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My dream garden
sotongeoff
Posts: 9,802
I have a dream
-where my lawn goes brown from lack of rain,where I can understand why I shaded the greenhouse,where I can lounge in the garden,where I need to you use the hosepipe and water containers twice a day,where plants wilt in the heat,where I can sleep with the windows open,where I get insect bites,where people moan about the heat,where we are told to cover up in the sun,and where the sun shines continuously for more than 3 days without a thunderstorm.
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That sounds like 1976 ;- )
I shared that dream. And then I woke up to the sound of rain pounding down, and I swear I could hear the weeds growing, too. So perhaps that was the dream as well. Or was I dreaming that I was having a dream that . . . . . ummmm lost meself there!
But it would be nice to have that sunshine. 1976 - oh, yes I remember it well. I lived in North London, and commuted to work every day to the centre of town. Hot didn't beging to describe how dreadful the journeys were. (If you've ever stood on a crowded tube train pressed up against an unsavoury armpit, you'll know just what I mean). And the city was hot, hot, hot. And the suburbs were hot, hot, hot. And the garden wilted.
The rain, once they'd appointed a drought Tsar (sound familiar?) didn't stop. And that's when I had booked my holiday.
I can only just remember that summer I hadn't started school but I can remember bizillions on ladybirds they where everywhere, we went on holiday to north wales and even the beach was covered in them!
I remember that summer.. just. We will probably remember this summer for the opposite reasons at this rate
i remember that summer very well. It was too hot to garden. Some places had stand pipes in the street. There were magazine articles about how to wash yourself all over in one pint of water. Regular summers like that and our green British gardens would be a thing of the past.A better balance of sun and rain than we have had since 2006 would be wonderful, but rain is a blessing as well as a curse. What's more, I have rosacea and I'm told its cause is an adverse reaction to sunlight. And just imagine having to endure the water companies permanently whingeing about lack of water in the reservoirs! Think what the news programmes would make of it, one more evidence that the world is trembling on the brink of destruction.
But... how we need sun on our bodies and the wonderful lethargy that goes with it and the sense of well-being that blue skies and sunlight bring. Oh, to be able to walk on the beach and in the woods and see them in the glorious clarity of pure sunlight, their colours transformed...
I remember that summer well - I was in my first job.
And yes, there were ladybirds everywhere, and I discovered that they can bite.
i dont remember 1976, being not quite in utero til the end of that year. I do remember one year in the 80s when our Yorkshire garden hit 90 in the shade. Utterly miserable time for me as I had chickenpox and was dying of itchy. There was an invasion of jellyfish that summer. I've never been a sun worshipper - I'd like it to rain all night to keep the garden fresh, but then be sunny with puffy clouds, a little breeze, and about 20 degrees all the time. That'd do me fine. I spent a year living in mainland China where you literally never saw the sun for all the smog - the sky was constantly just brown and hazy, and temps were -20 in winter and 40 in summer. No real weather as such - just freezing or boiling with occasional drizzle. The thing I missed the most about home - along with dairy products and potatoes - was how changeable and varied our weather is. Being over there was like groundhog day. And I may have seen 15 plants the whole year. Not in a rush to go back to that town!
I remember that one! Didn't it last 2 years 75 & 76? I do love the sun, but for me ideal summer would be rain between 2 am and 5am, 18 -25 degrees and blue sky with a few fluffy clouds all day. Smog all day urrghh that would be awful. Another reason why plants and trees should be a compulsory part of any town and city planning
Yes - we must count our blessings, and the reason we live in a "green and pleasant land" is because of our climate. Normally. But we seem to be getting more cool rain in early summers that we were used to. In fact, we have less of a "climate" and more a "series of weather events".
1975? Remember it well. I was sitting my finals - and it snowed in June! About 3" of the stuff. Didn't last, of course, but was a novelty nonetheless. And then it went on to be hot and dry right up until the end of the summer in 76.
The extremes of China make us feel a little more grateful for what we have. But I still wouldn't mind a bit of sunshine right now, thank you very much.
Quercus, I think '75 lacked enough rain so the water levels were low going into '76 then the heatwave and drought led to standpipes etc. My wedding photos from Aug '76 have brown grass everywhere and on honeymoon we watched ducks outside our window walking across the Exe.
Would like the climate described by you and Auntie Betty . Can't be doing with heatwaves.