Sunshine!

After waiting two years, Summer has finally arrived. We’ve been enjoying glorious weather this weekend. As I write this blog at 7.30pm the sun is streaming in the window, still carrying plenty of warmth. We’ve enjoyed temperatures 24°C today right up until 6pm. Yesterday’s high peaked at 23°C. The Met Office is promising us another two days of sunshine and highs of 25°C. While still rather mild by Australian standards, it feels like a heatwave in the UK, following two years of cool, dreary weather.

The Met Office has yet to confirm predictions of a hot Summer this year. However, all signs already point to a season warmer than the last couple of years. The longest day is less than three weeks away. On June 21 the sun will rise at 4:42 a.m. and set at 9:20 p.m. However, the long days are already apparent, with tonight’s sun not setting until 9.07pm.

Garry and I have been putting the weather to good use. Yesterday we hired a DIY carpet cleaner from the local hardware depot and spend the evening shampooing every tuft in the house. The carpets are now sparkling clean and completely bone-dry within 24 hours. To complete our comprehensive Spring Clean, Garry mopped every wooden floor this morning and swept our front path. We then took a large load of general rubbish and household junk to the dump.

The carpet overhaul is another timely reminder we’ve been living in Swiss Cottage almost 3.5 years. Just long enough to accumulate plenty of junk and layers of dust grime in the corners. The house has never been cleaner. The same cannot be said for my parents house. They've started renovating. The glass conservatory has gone, the lawn dug up and the gardens razed. It sounds like chaos will ensue for the next few months.

It’s not been all work as the weather warms up. Last Monday evening we caught up with my Uncle Richard and Auntie Jan for dinner. We dined at Boathouse, located on the banks of the Regent’s Canal, in Little Venice. The restaurant has a long glass atrium stretching along the canal’s edge where windows are opened to the water during Summer. It’s the perfect venue for a leisurely meal and plenty of gossip. We sat by the canal soaking up the view, watching barges and families of geese glide by. Hooray. Summer is here.