All week the weather had been diabolical. Sunny and warm one minute, thundering and raining stair-rods the next. And cold!!!! We’d had the heating on some evenings! And this was June! I was seriously concerned about the current climate for good reason. Our planned Capel Ladies Club river trip was booked in for Thursday evening and there had been no let-up in the weather pattern for 6 or 7 days – every evening between the hours of five and eight the rain had been beating down, drumming on the wheelie bins and making huge lakes across the roads.

I had become paranoid about watching the weather forecasts – and every evening the same old map of Britain had appeared on the TV screen, covered in a mottled blue pattern of probable rain showers for the next day. Of course there was nothing I could do about it, but that didn’t stop me from worrying. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than sitting on a damp seat wearing a clammy plastic mac and trying to peer out of windows awash with rivulets and waterfalls at some soggy landmark being described by a less-than-enthusiastic wet commentator who wished he’d gone home for tea an hour before.

How wrong I was! How different from this was the real thing!

Thursday morning arrived. Blue sky, fluffy white cloudlets, golden sunshine streaming through the windows – and a warm breeze gently stirring the curtains. YIPPEE!

I turned on the forecast – a drier and more settled day for the south-east – chance of a shower 20% around 6.00 p.m. Best forecast we’d heard for a while, bit of a blow about the six o’clock shower, though……. oh well, it might not last…..

Not only did the shower not last – it never arrived!

We had wall-to-wall sunshine ALL DAY and (better still) ALL EVENING!

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Our river cruise from Waldringfield Quay down to Bawdsey and back was just like a dream – an interlude of peace and tranquillity between the blue lapping waters of the river, the lush greens of the banks and pastures and leafy trees and the golden rays of the evening sun, which made pathways and sparkles on the surface of the water and warmed us as we sailed homewards.

Thank you to the staff at Deben Cruises and our boat the M.V. Jahan.

A perfect evening which ended with a delicious meal at the Newbourne Fox Inn.

Needless to say the following day was a re-run of the mottled blue map with its thunder, showers and chilly breezes! Weren’t we lucky???

The next event in June was our stall at Capel Fun Day. After a rainy  week, the weather suddenly improved on the Saturday and there was lots happening on Capel Playing Field. Our stall was decked out in red, white and blue and was a LUCKY 90 TOMBOLA stall, with a Children’s Tombola as well as one for the grown-ups. Magdeleine Hunt had also made a rag doll for “Name the Doll”, so it was a busy afternoon! The doll’s name was “Mimi” and the winner was Jessica Wiggins. We raised over £150 by the end of the afternoon, and a lot of this will go to one of our soon-to-be-chosen charities. Future activities include a boat trip on the Deben, a charity evening, a visit to the Orchard Players’ summer show, and a Summer Barbecue.