It’s heading towards mid-August and here, in the north-west of Scotland, we’re coming ’round to the conclusion that the summer of 2015 will be the summer that never was.
We have yet to see two days of sunshine in a row and the temperature hasn’t risen much above 60F more than once or twice. Each day brings yet more rain, cloud and wind (today gusting to 45mph). The thought of escaping to the warmth of the sun further south, becomes more and more appealing as the weeks go by.
The one compensation is that this inclement weather has made for high drama in the skies out over the Inner Sound and the Minch. From one minute to the next, it shifts and changes, often in the most dramatic way.
The other plus side is that the garden now seems to be loving this cooler, wet ‘summer’ and is thriving. The rosa rugosa is luxuriant (no doubt helped by a hard prune in the winter) and the artichokes are especially prolific and statuesque this year. I love the strong and striking sculptural element they add to the garden.
But all this doesn’t keep me from wishing for some much-needed warmth. I think this must be the first summer in 33 years that I’ve yearned for the heat of the Canadian summer months, when sitting outside, eating and drinking alfresco, late into the evening, is taken for granted!
studio+highland notebook 