Things change very quickly here , ten days ago we were experiencing temperatures of minus 10 C. , real hard cold which seemed to enter into my old marrow bones and cause actual pain. It was – everyone told us- most unusual.

Then within the space of a week we are suddenly back in summer , we have been eating our lunch on the terrace every day , I have had to wear a hat against the sun , our delivery of logs which we ordered last week looks strangely redundant on the terrace.
Tomorrow they promise us temperatures of 20C in the afternoon.

Strangely I am reminded of the definition of weather in Ireland which we learned in school ; Cool, Temperate, Oceanic , Western Margin.
Everything it is not here.

But then everything changes quite a bit more quickly here by the Mediterranean , day becomes night without any of the long twilight we experienced at home, Celtic or otherwise , and in the morning it seems to go from pitch black to full day often just while I am in the shower.

The strange thing is that I really enjoy these differences , I enjoy noting and experiencing them , I like the fact that something as fundamental and routine as the weather can still take me unawares , that even when temperatures drop to minus ten no frost forms on the car , that everytime I go to wash my face my face cloth is bone dry , that my yeast bread rises beautifully every time and at twice the speed it did in Ireland.

A little change, especially when you are as ancient as I am , is a truly stimulating thing.