What The Hail???

It's May for god's sake! But it feels like winter. A bitter wind has been blowing all day, making the barely 10 degree C (50 degree F) temperature feel even numbingly colder. And then this hailstorm broke out suddenly this afternoon. The hail struck about two and a half hours ago. And now the sun is shining brightly and cheerfully. Earlier today we were deceived by the bright and cheery sunshine. We headed out to a car boot sale (that's a flea market in American lingo) in Ripley, woefully underdressed. As we walked from vendor to vendor we overheard even the stalwart Brits complaining about the unseasonably cold weather. It was not a totally wasted effort though. I made a few purchases:

• two commemmorative mugs: one in honor of Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 with a sweet photo of the Queen on it. the other is for Edward VIII's coronation, ironic since he was never crowned King but chose to abdicate the throne
  
• two paperback Jeeves and Wooster novels by P.G. Wodehouse
  
• an Observer's guidebook to painting and graphic arts to add to my growing collection of Observer's guidebooks