Why do the British always talk about the weather?

It's a British stereotype, isn't it?  Put a group of Brits in any social setting and the standard way to break the ice is to start a conversation about the weather.  Being British, the odds are that the conversation will not actually progress much past the weather.  If the group were French, American, Israeli or African, the odds are that you wouldn't leave until you had shared your life stories and been invited to stay should you ever pass near their home.  (I met a couple from Hawaii recently who gave me their card and said that I must drop by if I ever go to Hawaii!  Being Americans, I reckon they meant it, but I doubt that I will take them up on it.)  But we just talk about the weather.  Nice day, isn't it?  Hasn't it rained a lot recently?  Last night was a bit parky.  What's the forecast for tomorrow?

I think a lot of it is that we are just not used to sharing personal information verbally.  This seems odd, considering that most people seem to be happy to share all sorts of stuff with complete strangers on the internet (which I personally reckon is pretty unwise).  The weather is always unpredictable and seems a safe topic of conversation; when I was younger we were not allowed at family mealtimes to talk about cars, work, school, sport, religion or politics, which pretty well left the weather as the only topic!

So why am I writing about talking about the weather?  Well, I have lots of work that I'd like to do outside and haven't been able to because of the weather we've been having.  Right now I have stone walls to build, concrete and paving slabs to lay, plaster to mix (for inside) and things to sand and paint.  I can't really even tidy up the extension as most of it has to go in the shed which is on the far side of a sea of mud (which is where a lawn might be next year).  I made a start yesterday (Friday) by finishing one end of my low wall beside the drive and starting the foundations for the wall beside the front door, but there's a long way to go.

I now realise just how good the weather was last year, as I was able to take my pick of jobs according to priority, not according to the weather, and could do lots of messy jobs like sanding doors outside in the sun.  The only good side of it is that the grass seed which I sowed in hope during March has come up well - the irony is that I decided not to lay turf as I thought that the hosepipe ban would mean that it would dry up...