May 2020 has officially been declared the sunniest and driest calendar month on record by the UK Met Office. Not by only an hour or two mind you. But exceeded by 70 hours! A mere coincidence maybe? Or is it an effect of the reduction in air and road traffic pollution due to lockdown? This is what they suggest is the reason:

“The principal reason for the dry and sunny weather is the extended period of high pressure which has been centred over or close to the UK. This has suppressed the development of clouds and rainfall over the UK, while allowing plenty of sunshine to reach the surface. There has been a band of similar weather conditions extending across central parts of Europe, whereas Iberia and parts of Scandinavia have experienced rather wetter conditions.”

May 2020 Becomes The Sunniest Calendar Month On Record – Met Office – https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/press-office/news/weather-and-climate/2020/2020-spring-and-may-stats

I’ve adored the azure blue of a vast sky here in our bubble mooring (not really our bubble anymore sadly). The night sky has glittered with stars planets, satellites and the International Space Station. We’ve enjoyed balmy evenings in our ‘garden’. Kim’s often stated “... if only it was like this all the time“, she’d return to live.

June’s Flame Diminishes

The first two days of June continued in a similar vein to May. That stopped today. We knew the rain was coming. It’s welcome of course due to impending drought conditions. The grass around these parts is becoming brown instead of green. But it was still disheartening to see the greyness this morning, which continued most of the day.

Watching the local duckling population mature is something else Kim’s enjoying. The first ones have almost grown-up; two more sets are at various stages of development. New tiny ones appeared today:

The ‘in-between’ ones hopped up onto the towpath for their daily gourmet lunch of ‘high energy bird seeds’:

Dave’s dog Brock seems to believe he’s a duck too. The ducks aren’t fazed at all by him, and vice versa. He even wolfs up their leftovers and becomes childishly jealous if Kim’s paying the ducklings more attention. Such a loveable dog, we’ve all loved spending time in his company. A dog who never rarely barks. Brilliant!

COVID Symptom Study New questions

Today the request came to report whether we’re taking any kind of supplements. Professor Spector previously undertook research into the effects of vitamin supplementation.

“The evidence in the scientific literature to support vitamin supplements is pretty dreadful,” says Tim. “I would say there’s absolutely no data to support most of them, with only two or three possible exceptions.”

Professor Tim Spector – Vitamins and COVID-19 – https://covid.joinzoe.com/post/vitamin-supplements-covid

In the same article, Professor Spector continues:

“Vitamins are by definition needed in minute amounts, but in large doses can be very bad for you,” Tim explains. “There’s probably more people dying because of taking vitamin supplements than are ever saved by them. The body is used to small, steady amounts of vitamins and minerals in food, and isn’t used to taking in large amounts of pure vitamin chemicals.”

There’s food for thought (pun intended!) there. I have no doubt many unnecessary drugs are ‘pushed’ onto society by pharmaceutical companies. Be aware of what you’re ingesting and why folks.