World Sauntering Day etc!

Yesterday was World Sauntering Day! Seriously, for those of you who regularly follow my writings (thanks very much!), you may remember that I mentioned it a few months ago? Well, we are extremely well equipped for Sauntering, we have the loose clothing, we have the time and we have the obligatory dog with flappy ears! We saunter every day with like-minded friends and while we amble along and chat and talk about the weather, the dogs do what dogs do best and we return home refreshed and not at all tired! A cardio workout it is not!

Ready for a saunter anyone?

We are having the most glorious weather at the moment, warm and sunny with very little wind and midday temperatures in the high teens. Now, that sounds great but it really isn't good for this time of the year. It should be wet, cold and wet. Cloudy, cold and wet! This is our rainy season and so far we have seen very little rain. 'They' (the weather powers that be), said that we would get lots of rain after the 19 May, so we planned for that, did all the washing, sorted the garden, brought lots of fire wood inside, decided not to bother washing the windows, and smugly waited for the downpours. Which didn't come.


Last week when I was working at the Hospice shop in town we noticed the ants relocating! There was a steadily moving line winding up from the floor and disappearing into the ceiling. What did they know that we didn't? Would we have floods? It did rain a little, but I think the ants were mis-informed as to the severity of it all!

April's average rainfall is 39 mm, we had 20 mm. Our average rainfall for May is 49 mm, we had 31.5 mm. The average for June is 68 mm. We are more than halfway through June and so far we have had 45.5 mm. So, we watch the weather forecast on the TV, and Rob checks on the weather sites on the internet, and we go outside and look for clouds!

Painted by a Master Artist.

And that brings me to the second point of this blog! Our cloud formations are beautiful, ranging from the whispy paintbrush tickling the sky, to feathery patterns, to darkly threatening lumps.

The dog is biting a heart with an arrow through it. See??

I remember when I was a child lying on my back in the garden and looking for pictures in the clouds. I still love to find shapes and pictures and you would be surprised how many times we see Alfie in the sky! Alfie and sheep and long haired poodles! And giants with big noses!

Nose in the middle, chin to the left, forehead to the right! Blankets under the chin and a stubbly beard!

Sometimes you have to have a very fertile imagination, but that's half the fun.

No explanation necessary. Sheer beauty.

And what cloud discussion would be complete without a sunset photograph?

Sunsets and saunters..............life is perfect!