The month of June was baking-hot for us in the north of Scotland, with temperatures in the high 20s for the whole of that month. Generally our summer months are July & August.

So the promise of a lazy-long summer was on the cards, until July arrived with glum-grey overcast clouds and a sulky-shy sun. A drop of 10 degrees gave an instant autumnal feel. Where was summer hiding? And why? It seemed that summer had been contained, and crammed into June, and that was that.

The highlight of July turned out to be our family holiday in Helmsdale - just a few miles from me! The rented cottage was in an ideal spot - at the end of a long deserted track with just a hop, step & a jump onto a shingle beach.

The most daring of us braved the chilly water for a daily dunk, or even swim, while the rest of us watched and shivered by the rock pools. Hebe-the-dog and me were amongst the onlookers.

Hebe-the-dog's main focus was searching among the boulders for the stinkiest dead thing to roll in.

Thank goodness I'd packed a family-sized bottle of Lime & Coconut Shower Gel. Because Hebe-the-dog needed constant scrubbing in the utility sink to get rid of the awful stench. She was fussim. Although it was tough work for the Lime & Coconut perfume - it proved rather too bland to mask the smell. Carbolic Soap would have been better!

Hebe-the-dog loved:

1) a new house & garden to explore;

2) the whole family together again - the full pack - to reacquaint herself with;

3) looking out to sea, and then barking at all the inshore lobster boats that fished close by us, twice daily;

4) the walks along the shore track to the fossil beach;

5) the constant attention from the Grandkids;

6) the constant food offerings from especially Grandkid2 (7 years);

and not forgetting the other lucky number 7...

7) the absence of Hector-the-pup!

Hector-the-pup had gone to stay with my sis and her pack of 4 dogs (x1 Lurcher, x2 Whippets, x1 Chihuahua). Having been brought up, thus far, with no notion of manners and a snooty disdain for Hebe-the-dog's attempts at being Big Sister, he thought he'd get away with bossing his holiday posse. So confident was he, that he made the mistake of diving into the top dog's dinner dish, as she was leisurely eating, 'cos he had finished his in a bolted fashion, jack-flash.

Now the boss is a 13 year old matronly whippet who stands for no nonsense. None of her pack would have the audacity to try to pinch her dinner. So what happened next was inevitable really...

She pinned him to the ground. Kippered him flat. And snarled scarily in his lug.

Both had got such an unexpected fright. But, lesson learnt, Hector-the-pup never tried that again.

Apart from that, he appeared to have enjoyed pack life.

And he discovered he could swim, when he fell off the decking by the wildlife pond, nose first. Before sis could rescue him, he'd already got himself out of there - dripping like a shaggy & dedraggled wet thing!

I digress.

The week in Helmsdale had started slowly with so much time for chinwags, but then so suddenly our holiday was over and we went our separate ways homewards.

Hebe-the-dog and Hector-the-pup are back to their normal teethy play and tellings off.

And because the weather in July was so unseasonal, I made an early start on my autumnal jam making. But the jams all turned out a bit wonky.

The Summer Berry Jam had 3 plums thrown into it, for colour and flavour. But I forgot to remove the stones. So I had to write a caution on the back of each pot: if you find a plum stone, make a wish! But, trouble was, there were x6 pots and only x3 plum stones. Maybe someone would be pleased to get a wish? Maybe someone would be lucky enough to get 3 wishes? Maybe someone would be disappointed not to get any? I had absolutely no idea which jars they were in.

The next jam, Cherry, Apple & Rowanberry, was just going to be Cherry & Apple. But I'd read that it would be a soft set, so I hit on the idea of adding Rowanberries, which are full of pectin and would, therefore, result in a firmer set.

However, when I bottled the jam, I noticed white blobs suspended in the mixture. Oh oh! The colour had leached out of the Rowanberries, but they were still whole and now ghostly white in the dark red jam! So I had to own up and add them to the jam name.

I've just made Nectarine & Redcurrant Jam today. I think it will be a soft set too. But the colour is a lovely orange/pink, and the scent in the kitchen is heavenly!

The sun has returned and is back to its normal hotness - for half-hour spells, at least. And the dogs are stretched their longest in the heat.

Is this summer back? Who knows?

Hope you're enjoying what's left of your summer. Catch those rays while you can!

I have a sun frock, that I bought late June, still waiting on the hanger.