Butternut Squash Risotto

These are the ingredients for BB's butternut squash risotto which is on the menu for tonight's supper in the Dower House.

This is exactly the kind of fare required to keep body and soul together when living in a constant drizzle and a temperature of 6 degrees... in May.

Prince Charles spelled out today's weather when he took the mike at the BBC studios in Glasgow yesterday. I think I've heard the recording about six times, and also seen it committed to print in several papers, such was the apparent noteworthiness of the occasion; but he certainly got the right prognosis.

The Meadows are fast returning to the loch of their pre drained past, with huge puddles along the path outside the house and spongy, water logged grass.

The cherry blossom is in its death throes, falling thickly like pink confetti over the ground; but we can't complain, we have had the most beautiful pink vista for three weeks, and now it's the other trees with their green tracery of new leaves that are beginning to take centre stage.

My primulas on the patio are in danger of swimming out over the top of their tubs. If they don't manage to escape first, they will surely drown.

The good news on the radio at lunchtime was that drought restrictions have been lifted in 19 areas in England after the wettest April on record and probably the best monthly sale of umbrellas ever.

Tomorrow is going to be better.