The courts are on holiday for the next couple of weeks so I’ve had time to think about other projects…not to mention the life outside work.  Unusually for a bank holiday weekend in Dublin the sun has been splitting the stones – in fact today, the Tuesday following, it’s continuing to do so.

Suddenly the prospect of a proper summer is being dangled in front of us.  I should explain, for those reading this that haven’t had the misfortune to spend the last two summers in Ireland, the past two years have been a complete wash out.  We’re not just talking the odd shower here – the summer before last it rained every day for over 50 days, last summer was no better.  When the temperatures hit the mid 20s (Fahrenheit) over the weekend that was the best we’d seen in three years.

Well this year we can at the very least expect a full week of sunshine.  It might seem a rather insignificant thing to blog about but Ireland badly needs a good summer.  We’ve gone spectacularly from boom to bust in the blink of  an eye and if people get another year of grey skies and rain the national psyche will go into a deep depression.  We’re already looking forward to a summer of strikes from the various disgruntled sectors of society…add constant rain and we’ll have rioting on the streets!

Personally speaking a good summer is just what the doctor ordered.  I’ve another book to work on this year and there’s something about writing in the open air.  I’ve always been a great fan of working from coffee shops and there’s nothing better than working outside and being able to people watch when you’re stuck.  Add some decent coffee and I’m a happy girl.

A couple of years ago we finally got around to clearing the back yard of the years of junk that had piled up out there.  It’s now full of growing things, most of which are in flowers now and when the sun’s not directly over head like now, and the temperatures almost at blood heat, with the dappled light falling across the table where I’m sitting.  It’s like a little oasis in the middle of the city and I love it.

Unfortunately the table has been under wraps since it was bought a few years ago…I was beginning to think it was a cursed table that was actually attracting the rain.  But that’s the kind of lunacy that successive bad summers bring.

This year I’m planning a project of a different kind.  I’m going to be concentrating on my novel.  I’ve promised my agent to have it finally finished by the time the courts are back in October…It’ll be a very different writing experience to Devil, the characters I’m working on are my own creations so for a change I get to tell them what to do rather than simply saying what they did.

It also means that I’ll be able to work wherever, without lugging around upteen notebooks ful of research.  This summer it’ll be a case of have pen (or laptop), will travel.  This would be the perfect year to have a bit of sun!