ne'er cast a clout ..

till may be out ...

I remember as a child being reassured when I was told that the rhyme meant the hawthorn blossom and not the month, as it was so hot, I couldnt possibly wait till June to lose layers.
Now its the other way around, the fires are alight and I put my coat on to go outside and it seems much too cold to be seeing the blossom I used to think of as the froth of summer.