Ah September - welcome!

September - the official start of the autumn according to the Meteorological office and I for one am not sorry to see the back of August. It has always been a month that I am not particularly fond of. Why? Because in August the UK seems to grind to a halt when half the business population not to mention the publishing world decamps to Cornwall or the Isle of Wight. Or if they can face the trauma of airports and flying then to Greece, Italy or the Mediterranean. My home town of Hayling Island, itself a holiday destination, becomes full of kids and senior citizens. And don't I love the latter, because at least they tumble into our lovely local bookshop and buy copies of my novels. Thank you.

Then there's the sailing fraternity who race through our streets towing their dinghies as they head full pelt to the Hayling Island Sailing Club, which seems to have bought up the eastern end of Hayling Island on mass. Not to mention the jet skiers who race through the roads towing jet skis as they head for the western end of Hayling Island. And of course I mustn't forget the wind surfers and kite surfers. I would of course mention sun bathers if we'd had any sun but it got lost somewhere across the channel in a perpetual blanket of grey. Depressing, I know, but the bookshop did well. No, I wasn't responsible for praying for a bleak August.

Do you get the hint of a grumpy old woman? Me? Never. No, I like September because at last you can get answers to your e mails and telephone calls, you don't have to queue as long in the post office or in traffic, you can go shopping without some disgruntled child whining in your ear, you can think about buying some new clothes for the approaching winter, and you can go for long walks without getting too hot.

Yes, welcome September and autumn, and despite the media being so full of doom and gloom, I for one am going to enjoy it.