Drink in hand and daughter happily splashing away beside me, all in all I have to admit I’m feeling pretty smug.
Because, this year, when it comes to making the most of the summer, you have had to be at the top of your game.
Until now, grey skies and intermittent rain have been the order of the day.
But, finally, the time has come to junk the jumpers and slip into swimwear — today, summer is finally set to sizzle.
Tom Rawstone (pictured) takes a look at the best pop up pools for every budget
All week we have watched as across Europe records have been smashed by the so-called Saharan bubble — on Wednesday it was the turn of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic to hit their highest ever June temperatures. Yesterday, the mercury in France topped 45c.
Now it’s our turn to get the pressure cooker treatment with temperatures predicted to soar into the 30s.
The only trouble is that blink — and you’re likely to miss it. In what could turn out to be one of the shortest heatwaves of all time, the freak conditions are expected to dissipate rapidly, with Monday set to be 10c degrees cooler than today.
And many experts are warning that because of climate change, this could be the shape of things to come — short, sharp bursts of unbearable heat.
Of course, when it comes to the pool itself, the proof is in the pudding. My nine-year-old daughter Martha is something of an expert. Already a keen competitive swimmer, she has been nagging me for years to get a pool of her own (Tom with his daughter Martha)
Best for big gardens is Zodiac Hippo Original Rectangular Pool, £6,495, splashandrelax.co.uk
So how to cope? Simple. Get your own pop-up swimming pool — for the day.
After all, if the sun’s only going to shine for a matter of hours, there’s little point in enduring the fuss, faff and considerable cost of maintaining one all-year-round.
And while a paddling pool’s all well and good, when the heat’s on you want to submerge yourself in something a little bit more substantial.
So, on Thursday, I put a call in to David Donald, whose company Splash and Tickle specialises in renting out swimming pools, hot tubs and spa equipment.
‘Some people don’t want the hassle of a permanent pool,’ he tells me.
‘There’s all the effort of
