Ahh that fantastically long and hot summer has finally disappeared from memory – it seems unbelievable that we had so many weeks of scorching heatwave. I’ve just hosted a pal to stay for a couple of weeks – she lives in cyprus, the hot mediterranean isle just off Greece and only 400 miles from Syria and the arabian area. She normally has so much heat in the summer that no one wants to visit her during July to September because of the humidity and unbearable heat. Well, we had a lot for them to compare this time around. It affected lots of sales – all the major stores were welcoming the long summer as an opportunity to big up Britain – the good weather usually works. But with every hurrah comes a very annoying boo-hoo. This time over the lack of water for gardens and crops. We really need to get up to speed with the changing weather patterns and our ever changing trading requirements.