Its great kite flying weather here at the moment; and although we have had rain there have been many wonderfully blue sky windy days which shout out – Kites!

My grandfather had the great skill of beachcombing parts of kites. Many of these had never had any ambition for flying but nevertheless, carrier bags and old yoghurt pots were tied together and handed over to various children to be flown. For the most part, the kites did fly, needless to say with much backwards running along beaches and cries of ‘ I think it needs a longer tail!’

As an adult, I discovered kite shops. Two string kites, the kite festivals on Black health common and eventually when I came to Scotland and came across the wonderful sandy beaches. Four string and power kites.  The best of days come when you have a kite in your bag and potter about the place looking for a place to fly it.  (Packed lunch or promised pub lunch go hand in hand with kite flying.)

I have friends whose kites lift them from the ground, their intentions to bound ‘giant like’ along the shore, (the reality more often than not being skinned knees and elbows). Others have taken to the board and combined their kite skills with the love of the sea. I must admit to enviously watching them and plotting to ‘have-a-go!’ Certainly kiteboarding is on my bucket list but, I think my favourite type of kite flying is on a sunny day laying in the beach grass or the Scottish machair,  cheese sandwich in hand looking up at a blue sky and watching a colourful playful kite. Life can be great.

If you fancy making, buying or flying a kite here are some links to get you started. I’ve included a link to the kite calendar. Have fun.

http://www.wikihow.com/Fly-a-Kite

http://www.kitecalendar.co.uk

http://www.coventgardenlondon.co.uk/features/the_kite_shop.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Kite