A classic British summer with bites, delays and disappointment

This week I have mainly been waiting for trains or providing food to those nippy little blighters who enjoy a bit of human blood in the evening.

- Jane Binnion

I know to wear insect repellent everywhere else in the world as soon as the sun goes down, but I had forgotten that aspect of sitting in my own garden late at night, trying to cool off during the three hot days that constitute UK summertime. And don't they just get everywhere! The decline in bat numbers doesn't help of course. This year I have seen only one solitary bat flying round my garden.