Hot, hot, hot.......

That's not an advertisement for a new product but a comment on the weather over here, in the Central West Plains of NSW, Australia, the last fortnight.

Temperature has broken local records at 45.8 deg Celcius. Thankfully the newly installed solar power system has saved us a small fortune as the air-conditioners have been in operation 24 hours a day, unlike previous years, as even the lowest night temperatures have been 24C or more. We had a hen die last week from heat stress. Ice containers cooling the water, wet patches on the ground where they can sit under the trees, and even shallow dishes to stand in didn't help on the day when the winds were hot and brisk. Two days before that one of our hens hatched 6 chickens in 44C heat! One died the next day, but it had a difficult hatch and was possibly blind so it may have been kinder that it did die, even though we took over the care and did our best for it.

Even the outside dog has been encouraged to come inside. She's 14 now so she feels the temperature changes more keenly.

 

Of course the cat is mostly inside as he "owns" the place....hahahaha....

The temperature dropped to 38C over the weekend but the humidity rose so the weather was still difficult to endure. I will definitely be glad when Autumn weather arrives with cooling breezes and the possibility of rain.

Mulching and deep watering infrequently has kept the  few vegetables and fruit trees alive, though my little Emperor mandarin has dropped all it's fruit. The lemon and the lime tree haven't flowered this year, but as they too are small, I'd rather the energy go into strengthening the tree than into fruit. The worms are still producing their type of fertiliser and I'm grateful for it as the compost isn't breaking down very quickly in this dry hot weather. Photo is about 2 litres of worm juice that I gather once a week.

I participated in a Christmas card swap last year, in a forum I am a member of, and received cards from 2 members in England. I should have posted these earlier, but it doesn't alter the fact that they are beautiful cards, and much work has gone into the making of them. Thanks again, Sarah and Josey.

Sarah's card

Josey's card

My card to Josey

Cheers,

Robyn Louise XO

Oh, Google works again and my little treats!

One of my NY aims was to try and blog more frequently but Google decided to put a spanner in that yesterday when I couldn't even log into my gmail, let alone reply to blog posts or make a new post. Looks like everything is back to normal now though.

I treated myself yesterday as I went for a look through Spotlight and Lincraft. Very disappointed in Lincraft as the shop looked scruffy with fabrics etc not put back, boxes of half unpacked items in the aisles and only a couple of staff that I could see, but spied a pair of pinking scissors in Spotlight that were 30% off, and I've wanted a pair for years since mine were lost but cringed at paying about $25-30 for them. These only cost me $13 so I'm very pleased. Spotlight had plenty of helpful staff too and the shop was very tidy considering the amount of shoppers there.

I also bought myself a 200gm Christmas box of Lindt chocolates for $5 at Woolies when I grocery shopped. Doesn't hurt to have a little treat every now and then :).

Slightly overcast day today and I'm hoping it will rain as after two 41C days I think the area needs a cool wet break.

Cheers,
Robyn xo

Weird weather

Yesterday was a miserable day like being back in the middle of Winter, icy winds, cloud cover but not much rain, we even lit the woodfire last night. Not very conducive to doing aything crafty and though I checked the vege garden I decided watering could wait as it was more likely that I would be the one becoming wet.

Today is a turning out nice as the air is still and there's no clouds. The dogs are having a nice run and I think I'll sit outside and soak up the sunshine and warmth while I have a cup of tea, then I'll water the garden.

Cheers,
Robyn xo

Hello Possum, it's raining now!

 Hello Possums, my other little possum showed itself the other night (9Oct) though it's been rousing on us from the pencil pine next to the house frequently. This time the rousing was a bit more distant, and my dog jumped up and down the River oak trunk, so it wasn't difficult to know where Poss was.

As Poss is posh and wears a white dinner vest with his suit and tail(s) he's easy to spot :D.


The rain finally decided to arrive so when it stops there's a new vege bed being constructed because now I won't end up with back ache and sore muscles trying to level it up. The vege beds here need to be terraced because of where the garden is. I must remind DH to finish fencing the paddock area adjoining the garden so I can plant the zucchini, pumpkins, melons and any other vines I fancy or it will be too late to bother as the hot weather will be arriving in a few weeks.


I love the patterns the falling rain makes on the water.

Cheers,
Robyn xo