Most people crave the summer and hate winter, and whilst I enjoy the summer to a certain extent, I still prefer winter. Well I used to when I went skiing, I guess this winter was just cold and wet for me. However I do enjoy the summer, I like getting out into the garden, and living in shorts and t'shirt most days. I also prefer not to wear socks or shoes so love being able to wander around in barefeet (my feet get too cold in the winter!). However there are some drawbacks to the summer…

1. I can't sleep. I usually sleep from midnight to 8am, give or take half an hour. But now I'm not getting to sleep until nearer 1am and I'm waking up before 7am. Which of course is making me tired and that isn't good.

2. I've finally inherited water retention from my mum and her mum. I knew it was coming, but I'd spent 25+ years not suffering, but now I am. Last year I started to feel it a little but yesterday I was stuck at my desk for around 12-14 hours, working, and every time I got up I could feel my feet and ankles were slightly swollen. By the time I went to bed they were painful. I really appreciate what my Mum has to go through most days now, and I hope I can find something to curb this otherwise I'll be sitting on the bed most days working, during the summer!

3. The heat here seems to be much more uncomfortable that other places. We spent a week in Lanzarote and it was very hot there but we were quite comfortable most of the time. But here I think the issue is that the houses are not designed to cope. I'll be moving my 'office' downstairs this weekend I think, as it's cooler downstairs (and we usually work upstairs). However, even with all of the windows and doors open it's still a lot warmer upstairs than it is downstairs. As I write this at 9am it's 25 degrees Celcius according to my mobile.

Admittedly this is the coolest place I've lived out of the last 3 places. My flat in Cardiff a couple of years ago was unbearable in the heat and my room last year was even worse, so I guess I should be glad that it's not so bad, plus I can easily set up shop downstairs and work from there without feeling like I'm getting in people's way.

On a plus note, we've pulled up the first lettuces from the garden. These were 4 Tom Thumb lettuces that were started by my Dad. They're not massive but produce enough leaves for 2-3 people for a meal. We went to the garden centre last week, round the corner from us, and bought some lettuce seeds and seed compost and so we've started our own. We have little gems, rocket and mixed leaves. We'll have to wait a while before they start to grow (little shoots have come through in the past week however), but once we can start picking them then we'll have a good supply as we intend to sow them fortnightly. The amount we're spending on salad and fruit in the supermarket can then be cut a little!

Our raspberry canes are also looking good. We have 4 that will most likely produce fruit early-mid summer and then 2 that will start in early autumn (wow I sound like I know what I'm talking about!). The strawberries are beginning to grow on our strawberry pot too (again courtesey of my Dad!), the potato plants are look healthy, considering they weren't planted on purpose, and the Gooseberry bush is growing bigger by the day. I know this all sounds sad but I've never had my own garden to manage before. I've usually lived in flats or rooms since moving out of my parents place, so being able to grow my own food hasn't been an option. But it is quite rewarding, especially as dinner last night included my own home grown lettuces It's just a shame the next ones won't be ready in time for when my parents visit in 2 weeks time, as I'd love to be able to serve my own food to them.

I'll get some photos later.