Summer has arrived, and now that is official! How do I know? How can I tell? Well I have actually been outdoors without a jacket or cardigan, and isn’t it grand!

That’s the one thing about our unpredictable climate – we don’t half appreciate the sunshine when we do eventually get some.

Suddenly everything as well as the weather seems brighter and better.

Benches that haven’t been sat on since heaven knows when, are suddenly occupied by people.

We blossom, we turn into different people, people who are now chatting, laughing even, heads up and looking about, not bent down to avoid the wind and rain.

I have a question for you, and I want an answer: How is it that the plants you are desperately trying to grow and to which you give such a lot of care and attention often struggle, and yet those accursed weeds that you are doing your best to get rid of, flourish and bob their cheeky heads at you?

I wonder who it was that decided which was which, as I would very much like to know who was it that condemned those very pretty daisies and buttercups? Is it at all possible for me to demand a retrial?

Went up to Scotland at the weekend to see Janet Byrom.

Janet was my aide de camp and constant companion for a good few years until her mum died and she took over her mum’s job of looking after dad.

We had a great time as her brother Roger was over from the States so we had yet another of those lovely ‘remember when’ times.

Been looking at yet more of those old photos and thinking, ‘Now how on earth did my grandma cope with having 16 children? 16!’