"Hasta el cuarenta de mayo no te quites el sayo"

'Don't cast a clout til May is out.'

or, as they say here,

"Until the 40th of May, don't cast a clout, olé."

My friend the weather pessimist told me that one. (When I was whimpering about the cold November nights, she threatened me with icicles and burst pipes in January.)

A clout's a cloth, by the way.

Spring arrived last week. I remember it distinctly. Gorgeous, it was. I didn't wear a jacket for three days. I bought new clothes. In Spring colours. I bought new sandals.

I wore my new sandals on Monday, and it rained cats and dogs. It rained stair-rods. It poured. It bucketed. It's been doing it ever since.

So I'm back in my boots, jacket, polonecks and corduroy skirt this week - actually, I don't mind in the least. Quack!

I found this list of Spanish seasonal weather proverbs for anyone planning a wedding.

In loose translation:

- January blossoms don't make it to the fruit bowl.

- If January's a villain, February's worse.

- Crazy little February, windy March and rainy April make for a beautiful, flower-filled May.

- If you haven't seen the storks by San Blas (February 3) expect a year of snow.

- When March mays, then May marches!

- If March doesn't march, then April will be windy.

- April brings a thousand rains. And if the billy goat goes out for us, there'll be loads of rain. (?!?!?!) (Abril, lluvias mil. Y si nos sale cabrón, lluvias a mogollón )

- Water in May, bread all year long.

- In August and January, don't sunbathe without a hat.

- Don't walk in August, or sail in December.

- September either takes out bridges or dries up streams.

- Light your fire at the beginning of November.

- In December, canes freeze and chestnuts are roasted.