A few weeks ago (in the first week of June), travelling to work, I looked up from the road to the Alps (well, not the high Alps but the lower Alps – just really big hills really) – and saw snow on the tops of them.

In all the years I have been here, I have never before seen snow on those hills/mountains in June. But, it was cold. And, by cold I mean it hardly made it above 15°C during the day. And it had been raining a lot and, really, felt more like winter.

Then we went down to Calabria for the wedding. The Thursday was cool and about 18°C but, thank goodness, the day of the wedding dawned bright, clear and warm.

And that was the change.

From 7th June, it went from feeling like winter to feeling like mid-summer.

Now we are in the 30s with the temperature “dropping” at night to a hardly cool 22°C.

Obviously (or obvious if you know me), I am delighted with this.

Except for one thing.

Dino.

I am a bit worried about Dino. I’m not sure if it’s because of the sudden change but he seems to be suffering a little too much over the last few days. I mean, we’ve gone from almost winter to summer – full on and full blast, so to speak. Normally, he’d have a few months to acclimatise. But this year, no.

So, now I’m looking at ways to try and keep him cooler.

We shall shut the shutters in the bedroom (leaving the windows open) as the sun beats down there from about 11 a.m.
We are giving him cool water baths.
The fan is on.
I shall make some ice-cubes to put in their water.
I might fill their dog bed (which is plastic) with some water so they can put their paws in.

As a last resort, I may go and buy one of those portable air conditioners which we can put in the lounge to keep that room cool.

Obviously, as you may be able to tell, I am a bit concerned.

Anyway, this heat doesn’t normally come until the end of June or, more likely, July. Maybe it’s because we seem to have gone from winter to summer bypassing spring that is the problem.