20-05-2025
Summer means different things to different people
Last year was the hottest in history, although I can't say it felt that way from my corner of east Perthshire. This spring takes a record: the driest yet, which feels much more accurate when I look at my ultra-needy sweet peas and drooping chocolate cosmos. Warm weather is subjective, as my Luxembourgish boyfriend likes to tell me every time I open the curtains and exclaim that 15C is a beautiful morning. For him, the mercury must be at least 10C higher, but on canvas there is no room to argue.
Summer captivated the impressionists, who daubed it hazily over landscapes of sea and shadow. You know what you're getting with Monet and Renoir, their genteel boat parties and bonneted ladies. Golden fields are
