IT was time for our weekly pals catch cup. “Is Senga joining us today then?” I asked the group.

“No chance,” Christine stated.

“She’s off to Spain again.”

“And that’s the fourth time this year, because apparently she is affected by SAD.”

“Eh?” Mae was confused. “SAD?”

“Its clinical name is Seasonal Affective Disorder,” I explained.

“Or commonly known as winter blues.”

“Well, it’s like winter most of the year in Scotland.” Chipped in another bright spark.

“So no wonder she suffers from SAD!”

“Did you know that in some areas of the world the lack of sunshine can cause weight gain and a rise in aggressive behaviour?” I thought I would educate my pals but, this started a whole lot of chat about the ups and down of our good old Scottish weather.

“We’ve had some lovely sunshine recently,” Christine rolled up her sleeve to show off her patchy red tan.

“Yes, and when the sun does finally appear everything we do changes.”

“You’re right there,” I agreed.

“Last summer we had an unexpected heatwave for a full week so my sister text me from her holiday in Menorca.”

“Hi Janice, please do me a favour and water my rose bushes or they’ll die off in the heat before I get back.”

“And do you know what?” I eluded to my gardening escapades.

“I went round before work, and after work every day for a week.”

“I made a dozen trips in and out of her kitchen with the watering can and watered every plant in her garden.”

“She must have been pleased?” asked Mae.

“She was in hysterics.” I explained.

“Because, apart from the two rose bushes she mentioned, all the other plants were plastic!”

The girls agreed I was an idiot for watering plastic plants, as I tried to explain.

“They obviously were designed to look realistic.” I tried to justify my actions.

“So I watered them because I knew she would have killed me if anything had died before she got home.”

“It’s weird that whenever the sun appears everyone gets out the barbecue.” Added Fiona.

“Yep, and everybody heads to the supermarket to find that the normally fully stacked salad shelf only has a few remaining unwanted lettuce leafs,” added Mae.

“And you’re lucky if you manage to grab the odd leftover sausage.”

“I think these are about the only days in the year some Scots eat healthily,” I suggested.

“Healthily?” Questioned Mae. “Healthily?”

“Last year I ended up with severe food poisoning after a steak burger I ate at a barbecue.”

“So I’m now avoiding barbecues forever.”

“That’s nothing.” Angela got her bit in.

“Last summer I underestimated how hot it was and ended up with sun stroke which made me so ill I shivered and was sick for two days.”

“Well after a hot sunny day climbing in Glen Coe,” explained Margaret.

“I ended up covered from head to toe in itchy midgy bites.”

“I looked like Mr Blobby after I slathered myself in pink Calamine Lotion, which was not a good look!”

Fiona wasn’t missing out on a good old moan.

“I have a severe grass and flower allergy," she explained.

“So most of last summer my eyes and nose were bright red and constantly streaming.”

“Yep.” Added another pal, not wanting to miss out her bit of drama.

“Both my kids got stung with a wasp whilst on a school outing to the play park.”

“But,” I attempted to change the doom and gloom of the conversation.

“There’s a fun side to the sunny weather too, because it’s really amusing to see people out with sandals on for the first time in the year.”

“Especially as they still manage to wear a pair of socks with them!”

“And I love the fact that at the first sign of sunshine, even although it’s not that hot, people pull out their tiny vests so that they can show off their multitude of tattoos.”

“And that includes the women!”

“But the best look for me last summer was the young couple sauntering along Airdrie High Street in almost identical matching outfits.”

“Vests, shorts, baseball caps, and gleaming white designer trainers.”

“Nothing unusual in that for a sunny day,” Christine queried.

“No nothing at all, except for the fact that they were both wearing electronic police monitoring ankle tags.”

The girls were in fits of laughter.

“And…. neither made an attempt to hide their plastic ankle jewellery.”

So although Seasonal Affective Disorder is a challenge for some people, the sunshine, it appears, brings its challenges too.

What with barbecue food poisoning, wasp stings, hay fever, bites and sun stroke.

So, taps aff everybody and make the most of the sunshine whilst it lasts!