Category Archives: Weather

Countdown

Leave a comment

Almost 2 weeks since my last post. While I haven’t been writing there seems to have been plenty to keep me occupied. Sometimes it is difficult to get motivated to write as I am loathe to repeat myself and after 14.5 years of blogging it can begin to feel like more of the same. However, in a lot of respects our lives and routines are remarkably repetitive.

The spring weather is as unpredictable as ever with days that hint of the coming summer interspersed with others that feel like winter. Nevertheless, we are enjoying the spring flowers and fresh foliage growth. The fleeting nature of spring flowers makes them particularly special as we have a small window to enjoy them before they are gone for another year. The daffodils are finished but the wisteria are looking their best this week.

Like every year, 2025 seems to be gathering speed as we race towards the end of the year. We no longer have work Christmas parties, end-of-year school activities or even a huge focus on a family Christmas but the countdown to Christmas has crept up on me.

We had a short break last week and spent 3 nights at Walhalla, about 3 hours east of Melbourne. It is a historic gold-mining town which now has a permanent population of 20.

This is a view from our accommodation one evening.

It occurred to me today that it is 10 weeks until we fly to Europe for a trip which we hope may include a white Christmas.

Before that we have another 2 night short break here in Victoria as well as about 10 days in Queensland visiting family, a weekend of volunteering/attending the local Folk Festival and the usual round of events, meetings, visitors and so on.

I really do need to be organised to make sure everything goes smoothly.

How do you feel about the latter part of the year? Are you planning or already prepared for Christmas and the year’s end?

Garden Notes – Signs of Spring

Leave a comment

It is almost a month since my last proper blog post. I took some time away from writing as there did not seem to much of note that was worth writing about. Additionally, I find a certain level of inertia sets in at the end of winter. Autumn and the early part of winter have a certain excitement as we relish the change of season after a long, hot summer and we look forward to bracing walks, some cosy indoor time with our latest craft projects and the opportunity to indulge in pots of warm soups and comfort food. However, by the time late August rolls around I am itching to toss aside the multiple layers and once again be out and about in the sunshine.

We are finally beginning to see some real signs of spring.

The daffodils are in full bloom. You can’t help but feel happy when surrounded by their bright yellow blooms.

Other flowers include borage and the first blooms on the espaliered nectarine.

Lettuce are ready to begin picking for salad as the weather starts to warm up.

There was much excitement today as we had 2 rainwater tanks delivered. They are only relatively small but fit neatly between the shed and the back fence. The water collected will be a useful addition for the garden during the hot, dry summer. They will be connected and ready to go early next week.

I think a final word on the coming of spring here in Victoria needs to go to a Facebook friend who posted this. It just about sums up where we live perfectly.

Wishing you a pleasant weekend wherever you are and whatever the season may be.

Stocked Up

Leave a comment

We have arrived home after a couple of night away at Sale which is about 4 hours drive from home. You can read all about it here.

Apart from the obvious holiday we used the travel wisely to source some grocery items with having to deviate too far out of our way.

The route took us through Melbourne so we took advantage of the fact that it was Tuesday and we called in to Graina at Moonee Ponds where we buy most of our bulk dry goods. Each Tuesday they offer a 20% discount if you bring your own containers which I always do anyway. I did not have too much on my list but managed to top up a few things. I also stopped at Ray’s Top Nuts nearby for a couple of other things.

As we continued towards Sale I noticed a roadside stall, The Spud Shed with a board advertising potatoes for $1/kg. I made a note to check this out on our return trip. The advertised potatoes were clearly small/seconds but they suit our needs perfectly and I selected a couple of kilos.

Our next stop was in the outer south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne at the warehouse for Australian Organic Products. I had ordered a 20 litre drum of laundry liquid by Kin Kin Naturals. The laundry and dishwashing products are produced by a small family business in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, not far from where we lived in Queensland where I bought them in recycled containers, directly from the maker, Felix. I had to change my purchasing arrangements once we relocated to Victoria and I discovered I could source the products through Australian Organic Products but the delivery costs are pretty steep to our regional location so I used the opportunity to pick up my order directly from the warehouse.

We usually do our regular grocery shopping in Bendigo at a greengrocer and Aldi but since we were traversing the suburbs of Melbourne we took advantage of suitable hops along the route.

This is everything I bought in our travels apart from the 20 litre drum of laundry liquid.

The weather is tipped to be cold and wet tomorrow so I am looking forward to staying indoors and working on some more of the patchwork blocks.

The Next Step

Leave a comment

We are making progress on completing the lounge to the way we want it.

Some of you might remember this post from late February. Well there have been a few hiccups along the way but the window installation was finally completed today.

We will need to paint the frames both inside and outside and then I will see about choosing a blind. In the meantime, we will rehang the piece of fabric that has been covering the old window for the past couple of years. Bare glass is not a good idea at this time of the year.

The choice of louvres will be fully appreciated in the summer as they will provide good cross-ventilation.

Speaking of painting, we spent some time painting the pickets of our newish fence. It has been several months since it was installed but the weather has been either too hot or too cold and a few days ago we had rain to further delay us. Of course, we also seem to manage to be away or otherwise socially engaged. However, today was perfect. After a frosty start we were blessed with a glorious sunny day and no wind. Hopefully, there will be a few more days like today in the not too distant future to enable us to finish that project.

Winter Weather

Leave a comment

It is technically still autumn but the weather has been feeling distinctly like winter the past few days.

We have had a couple of frosty mornings. This was the view of the paddock across the road yesterday.

There was a light frost on our back lawn, too. You can see the promise of a glorious sunny day though.

Meanwhile, we have planted some seedlings.

Cauliflower

And some spinach. They are tiny but will hopefully survive.

As if we cannot get enough winter weather here, we are off to northern Europe for Christmas and possibly a white Christmas. Even though it is almost 7 months until we leave, it is a good time to be considering what clothes and shoes we will need.

I bought this jacket in the snow gear sale at Aldi yesterday. It will get some use here during the winter but it is primarily for our trip.

Today we were walking in the main street of our small town when a display in the window of a boutique caught my eye. It was an absolutely perfect coat. I am now completely ready for winter in both hemispheres.

If only it would rain…………I would be happy. Stay safe wherever you are and whatever the weather.

An Average Autumn Day

Leave a comment

Although I often post about the significant and eventful happenings here, there are many days that just hum along as we do the things we do. I find this particularly so during autumn as the extreme heat and occasional storms of summer are behind us.

Autumn weather brings a benign mildness as the leaves begin to turn and we continue to harvest the last of the summer produce.

An outdoor view.

Picked from the garden.

The tomatoes I grew were from gifted seedlings from 3 different sources. I am not sure of all of the varieties but some were definitely ‘Beefsteak’ which is now my favourite tomato. So, when I discovered that one of these tomatoes had been attacked by some wildlife I decided that it was the perfect specimen from which to salvage some seeds.

Tomato seeds drying on some paper towel.

I did two loads of washing which included our bed linen. I remade the bed with the freshly laundered linen after it had dried in the warm sun and breeze.

An inviting bed at the end of the day.

Checking In

Leave a comment

I did not expect to make any more posts here until we return from our holidays.

However, this is a brief update on Cyclone Alfred which, whilst not particularly strong, is inching ever closer to Brisbane and the equally densely populated Sunshine Coast to the north and Gold Coast to the south. There are over 4 million people in the region who are under threat of strong winds, torrential rain and storm surges over the next 24 hours or so.

Brisbane is my hometown and I have friends and family who are directly in the path of the cyclone/hurricane right now, including one of our daughters and our 2 teenage granddaughters.

Please take care.

GMan’s Handiwork

Leave a comment

Tonight I want to show you a couple of recent projects that GMan has been working on.

First, a rack of hooks for our walk-in wardrobe. These were in the wardrobe when we moved in but we removed them before the recent remodelling of the pantry and wardrobe. I decided that I wanted to retain them but in a slightly different position. They are very handy for half-worn clothes as well as the occasional belt or scarf. GMan removed the hooks from the original backing board as it was damaged, bought a new piece of timber and did all of the necessary preparation and painting before reattaching the hooks. This was quite difficult by all accounts. Today it was replaced in its new position. The only thing left to do is filling the screw holes but that can wait for another day.

The other job was creating a permanent barrier between the shed and the back fence. It had previously been blocked up by a piece of metal which is needed for some other garden landscaping so it was time to attach an offcut of Colorbond sheeting which had been set aside for the purpose.

The photo does not do it justice but there were several steps, including attaching a timber support to the back fence as well as adding a timber baseboard to account for the slight slope. The sheeting was cut to size and screwed to the timber support and the corner of the shed.

The reason for needing this area blocked off is to prevent the dog gaining access to the driveway and front garden. Her domain is restricted to the backyard.

Speaking of animals, I will finish this post with a photo I took this evening as we were coming home for our walk. We live in the town but the local wildlife are frequently in evidence around the streets. This has been particularly so in recent times as it is very dry at the moment and the kangaroos are looking for reliable sources of water.

Sewing Skills

Leave a comment

I am not a professional seamstress or dressmaker but I do have reasonable sewing skills and am always ready to turn my hand to a bit of upcycling. It was with these skills in mind that I picked up a couple of things at the op shop today.

I spotted (pardon the pun) a cute pair of pyjamas which look as though they have never been worn. I love the colour and pattern plus the fact that they are 100% cotton. I bought them without trying them on as I knew that there are multiple ways to use the fabric.

Well, the shirt is a great fit so that is a win.

The bottoms need a little bit of work to make them perfect but I am confident that with some simple alterations I will have a brand new set of pyjamas for the princely sum of $4 plus a bit of time and handiwork from me.

I have removed the waist elastic which was too soft and obviously perished. Perhaps, these have been sitting in someone’s cupboard and unworn for an extended period of time. I am going to turn them into boxer shorts rather than mid-calf length trousers. This will give me enough excess fabric to make them a bit wider at the sides as well as extending the length of the crotch. I will use my existing pattern as a guide for these adjustments.

I also scored this collarless men’s shirt for $3. It is 100% linen and there is plenty of fabric for me to unpick it and remake into another summer linen top for myself. I can’t have too many sleeveless linen tops while the temperature continues to hover around 35C and above.

Processing Plums

Leave a comment

It is that time of the year when everything seems to be ripening at once. I have a nectarine tree but no other stone fruit, however, there are plums aplenty around town and I have received some from 3 different sources in the last week so today I made jam using 3.4kg of plums.

This is the result.

These were the first batch of plums I was given. They don’t look much but have a lovely flavour and beautiful deep red flesh.

Since having an airfryer I have discovered that it is a relatively quick and easy way to sterilise the jars and lids rather than having to turn the oven on. That is definitely a consideration on a day like today when the forecast temperature was 37C (98.6F).

However, it was not all plain sailing as I had a calamity with the second batch of jars. Thankfully there were only 4 of them but they came to grief when I managed to catch the handle of airfryer with my oven mitt and send the contents flying across the kitchen floor. One jar broke but that was all. GMan kindly swept up the broken glass while I retrieved the remainder and the lids, re-washed them and started the process again.

The other job was somewhat simpler than jam-making as I had some gifted oranges to juice. It is the first time I have had fresh orange juice since we moved here which has been a bit of a shock after having what seemed like an endless supply from the 3 trees we had in our previous garden.

Finally, we were delighted to record 42mm of rain in a series of thunderstorms overnight. It has given the garden a welcome soaking during what has been several weeks of fairly hot, dry weather.