May continued where April left off, with mainly benign, fairly cloudy weather, with sufficient rainy days not to have to worry about watering anything. No really warm days early in the month, or very much sunshine, but no frosts either. Although Fiona heard a cuckoo about 10 days earlier, it was on a drizzly, still, and mild grey morning of May 8th that I heard it for the first time, quite close by. Perfect conditions for the sound to resonate around the house. We know from many contacts that we’re indeed fortunate to still have these iconic migrant visitors as regular fleeting songsters in the valley. Long may they return. By mid May warmth and the first few evening midges arrived. The sun shone and it felt as though summer had nearly arrived. In the end a month with no frosts, average rainfall but below average light – just 75% of May 2013’s May PV reading. The Met Office confirmed that it was the 3rd warmest spring on record. Click here for more details. Our best ever year for Camellias, Azaleas and Rhododendrons, including the fabulous scented ‘Loderi King George’, pictured below. Weeds may explode in numbers in May, but then so do the herbaceous flowers.     Rainfall total for May was 140.6 mm, and PV output shows an average month…Thanks for reading