Factor 50 on our 4th of July!

The 4th of July marks the birthday of our friend, Janet, and this year was her big 'O'. She's a redhead and the present spell of very un-British weather doesn't go well with her porcelain skin. She went out and bought some factor 50 sunscreen in preparation for a celebratory picnic on the beach and a good dog walk. They have just become the owners of two re-homed Irish terriers, Maeve and Murphy, another pair of redheads. One of her birthday presents was portraits of the dogs made in felt.

We all piled into the camper van and set off for a place where we could drive onto the beach and walk the dogs to our heart's content. The grass verges along our route were bleached, we have been experiencing high temperatures and no rain for weeks. But what was that? Spots on the windscreen! No one in Blighty usually travels far without a mac or a brolly, but in just a few unaccustomed weeks of heat we'd forgotten a lifetime of habit. "It always rains on my birthday" announced Janet. Now she tells us!

We parked on a deserted beach as the rain fell. Summer in England, how many times from childhood 'til now have we enjoyed times like this. We were in tucks of laughter.

Time to crack open the champagne.

Maeve wants to know if the rain is going to stop so that she can come out from under the table.

The picnic tastes great.

"I'm not seventy yet," says the birthday girl.

Then, just to be absolutely ridiculous, an ice-cream van comes driving along the beach. The driver has newly arrived from South Africa and he must think that we're mad. Ice creams to go with our strawberries and birthday cake. We give him a slice.

The rain will stop soon.

Perhaps.

And it did!

We went to an Italian restaurant for our evening meal.

It was a PERFECT DAY.

(But it hadn't rained a drop at home.)