about the dinosaur cards ... I know we used to buy dinosaur books, with stickers.
Jars containing mini dinosaurs were also popular.
Toy shops and book shops seem to have a dinosaur corner!

Back to summer weather! Sitting quietly last night and we both turned and asked - is that thunder we hear?
Sure enough it was and now reading the news about "Heavy downpours spark flash flood chaos" it would seem the thunder went further North.
https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2017/08/23/heavy-downpours-spark-flash-flood-chaos/

This is supposed to be summer but I know of a few folks who have put their heating on  

In just over a weeks time we will be into September ... let's hope for a few more sunny and warm days to come soon.

All the best Jan

Jan 1 wrote:Back to summer weather! Sitting quietly last night and we both turned and asked - is that thunder we hear?
Sure enough it was and now reading the news about "Heavy downpours spark flash flood chaos" it would seem the thunder went further North.

No thunder or downpours here in fact the last couple of days have been pleasantly warm not much in the way of sunshine though, ideal for gardening 

I thought thunder woke me up the other night but it was probably just me farting in my sleep.

You feeling better now?

chris c wrote:I thought thunder woke me up the other night but it was probably just me farting in my sleep.

You feeling better now?

To much information there Chris 

I'm fine now thanks did have a bit of a problem with my back must have pulled something when I fell but that's ok now, still waiting for the scabs on my arm to drop off and still got some residue of the glue or maybe it's another scab on my head  :shock:Thinking of investing in a crash helmet before I go to another party 

When I lived near Gatwick, sometimes I'd dream about a thunderstorm and wake up to find it was a low flying plane, and sometimes I'd dream of low flying planes and find it was a thunderstorm. So it goes.

My thyroid blew out the leg arteries again which left me a bit prone to stumbling but they are improving rapidly now. Strange (or not if you are Malcolm Kendrick or someone else knowledgeable) how the arteries get worse as the LDL "improves" and vice versa.

I'll go crash out soon, then see how far I can walk tomorrow, IF the sun stays out.

Well it rained for most of the day ... and it's been so much cooler!
Perhaps a reminder that it is almost the last day of August ...

For a lot of children they are making the most out of the last few days summer holidays before returning to school  

All the best Jan

Jan1 wrote:Well it rained for most of the day ... and it's been so much cooler!
Perhaps a reminder that it is almost the last day of August ...

For a lot of children they are making the most out of the last few days summer holidays before returning to school  

All the best Jan

A bit better weather for me after a wet start it dried up mid morning and has been sunny and reasonably warm for most of the afternoon   definitely a lot cooler tonight though

Yes, it's now September .. the year is flying by, and today is nice and sunny ... well so far.

Strangely last night we experienced a brief thunderstorm, which according to my phone weather app shouldn't have been happening! LOL!

The way the days are going we will soon be celebrating the Autumn Equinox
I do love the Autumn season and how the colours of Autumn start arriving ... but not quite yet!

All the best Jan

Certainly felt like autumn this morning but thankfully the sun eventually broke through to warm things up   good forecast for tomorrow but in goes downhill on Sunday 

The forecasts definitely can't be trusted here at the moment, well they get the overall pattern right but the timing is often way off.

There are some trees with leaves turning colour already.

chris c wrote:The forecasts definitely can't be trusted here at the moment, well they get the overall pattern right but the timing is often way off.

There are some trees with leaves turning colour already.

Yes it feels more like October my bedding plants which usually last till late September are on their last legs going to get rid of them this week apart from the new guinea impatiens which are still going strong

Think it's time for the winter duvet  definite chill in the air tonight   and the outlook doesn't offer much hope of warmer weather for next week

I was looking at my winter woollie earlier today and thinking . . .nah! not yet. Went for a post-shopping walk on a common, sat on a seat for a while watching and listening to the birdies - lots of autumnal stuff going on already, migrants queueing up to leave and flocks of tits including Long Tailed Tits which are always fun, then just made it back to the car as the rain started AGAIN.

Could be worse though, at least it's not the Caribbean, or Texas, or Asia, or . . .

Winter duvet on a month earlier than normal as I'm not expecting the temperature to rise much in the next few weeks 

We were down South today ... and although the first part of the day wasn't too bad, the heavens opened during the late afternoon ... haven't experienced a deluge like it for a time. There's rain, and then there's very heavy rain, but still when you see and read what some countries are experiencing at present, it makes you realise how fortunate we are.

All the best Jan

A strange day woke to heavy rain which eventually eased the rest of the day was a mixture of warm sunny spells and a few more downpours 

A really bad storm blew up here too on friday. I could hear it coming for a while, and see the lightning, but when it arrived it was humungous. I think there were two storm cells as the lightning was going cloud-to-cloud, then hitting the ground miles away from where it started, the wind was howling and the rain was roaring. At least it passed over fairly quickly.

I did the supermarket this afternoon, then passed the farm stall for more runner beans, then went for a little drive around looking for somewhere to walk in the sun, but two more storms blew up and I was lucky to drive home in between them.

Oh well I had sausages to go with the beans (sweet chilli for a change) so the day wasn't entirely wasted. I still haven't looked out my winter woollie but I should have done, yesterday was damn cold.

Summer, all seven hot days of it is over. Time to get ready for winter hibernation, and Jan's casseroles. Trying to get to the end of September before the heating goes on, could be a tough gig.