Authors Electric

All over the world the climate is changing. But this is not a post about the threat that is global climate change. Rather a whinge about the vagaries of the British summer. There has, in recent years (2018 excluded) been a pattern of glorious weather while young people sit exams and then the heavens open as soon as the schools break up. Parents wrap must wrap little Susie into raincoats and wellies and try to look enthusiastic about trips to the park. But this year ... well, the initial pattern was the same, with the inclusion of serious winds and storms that sent even the hardiest parent scurrying for cover. However, there has been one major difference: the weather forecast, in recent years increasingly trustworthy, has become so unreliable as to be almost useless. I know that low pressure has dominated, and with it comes prolonged periods of rain followed by sunshine and showers - and so timings can be a bit hit and miss. This year, with such a forecast, I set off with my fleece...

Warning: spider picture below!  I’m fascinated by spiders and love this time of year as  they're everywhere hanging in the middle of their webs.  I'd heard reports  the fantastic wasp spider, which is a new arrival to our shores (1920s) had  been seen in a new area, so off I went. Sadly I wasn't as lucky as I've been in previous years, when I'd managed to see some and take some photographs.  One of these previous photographs I'd used as the front cover for my Anansi the Trickster Spider stories. Now, while I was  researching Anansi I discovered a few proverbs that related to the skills spiders have in forecasting the weather.  As I haven’t had an excuse to use these and feel they’re relevant to this time of year I thought I’d share some of them with you. “Spider webs in the air, or on the grass and trees, foretell much fair weather.” From: ‘The Husbandman’s Practice or Prognostication for ever, with the Shepherd’s Perp...