A great reign, a long rain!

Knight to remember:

Sir Paul McCartney performed outside Buckingham Palace during the Jubilee concert, a part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, on June 4, 2012 in London. 

For only the second time in the nation's history, the UK celebrates the Diamond Jubilee of a monarch as Queen Elizabeth II celebrates the 60th anniversary of her ascension to the throne.  Macca sang All My Loving, Let it Be, Live and Let Die [with fireworks] and finished with Obladi Oblada when he was joined on stage by the rest of the performers
Getty Images via @daylife

On the mend: the Prince  Getty Images via @daylife

Simply Wonderful: Stevie performs for the Queen
Getty Images via @daylife

They say it's windy around the Trossachs - and the Duke of Edinburgh should know. He spends a fair amount of time in Scotland where the cold can whip around the kilted regions.
Prince Philip, nearing his 91st birthday but showing the spirit of men more than half his age, was nowhere near any quiet lochs and was certainly not wearing tartan attire when he did his royal duty by standing for hours in cold, driving wind and rain on a fancy barge on the noisy, crowded Thames last weekend ... but he still suffered a nasty infection.
The people in our village took no such chances during Diamond Jubilee celebrations and called off a picnic in the park because of the weather. Therefore, no weather-related bladder complaints ... as far as I know [read on].

Ahoy there: the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant was watched by millions - but the Prince suffered    ComSec

It put a dampener on proceedings but at least we could all stay indoors and watch the impressive Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the day we should have been eating outdoors. The wet Union flags looked distinctly out of place as I drove around the village taking the odd picture.

Passing with flying colours: the village pump roundabout 

Many people had taken the time to dress their houses to mark the Diamond Jubilee but the good old British weather put a stop to any thought of outdoor parties last weekend.

House with style: what a gem of Diamond Jubilee display

Television coverage went on for hours and we duly watched the good old reliable BBC do a fine job. No flypast down the River Thames because the weather was far too murky, but the event was still worth watching.
The following day it was a pop concert in front of Buckingham Palace and the Queen appeared  immediately after evergreen Tom Jones had belted out a couple of numbers.
Stevie Wonder was an absolute blast, although the likeable Will.i.am looked a little lost trying to sing Happy Birthday with the legendary Mr Wonder.
There were some good acts, some not so good, and it was all wrapped up by Sir Paul McCartney who is 70 this month. It was an impressive finale to a great show organised by Gary Barlow, helped by having the Queen Victoria Memorial as the stage and Buckingham Palace as the backdrop.
While Londoners and TV viewers were treated to the showcase event, our village staged its own version of the Olympics by way of celebration. Those who took part certainly seemed to enjoy themselves as they went for gold by high-jumping blindfolded from a standing position etc - you get the picture - and the man on the public address system certainly surpassed expectations. He could be heard at the far reaches of the village.
Tuesday in London culminated in a flypast of Second World War aircraft and the Red Arrows over the Buckingham Palace balcony as thousands gathered in front of the gates of the building and lined The Mall. It was an impressive sight and was a suitable finale to the nation's public celebrations.

Warm and welcoming: villagers put on a great Jubilee display

More importantly for us, the formation of World War II aircraft [Spitfires and Hurricanes] flew over the outskirts of our village about half-an-hour beforehand, so we had a sneak but distant preview. The giveaway was the distinctive noise of the engines as they headed south and seeing them reminded us that we had better get indoors and switch on the TV if we wanted to see the climax to the Jubilee knees-up. 
It was of particular interest to my mother-in-law, who still recognises most of the Royal family despite suffering from Alzheimer's [mother-in-law, not the Royals]. All in all, a good time was had by all despite the weather.
Meanwhile, the rain keeps falling and the hosepipe ban continues in our part of soggy East Anglia. Surely we can't be in drought at this moment. They say British people are preoccupied by the weather. I wonder why?