MY social media feed is currently filled with pictures of beach-tousled children, sun-kissed parents and glasses of rosé the size of a human head. The holiday season is in full swing.

If, like me, you're not going away this year, then there are a few activities happening in Salisbury that could be strung together to form some kind of “staycation”.

The vintage, farmers and teenage markets are all held in August, and there are concerts every Sunday afternoon throughout the month as well.

Punting is new for us in town, and I'm hoping it will be successful.

However, there does seem to be a lack of varied al fresco activities on offer. I know the weather is usually rubbish, but other cities and towns are bubbling over with open air theatre and film screenings, fireworks, fairs, fetes and mini festivals – so why aren't we?

When it comes to fun in the fresh air, we are still a bit more Sainsbury's than summer breeze.

So it's up to us to make the most of the city this summer (while maybe daydreaming a little about overseas travel.) Many shops are now open later on a Sunday so, instead of travelling to places like Bath, it's actually pretty nice to have a potter round town and support our local independent shops and businesses.

There has been criticism about our re-vamped Market Place, but it's here to stay so we may as well make the most of it, and enjoy sitting out and watching the world go by - perhaps pretending we're in an Italian piazza (the belief will increase in direct proportion to the number of glasses of wine drunk.) In fact, we could even pose for Facebook-worthy pictures by the river - if you get close enough to the water, and with the right light it could pass for the Mediterranean. Maybe...

Then next year, if there are more summer activities in the city, we wouldn't even need to imagine we were somewhere else. We could just be proud of a city that has so much potential.