Isn’t it amazing how a couple of days of decent weather can change everyone’s mood?
With the arrival of polling day for the county council elections last week we began to see – at last – some decent weather. And with it I began to see smiles and a kind of general good humour which had certainly seemed rather strained over the past few months. What a shame it hasn’t lasted longer than a few days!
Whether what we saw over the bank holiday weekend turns out to be the totality of what we may end up calling the summer of 2013 remains to be seen – particularly as it’s not going to be that much longer before the days start to draw in again.
As the weather improved last week though, I saw large numbers of people stocking up at the DIY stores, dragging out barbeques and generally exposing themselves to the sun as fast as they could.
FURRY FRIENDS
At the same time, Mother Nature was getting into top gear and literally as the sun came out, leaves started to burst from budding trees and shrubs. In this 50th year of the Wildlife Trust it seems as though our furry friends had collectively leapt into action with the arrival of the sunshine too, because the fertility of our flora has definitely been matched by that of our fauna.
I’ve been entertained by bats darting about during the evening, squirrels dashing around and generally making busy, and regular visits from at least one, if not two urban foxes. Now is a tremendous time to keep your eyes peeled for signs of the county coming to life after the cold weather layoff – and you don’t have to wait too long to be rewarded either.
I’m NO GARDENER
If you follow this column you may already know that I moved house at the end of last year – this week has been the first that I’ve been able to get into the garden for any length of time to survey what needs doing to start the process of getting it into shape – I can safely report that there’s a lot! I’m the first to acknowledge that I’m no gardener, so if you have a garden or decking business based in my neck of the woods (what I’ve taken on is so badly rotted that it needs a complete refit), you may well be getting my call for help pretty soon.
If we’ve all been actively engaged in getting on with things in some good weather, so too have our sportsmen and women. This is a tremendous time to show off the county to best effect through our teams in Rugby, Cricket and Football and the success this week of the Cobblers getting to the playoffs on the 18th of the month has got to be one of the best sporting stories of the year so far.
Although motorsport is really my thing, I was mesmerised by reports and commentaries of how the Cobblers were doing in the first and second legs of the games that will now take them – and us - to a date with destiny in London.
I’m also delighted that Northampton Town’s claret and white will be gracing the pitch at Wembley – quite right too. Now all we have to do is win the thing! The 18th will be a daunting, but great day and I predict something of a mass exodus from the town and county as supporters take advantage of a real moment of history.
Congratulations to Aidy Boothroyd and the team in getting to this point – and congratulations to their loyal fans too.