Tag Archives: weather

What A Weekend!!

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I have finally come back to earth after a huge weekend. It was the 50th Maldon Folk Festival which is is held in our small town. The whole event is organised by a small committee and an enthusiastic band of volunteers. It is spread over 4 days in multiple indoor and outdoor venues with dozens of artists from Australia and overseas. For the third year in a row, GMan and I both did some volunteer shifts but that left plenty of time to see some amazing talent.

Here are some photos I took during several performances.

The Royal High Jinx – high energy and lots of fun.

The Bushwackers – an Australian institution since 1971 – with numerous line-up changes but as authentic as ever.

Eric Bogle – a Scotsman who has called Australia home for many years and his iconic song, ‘And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda’.

The cleverly named group, The Tequila Mockingbirds, including local legend Mick Coates and their special brand of Cowboy Swing.

The Sweet Sorrows, an Irish/Australian duo with haunting and delicate harmonies.

There was definitely something for everyone and the weather added a touch of drama on the last evening. Just after 7pm a storm rolled in with wind, rain and torrent of tiny hail which blanketed the town in what looked like snow but was in fact, ice made up of millions of tiny hailstones.

This is a view of Main Street.

Countdown

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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

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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.

Finally

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We, along with a large swathe of southern Australia, have been holding our breath and hoping for rain. The farmers are really desperate.

Well, we have finally received some rain in the past couple of days. It has mostly been very light and barely more than drizzle at times but at least it is rain. We have had 23mm here in about 48 hours. Much more is needed but at least that is a start.

Along with the rain it has been bitterly cold today. Unfortunately, GMan and I were volunteering at the market which is held by the local Neighbourhood Centre. I did have an opportunity to test out my recent ski jacket purchase and it stood up to the job admirably. You can check it out here. The ‘feels like’ temperature hovered around 1.5C for the 2.5 hours that I was standing at the market entrance. I feel as though I am some way to being prepared for 5 weeks in Europe in December and January.

Although the ski jacket and coat I bought a couple of weeks ago were brand-new, the majority of my clothes are sourced second-hand. I was in Melbourne on Friday and managed to find a pair of black Sportscraft trousers for $6. There is no photo at the moment as I wore them yesterday and today (with a thermal layer underneath). In fact there has been nothing particularly photo-worthy so I thought I would share this one from the alcove near the change rooms when I bought my trousers. The sentiment is terrific – the spelling ………….not so much.

Winter Weather

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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

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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

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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.

Sewing Skills

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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.

Home Again

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We are safely home after being away for 3 weeks. It was fun to spend time with family and friends in different surroundings but it is also good to be back and I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.

Here is a quick round-up of what has been happening.

The gifted quilt is now in its new home.

A final farewell to some of the family.

A couple of shots of an approaching storm yesterday. We had to pull off the road as there was a short burst of wind, very heavy rain and some hail. Thankfully, there does not appear to be any damage to the car.

It was a hot, sunny day here and I was able to do 2 loads of washing when we arrived home and get them all dried this afternoon. Now the folding and ironing awaits…………

Refreshed and Ready

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We are on our way home from our holidays and will be back in familiar surroundings by Wednesday afternoon. Relaxing in motel accommodation with no specific demands on your time provides plenty of opportunities to plan.

I have been jotting down notes on my phone of things I would like to do once we are home. Some are small tasks that will literally take 5 minutes. An example is updating the rainfall chart which has not been done since we went away. We have a rather clever electronic rain gauge which automatically records the rainfall from midnight to midnight each day and does not require emptying. The weather station which is indoors records this data for a maximum of 30 days so all of the information will be stored for when we arrive home. I then transfer these records into an Excel spreadsheet which is useful to be able to compare the data year on year.

There are other much larger projects but they will still depend on me taking the first step. Some have been being discussed at length but a new year is a good time to get the ball rolling. One such project is replacing the gas cooktop/900mm electric oven with an induction cooktop as well as a smaller (600mm) built-in oven. The very first thing I need to do is to contact our electricity supply company to ensure that the amperage of our supply is sufficient to support the induction cooktop.

I have a number of sewing projects that I am keen to work on and it will be a matter of prioritising them.

The holiday has been fun but now I am ready to make a start on new projects – large and small – as well as continuing with existing assignments. You are sure to hear more about some of them as time goes by.