Folklore dictates that one should "never think to cast a clout until the month of May be out" - a clout being a garment of some sort - on the basis that it's not uncommon for us to suffer some miserable weather in a month in which people are anticipating the start of summer. The proverb is, of course, partly true, but it's also true - in our experience anyway - that May can be beautiful. In fact, if anyone asks us which is the best month in which to visit the Highlands we always say, "May," for there are many days in May when, if you didn't, "cast a clout," you'd boil.
The other thing about Highland weather is that one just has to go out into it, whatever it may be. So, this morning, in the face of gusty winds, hail, snail (snowy hail), rain and a temperature that refuses to scramble above 8C, we enjoyed a walk in weather which made itself interesting by changing by the moment.
We weren't the only ones out. There were plenty of rabbits busy on the serious business of enjoying the succulent grass....
....in fields where none of the sheep was lying down - supposed to be a warning of the sort of wet weather which, if any of the sheep had looked up from their meal, they would have seen heaving over the hill towards them. They were also too busy eating to notice a few small bird swooping between them....
....our second sighting this year of swallows. Now if anyone has some justification for complaining about the weather, it is these recent returnees from the sunny warmth of sub-Saharan Africa.
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