It is, according to a man I met in the graveyard car park, the coldest May he can remember in Golspie, and he's lived here over forty years. It's showing no sign of letting up. As well as snow on the hills to the west of the town again this morning, the winter is throwing near gale force winds and rain at us: we had over an inch of rain, sleet and snow in the twenty-four hours to nine this morning.
Then, between the wintery showers, it reminds us of what May should be like in Scotland. We walked into the woods on the slopes of Beinn Bhraggie this morning and twice sat to enjoy the warmth of the sun. And the sun is surprisingly warm in these northern latitudes. In the latter part of yesterday afternoon it came out for a couple of hours and shone directly into our sunroom, recently fitted with triple glazing - and, with the outside temperature at 7C, the temperature indoors shot up to 25C.
So, despite the cold, the rain and the winds, encouraged by the occasional sunshine, nature is fighting back. There are more and more violets out, nestling in the wreckage of last year's bracken - such a delicate, pretty flower - and the....
....primroses we'd all but given up on are making a comeback on the sunnier banks, even if they are a month late.
Each day brings a first sighting. After having already seen peacocks and tortoiseshells, neither of which are around in this weather, today it was the turn of a white butterfly, probably a small white.
It is, according to a man I met in the graveyard car park, the coldest May he can remember in Golspie, and he's lived here over forty years. It's showing no sign of letting up. As well as snow on the hills to the west of the town again this morning, the winter is throwing near gale force winds and rain at us: we had over an inch of rain, sleet and snow in the twenty-four hours to nine this morning.
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