Apologies in advance!

With all the tales of snow, sleet, hail, and rain from north of La Manche, I thought I'd rub salt into certain wounds and show you our Wisteria and Clematis flowers for one final time.

Everyone likes to think they live in a 'micro-climate', and we are no exception. Just a few kilometres from us, in the village where I buy my bread, the temperature is always much lower than ours. The village name of 'Frayssinet le Gelat' even suggests the colder weather that they often experience. They can be scraping ice from their windscreens whilst we sunbathe by the pool (well, almost).

This year, like last year, I rashly planted out all my tender summer vegetable plants well before the risk of frost was traditionally due to pass. All have remained un-frosted, whereas others in lower lying areas have lost theirs.

I don't want to suggest that we live in a subtropical or Caribbean climate; we don't. Temperatures are usually a few degrees above those of the UK in the summer, and occasionally a few degrees below those of the UK in the winter.     

However, for the moment, I'm pleased to be living here rather than 700 kms to the north.

And, just in case you were wondering, our mornings have been quite cold recently; just above freezing (between 3 and 5C). But nature compensates; cold nights means clear skies, and clear skies means sunny days. Swings and roundabouts!

Having said all this, yesterday afternoon was bloody freezing.