Brave tourists set against grey sky - # 08/217

I don't approve of these little tricks with clever editing software. But I couldn't resist using it to put over the vision of these brave souls in their rain coats sitting down to an "al fresco" lunch. Suddenly we have been forced to remember why English life is generally lived indoors, or else engaging in really extreme adventure sports e.g. like trying to beat the Australians at our national game of cricket. The weather this year....to be more precise "the cloud conditions".....is truly awful. Nothing but thick grey cloud for weeks on end. Often it does not rain. It's just utterly dull. But when it rains; it rains!!!!

Perhaps the second half of September will be kinder. Normally it is a wonderful time of year in England: calm and warm and sunny with a special tangible quality in the atmosphere.

Street cafe trading opportunity - England 6th December 07- # 314

Climate change (a modern term for "it's sunnier and warmer than it used to be") has brought to England the benefits of the street cafe open air life style. However, there are still some limitations. In part, these limitations are related to the fact that this year "it's a great deal less sunny and far much wetter than it used to be".