May is out

"Ne'er cast a clout til May be out" is a well-known English proverb. There is some doubt about its meaning. The first bit about casting a clout is easy enough - it means don't take your (warm winter) clothes off. But the second bit, about May being out, could be taken to mean when the month of May is over or when the May (Hawthorn) blossom is out. Either way, at the beginning of June and with the hedgerows in full bloom, you'd think we'd be safe enough contemplating bare legs and sandals.

I think the May blossom is quite late in flowering this year - not surprisingly, given how cold it's been. But, as you can see, there's plenty of it. The blossom is commonly white, but there is a wonderful tree full of palest pink blossom beside the canal and another darker pink further on. There is even a red one by the car park in the middle of Saltaire, but I think that is a garden variety. I think it's a very pretty blossom, forever linked in my mind with May Festivals. As a child that meant family fun at the May Fair at Wellow in Nottinghamshire, watching children dancing around the maypole, weaving intricate patterns with their ribbons and then, just as marvellously, unravelling them (see this link.) As a little girl, I thought it was magical.