the Lovely British Summer
 

Or lack of it! I mean, we've not even had a proper spring this year! I'm not hopeful that our summer is going to be any sunnier thaan normal ( I'm from Surrey, and the leaves haven't come on any of the trees yet, at all! I mean I look down my tree-lined street and see the forest behind my neighbours house, and the only tree I can see lflowerimg, budding, is my cherry tree!

So anyway how bads the spring been where you are, and do you think the summers going to be good (I admit I'm a bit pessimistic about how its gonna turn out... Alas.)

The only leaves I see on the trees are from the ivy. Admitedly the fields and crops are no longer drowning but there's not much in the way of growth or hinting at spring. Although we've had an unusualy large amount of fog over the past few weeks in my part of Essex. Most evenings have been thick with fog, which just makes everything seem even more beautiful and creepy. Especially as when I look out of one of my bedroom windows, all I can see is the yellow light of the rectory reaching through the thick fog and darkness of dusk. But other than that you can't really see much due to the thick fog. Although we have had quite a few sunny days where the temperature has helped make it almost feel warm like spring/summer; such as yesterday although the skies clouded over and it rained My birthday is in August and I'm hoping to have a beach party, unless it's raining... Although I recon we'll have a scorching hot summer after all this messed up weather. Although I'm not a fan of hot climates, anything above 28C is too hot for me, so I like to head to the beach at Frinton to be cooled by the cool sea breeze

Oh, cool! I live on the north downs, south of London, and its really sunny (wierd, it was really foggy and my mums car seemed like it had been driving round the Amazon by the amount of mud the Dartford tunnel and the M25 had caked all over it...

I went into the garden today, and there was leaves on one of the trees, (well probably more) so ispring might have finally come, just hopefully the snow won't return (I live near the south coast for a reason)

Well anyway, if the summer fails here, I've got a 2-week holiday near Lisbon to look forward too! (Wonder if the half term will be nice....)

M25 is invented by bemons according to Good Omens and the great british summer is just rain and more rain.

Well today up north we were up to 15 degrees! Positively Barmy!

The other day when I went for the morning bus to college the fog was really thick, it was kind of like 'Silent Hill'... But then the past few days have been quite bright and sunny reaching the barmy heights of 15c or 16c! But then this afternoon we had a sudden storm with thunder lightning and RAIN! It was awesome although ended so suddenly

We may have to send out a search party to try and find the summer or where it went

Summer?!... Is that you?!... Where are you?!... Why have you left us?! I promise we can change if you come back to the UK again

OK, so its been so sunny since Friday, I've spent the majority of time doing revision in our north-facing living room, rather than in our south-facing garden. In fact its been so hot, I've been sleeping SHITLESS! (A rare occurance for me, I assure you.)

I fell asleep in the garden and got a bit singed... And now I have to go back to college tomorrow looking considerably burnt Luckily I had put sun cream on so the damage wasn't too bad. But when it's hot a night I just don't sleep, hence why I was able to fall asleep in the garden today.

Oh, right. That isn't good...
I've been indoors today, at my nan's in Romford, Essex. well mostly, I took a trek to the park half a mile down the road, played pooh sticks, and went back (my brothers and cousins were there) My aunts, uncle, nan, grandad and my mum and dad thought we'd taken a dip in the amazon!
Anyway that said, hopefully it will be cooler in the week!

It has been sunny and hot for the last few days, unusual, probably it will loads next as it always rains in the summer.

Haha! I know right! But I'm going to have to put up with temperatures up to 28°C til Friday, with most of England, Wales and the Scottish borders having to deal with similar hot weather.But we will be having a downpour next week (probably), like you said, so I might as well make the most of this.

I just now want too be sunny but not this hot. I cannot sleep in these heat well and buses are awful in this weather.

I go to Spain for this heat! I don't want it in this country!
And yeah, I (fortunately) haven't taken a bus yet, but my nights have Ben restless. :P

The summer seems to have left Essex. It's cold outside, I had to have an extra blanket on the bed last night. It looks like it will rain outside. I hope it's not Autumn already. Scratch that, it just took a little while to climb back up to the wuthering heights of past days...

Ok, I'm leaving for Portugal in one week (how unpatriotic of me)
However I will back two weeks after then.
Finally some cold!

It's been so hot where I live that we've even had a wild fire in one of our fields. It almost took one of our houses with it, one of the oldest houses on our lane too; right out at the end, almost completely encircled by fields of dry wheat and barley. It started because one of the tennants thought it would be a good idea to have a bonfire in the morning and leave it to burn through the rest of the day whilst no one was home. He's from South Africa too, so he should have known better. My Dad was furious and I think he's considering evicting the tennant and his family. But seriously, on a day like this where it's practically 30c outside, who decides it's time for a bonfire?!

You're a Landowner? Didn't know that!
Well the clouds have set in now, where I live. Which considering I put all my non-sunny clothes away (Jeans, long sleeves shirts etc.) it's a slight pain, so it's really chilly an breezy and drafty, and I'm wearing shorts and a TShirt. But it was glorious yesterday, out in Brighton and it was 19C at 11:30! Brilliant!

I'm a farmer's son actually, we have a relatively modest farm of just over 400 acres.
I know the feeling, luckily I haven't put away my winter clothers, so I'm able to just got to my wardrobe and get out a nice thick jumper and pair of jeans. Admitedly, it was very humid this morning, and looking at the current weather forecast, it looks like next week temperatures shall be back up in the mid 30s, although with a great chance of thunderstorms. So it could be interesting...

Well, it's become sunny again, and by the looks of it, the thunderstorms are arriving just as I leave to go on holiday (Win!)
However I hope it goes away, because to the end of August, we get our bags together again, as we always do, and drive up the A13 past Colchester, and to be fair, being in a cold, wet, windy caravan ent much fun. (God forbid the trip might get CANCELLED!)
400 acres.... No idea what that is, but I guess it's a fair amount... I think my nan's house and garden is 3/4 of an acre if I remember right... (It's a bungalow just off a dual carriageway coming out of London, but it's set back quite a way)
Anyway Im going to Thorpe Park (you know, big theme park southwest of London, tall Rollercoasters) tomorrow with the school, hopefully it'll be sunny!

We have storms now here.

Wasn't it awesome last night? There was lots of wind and rain; a proper storm. I had my windows open all night, the curtains were blowing everywhere, I never realised how much I missed the sound of the rain.
Now all we need is thunder and lightning :lovestruc:

Its not been raining where I am, in the daytime, but at night I thought it was keyboards typing.., turned out it was rain! But I just put my head under the duvet and went to sleep.

It was hot again today, almost up to the 30s, and now that i've passed my driving test, me and some friends went down to the beach. Now I have to clean my car tomorrow to get all the sand out of it

Haha! Ahh well. Which beach?

Manningtree. It's not as nice a beach as Frinton or Clacton, but it's only a few minutes drive from my house. There's a lot of swans...

Haha swans! They weren't a pest, right?

Is it stony or sandy there, jus wondering....

It was mostly sandy, but wonder out too far and you find yourself in mud glorious mud

O rite! I'm going to the beach later!!!!! Can't wait to see it!

(BTW Im on holiday, not that fergus needs to know that, just for random people in da distant future..

Wow! We've had an absolute scorcher of a day here in Essex, with temperatures climbing right into the mid 30s(c)! I spent the day at the beach and got my back considerably burnt after I fell asleep...

Out in Portugal, however it's a lot more moderate, and stays in the early mid 20s from morning to sunset

The beach is lovely though..

I can imagine that the beaches would be very lovely, were there very many people at the beach out there?

Yeah, twas chocoblock, we were a bit further back - Foz due Lizandro. Its where the lizandro river meets the Atlantic, so I was building my Utopia in the sand bye the river, rather than at the seafront (didn't have to worry so much about crouds and waves destroying it anyway! It was Friday mid afternoon anyway, rather than early evening Wednesday the previous time...

Did many of them appear to be tourists? But isn't watching the Utopia being washed away by the sea part of the fun of building them. Me and a friend like to build whole town with streets of houses and buildings. The destructive side of me love watching whole streets get eaten by the sea. Sometimes we build protective wall and moats around them so that the water level is higher. The destructive force is a lot greater on the buildings when the sea finally bursts through the walls. It's also funny watching the sea eat away at the sand below mountains made of sand with houses/castles on them. Sometimes we even make tunnels into the hills and hollow out the centres so the ground opens up, swallowing the houses/castles whole.

Haha, no, we're on the best surfing coast in Europe, they'd get destroyed like a click of the finger ad thumb.

And no, there was quite a few locals actually, like 60%+

And I love doing all the sea walls and stuff, but here, they wouldn't get the chance to prove their worth, this isn't the algarve!

So it's not just Brits that flock to the beach? Maybe it's not just mad dogs and Englishmen that go out in the midday sun then.
Well I'm sure you'll get the chance at Clacton.

Hah yeah, and no, it wasnt midday, it was mid-afternoon, like 4,5. We went at 4 today and left at 6:30, it was packed! And ypthe fact the riverhad flooded slightly didn't help matters.. My city in the sand was drowned, but I made a hot tub! (Or warm tub to be more precise) but I leave Saturday morning, then after a week at home, off up the A12 past Colchester... hopefully we will visit frinton! I love its sandy beach, and how its so big... (Although a visit to Clacton factory outlet wouldn't be minded...Cheap Clothes from JD <3_<3

Lol, "warm tub". Me and some friends made one the other day down at Frinton. It got overrun by small children.... But we then walked up to the town to get icecreams, on the way we went past my dream house in frinton, which is currently For Sale :lovestruc: If I ever win enough on the lottery and its still for sale in this condition, I'll buy it and have it as my "summer house", lol.

I'm in love its like one of those houses you see on relocation relocation or move to the country. My nan has this house that she would have bought with my grandad's redundancy money, in Clacton, its on a corner with a side street, on a road going down to the beach (the one that you can get into the recreation ground from) its a shame its being extended really, but hopefully it won't lose its charm...
OK, you're 18 right, let's do our lucky lottery ticket together... If we win, I get 25% of the dish, OK?

Nope! I'm only 17, I'm not 18 for another couple of weeks. I'm the youngest out of my group of friends. I have to rely on the older kids to buy me booze
But seriously, it depends on how much we win. There's a house on the way to Frinton that stole my heart before the house on Second Avenue, and it's in desperate need of saviour, I want to be its knight in shining armour before it's too late, so obviously I'm gonna need more that the asking price of the house on second avenue. Just look at her, she may not be overly grand, but she's special nonetheless.

Awrr, f!ck that then.

It looks amazing, keep it slightly run-downish, but bring it up slightly to its former glory. (That's if we win the lottery, that is...) Its won a slice of my heart as well, but I just need that 25% if I get it... So do you want to be a superhero or go the easy path?

Anyway, moving back to the British summer. It's not very warm outside at the moment. It certainly isn't feeling much like summer again.

Ikr…
Hopefully it will be sunny in north Essex from Monday to Thursday, if you know what I mean.

Lol, we'll have to do some kind of sunny weather dance, or an Anti-Rain dance.

Haha yeah.

I heard that Clacton beach was closed off, because my cousin went there, and you couldn't go down from the seawall...
This is my last post most likely, until I come back, although I might brave blackberry's browser to post.

Really? I wonder what happened. Normally it's just people getting shot and Victorian semi-detached houses spontaneously exploding.

Ooo? Well its open now, I guess the beach must have been thin on stones... Spontaneous combusting semis? The only thing that's comusted in th last frw years back home was a waitrose, in like? 2008? Anyway Its been Glorious! I've spent 3 hours ar the beach with my nan, bros, mum and cousins. Tomorrow were either going to frinton or to Clacton Factory Outlet, which we drove past blindly trying to get to morrisons...

I was just at Frinton beach yesterday, for my 18th birthday party, we then when back to my house in the afternoon, on the beach we were on there was a guy revealing a lot more than any of us really wanted to see, all for the sake of a tan, and it was in front of his kids too. Our frisbee had a habbit of being drawn over to him too. A full moon was seen everytime...

Ok, the British Summer has made its unspectacular return!

Oh and Happy Birthday!
Yeah, we haven't ventured out the house today… Or caravan to be precise. Been really dull.

And what was he precisely revealing? And full moons?

Basically his arse was out, but he was lying on his chest, so the "front" would have been exposed to his kids when he rolled over.
Thanks! We slept out in the tent during the night too, luckily we went out there just before it started raining, it then rained all night and most of today too. It made it difficult wanting to go back out into the house for breakfast this morning. We sat in the tent eating chocolate for breakfast in the end. Mwhahaha!

Eeek… Isn't that illegal? And I mean, unless he works in Pornography or Prostitution or something, Wouldn't Novody be seeing that?

Oh, when did you EVENTUALLY get in?
And yeah, it was a horrible way to end our holiday, but the ride home was good, and the sunset from the A12 was beautiful…

Another reasons I love this part of the country is the landscape and the beautiful sunsets, I just couldn't imagine Essex without them... :lovestruc
I think I'm gonna miss them (and all this open countryside) when I go away to University in September.

Yeah, we have nothing like that round here. To the North is of our town is 1 mile of forest, then you reach the greater London conurbanation. Then to the west after the duAl Carriageway is Suburbia, to the east (But not for long) and the south is open countryside...
This may interest you, until 1973, that road bordering our town had an interesting claim to fame, around 8 miles south of our town it went Through the oldest land road tunnel intact in the world, which has now been pedestrianised. Also until the mid 90s, Drag races were held on that road, going through the woods to the north of the town, because it was almost exactly 1 a mile long and is very straight. I guess what we don't have in sunsets, we get in vistas of the city.

That tunnel sounds interesting. The most prestigious village in my area has a long straight road; known simply as 'Straight Road'. I think it's over a mile or two long, it's a nice road to drive on, i can understand why it is the subject of drag races, although it's not really wide enough.

Hmm, maybe it was the London-Colchester road of Roman fame?

This is a dodgy thing to do, but the Road is the A217 and The Tunnel goes under Reigate Town Centre. Not that I ever go there, its too much of a journey!

Hmm... Is this Straight Road lined with Trees or Anything? (Or Ornate Parisian Lamposts, jks) I do love Ornate Parisian Lamposts *lovestruc

I don't think so, I doubt it's of Roman origin. It's lined with old trees, hedges and modest (for Dedham) village homes and intersected by another long straight road.
It was very hot up here in Essex today. I went to town to run some errands, including get some passport photos taken for my new student ID, for when I start University later on this month, and I was sweating practically the whole time, so was practically everyone else in town. I can tell it really was hot by how thick the haze is this evening. It's really quite magical...

It was damn hot again today, and last night as well, it's like another heatwave...

Well its descended Back into the grey skies were used to her...

So cold....
Seriously, I have to had to put extra blankets on the bed to try and stay warm. And yet I still get cold, trouble is, it's only September, so it's too soon to be turning the central heating on. brrr...


But it's not too soon to light the fire...

Well it looks sunny today, sham I'm stuck indoors doing coursework