Ah, those ‘glorious’ summers of old

WHEN the sun shines, the buddleia bush in the garden is a dazzling kaleidoscope of colour with half a dozen varieties of butterflies coming and going to the purple flowers.

However, there are no small tortoiseshells. I wonder if readers have noticed their almost total absence this year.

I also haven’t seen any lizards basking in the sun. Indeed, I’ve seen little sun for lizards to bask in. This summer, the ratio of bright days to dark seems to be about one to four. Sunshine is a rare commodity and even when there is a brief window in which holidaymakers gather on the beach, I see few swimmers in the sea.