Today it was sunny

For those of you who don’t live in Scotland, you may not understand what a wonderful statement it is to say ‘today it was sunny’.

For six months of the year, October to March, the hours of darkness far outweigh the hours of light. Frequently at midday on a February morning, we have the lights on, and the heating ramped up, to ward off yet another damp, dreich day. See definition below

We haven’t had a bad winter, in fact  it has been remarkably good. Very little snow, and it’s been pretty dry. However, today has been the first really warm day this year, about 25c (77F). As retirees, this was one of those days where we were able to say, “I’m just going to enjoy it!”

We were up bright and cheerful at 8am and out in the garden. My lovely husband surprised me last night. While I was at a Pilates class he cut the grass, and put up the first bean poles.

I can’t call it self-sufficiency, (certainly money saving / frugal) but this year we have planted both runner beans and peas, in addition to our usual bountiful crop of redcurrants, blackcurrants, gooseberries, mint, parsley and chives (in our very small garden). We had far too many seedlings, so I have given over the flower pots in the patio to vegetables, and also passed on about 50% of the plants to a young friend. (A couple of years ago, we did the same, our plants were hit by a sudden frost, his weren’t, with the result that his plants produced many more beans than ours did. Very annoying! )

However our morning task was to net the berry bushes. A couple of years ago, we didn’t put up the nets and a few (very fat) pigeons ate every single berry.  Never again!

We even put out loads of washing to dry.

There’s nothing better than drying your washing outside, it comes in smelling fresh, it minimises the ironing, and helps save the environment (and money) because I haven’t wasted electricity putting the tumbler dryer on.

I also went and got a few groceries. Everyone was smiling. It’s amazing the difference a bit of sun makes.

Then come midday, there was nothing else to do except sit outside in the sun, having lunch, a few cool drinks, reading our books.

Sometimes it is really hard being retired!

Here’s to a lovely 2017 summer.

If you want to pin it for later, please do, just click the red save button. The picture is of a lovely old tree just near our home, reflecting the sunlight.