Summer in February

Where has January gone? We are into February already. Here the in the north west of England we have snowdrops,crocus, daffodils and hellebores in flower. All earlier than usual. Probably as a result of the mild weather that we have been experiencing. We have had a few cold days and a couple of frosts, but no snow. Just a lot of rain and wind. One side of the garden has been water logged and the lawn is rather soggy, but that did not stop husband from cutting the grass last week! It must be a first,cutting the grass in January. Normally it is not warm enough to cut the grass until late March.

Part of the reason for cutting the grass is that with the mild weather, it has grown at a time of the year when it does not normally do so and it is also partly because we are about to resume our gap year, with a trip Down Under, leaving at the end of the week. We shall be away for nearly six weeks, which now seems to be a daunting prospect, although when we booked the trip last Autumn  it seemed like a good idea. As much as I want to go to see Australia and New Zealand, I am beginning to be concerned about what I shall be missing at home. The Spring flowers are starting to come out and they could well be over by the time we return home. Also I have decided that I really do not mind our cold Winter weather as long as I can dress up warm. I know that this is going to be the trip of a lifetime and it will be just that, as I do not think that I shall want to go away for such a long time again.

I do not mind flying itself, but I am not keen on long haul flights and the consequent jet lag and in order to get there, there is the small matter of the long haul flight or flights. We have two seven and a half hour flights, with a three hour transit stop over at Dubai airport, about which I have heard some horror stories - I just hope that they are not true, before we reach our stop over destination of Singapore. After three nights in Singapore we have another long haul flight down to Australia, where we shall have six nights. Then we fly to New Zealand. It is Summer down there and the temperature is between 20 and 30 degrees Centigrade, which is rather difficult to think about when the temperature here is in single figures. At least I do not have to try to pack the thick clothes that I am currently wearing.

The photograph is of Lamorna  Cove - the setting for the film Summer in February.