Summer weather? Kids!

The weather app on my phone tells me there is a 0% chance of rain today. That’s ZERO per cent. No possibility of rain! So why did I wake up to the sound of car tyres swishing on a wet road? Because it was raining! Which just shows that you cannot trust your apps! By 10.00 the sun was clearly trying to shine on the Islas Cíes, standing out on the horizon but it was still dull here.

The day tried to brighten up but up to late morning was largely unsuccessful. I hung the washing out anyway. The rain that had fallen was not proper heavy rain, more damp in the air than anything else, so I thought the washing was in with a chance of drying.

The damp does not stop it being quite warm still, although yesterday I overheard someone complaining about how cold it is the mornings, causing problems about what to wear. You wrap up warm first thing and by lunchtime you are sweltering. Personally I just find it refreshingly cool first thing. One of the good things about Galicia is that as a rule even when it is warm (even hot) and sunny in the day time it is still cool enough to get a good night’s sleep.

By mid-afternoon the sun was out and the sky was almost totally blue. Several seasons in one day!

Even though schools don’t start until mid-September back-to-school adverts are around. Let the kids, and the teachers, enjoy their summer holidays, say I.

According to Tim Dowling, writing in the Guardian one weekend recently,  parents are asked as many as 55 questions a day by their children over the school holidays. He got the information from a survey done by some children’s show or other. The questions, he said, include everything from philosophical queries to badgering. He gave us some examples, of which my favourites are:-

Qu.  Are we nearly there yet?

Ans. Allow me to point out your mistake: you have not named a destination; you just said “there”. We are always nearly “somewhere”, which is why it’s not a lie when I answer “Yes, nearly” every time you ask.

Qu.  Why can’t I stay up late?

Ans. The real reason is because I need three hours at the end of every day where I don’t have to answer your questions. But I was worried you might repeat that to your teacher, so I made up the thing about how you only grow when you are asleep.

Qu. Why do I have to go to school?

Ans. You can’t blame me for this – it’s the law. I voted for the guy who wanted to ban school, but he lost. Fingers crossed for the next election.

Qu. Why do I need to eat vegetables?

You need to practise eating vegetables so you know how to pretend to like them when you get invited to other people’s houses.

We have a small person’s birthday coming up in a couple of weeks’ time. Fortunately my daughter seems not to have given in to the trend to invite all the nursery class for a party. That will probably come when she starts school properly. In the meantime, we’ll just organise a small family and close friends affair. At the let’s have a big “do” extreme, I found this posted on Facebook by the daughter of a friend of mine:

 “Looking for someone in Greater Manchester who can do me a 1st birthday cake for less than £50 for the end of October. Anyone know of any budding cake makers who'd be interested?”

 What’s wrong with a nice home-made sponge cake with a bit of icing and a candle on the top?

There’s time for expensive birthdays when the child is old enough to remember the party!