Windy Weather

Spring in Sydney brings very changeable and unpredictable weather. Yesterday was supposed to be a hot day, ending with thunderstorms in the late afternoon. As days went, it was warm and cloudy, but not hot. The storms, when they came, brought us a little rain, but not much else. It looked menacing on the way home, but a few drops of rain and a little wind was all we got.

Later in the night it was a different story. The wind howled around as it rattled everything in it's path, and the rain came tumbling down. Everything was safe though, or so I thought.

This morning when I went to go out, I found this birds nest on my back lawn. There were three nests  in the neighbour's gum tree, and on closer inspection it was the kurrawong's nest that was missing. The two crow's nests at the very top of the tree were both still there.

On close inspection again, I could see two baby kurrawongs sitting in the tree. Babies because their tail feathers are not very long. I only managed to get one baby in the photo though, and he is being protected very well by one of his parents. I am not sure how well they can fly yet, I will watch and observe.

The Calm Before The Storm

Two days ago I spotted this little fellow sunning himself on a leaf. He must have known something was up, getting all the warmth he could before the big freeze. The Southerlies have arrived from the Arctic, bringing snow to the ranges not too far from here. Winter has arrived early & with a vengeance. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...........................

Winter... Or Is It Spring?

We are in July aren't we? Well, that's what the calendar tells me. July in Sydney usually means lots of coats, scarves, boots, in fact anything to keep away the freezing cold winds that blow off the snow. Anyone in Sydney over the last few days would think that we are in late spring. The days have been nothing but glorious. Temps in the 20's, in fact 23 yesterday. How is that in the middle of winter! Normally we are lucky to make 15 deg. We still have another 6 weeks of winter to go so surely this weather will break soon. I'll enjoy the sun while I can.

The Last of The Roses - Pt 2

One of my pink roses from the front garden. There are only a few blooms left.

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The weather yesterday was nothing short of dismal. It started with one of those very deep pink sunrises that was spread right across the sky. A little like the colour in the center of this rose, (Sorry, no pics) and I wondered what was in store for us. "Red in the morning, shepherd's warning" & all that. The cloud stayed for most of the day, with intermitant splashes of weak sunshine, and the temperature only made it to 10.9 deg C. Brr.................... Today is looking much better with bright sunshine already.

Winter Surprises

Well, it's winter, has been for a few days now, and for anyone who doen't believe this then just poke your nose into my garden. The snow has fallen about an hours drive away and the wind is whistling straight off the snow. As a consequence it reached only 13 deg C yesterday, but with the wind chill factor it felt like 5 deg C, so far the coldest day we have had for the year. This morning it got down to 2 deg C, the coldest overnight temp for the year. Mmm...... we are still in June. I wonder what the next few months have in store for us.

On the bright side, my saved dahlia is flowering. Considering this is a summer flowering plant, I am not quite sure what is happening. Adding a cheery smile to the garden in this weather can only be a good thing. I'll take anything.

Mother Nature's Rewards

We have had a fair bit of rain over the last few weeks, around 120mm ( nearly 5"). There have been times when the sun is out & then the clouds come scurrying across only to dump more rain. The result is that on occasions Mother Nature has rewarded us with some beautiful rainbows. The top one is viewed from my back balcony, over the gumtrees in the park.

This next one was taken out the windscreen of the car. I had been out to a textile exhibition opening in Western Sydney & was travelling home when this one appeared. At first it was only very short, and as I travelled further it grew until it spannned the sky. The colours were so vibrant, and at one stage it looked like it was landing on the bonnet of the car. I just had to stop the car and take this pic, though it does not do justice to the colours.

Rainbows have been rare over the last few years because of the drought. It is nice to see them again.

Winter Delights

Well, winter has shown it's face over the last few days. We have had a severe cold front move through the state, bringing with it snow to the mountains, cold winds off the snow in Sydney, and a minimum of 7 deg C this morning. Brrrr..... Winter is still officially over a month away so I hate to think what the middle of July will be like.

This morning's pic is my first jonquil in flower for the season. I think from memory that this is "Early Cheer". It is a single white one and different to all the others that are also getting ready to flower.

Shadows in The Mist

This morning was definately one to say the seasons had changed. Fog, and lots of it. The news reports were talking about fog over the city yesterday, but in our section of town there was no sign at all. Then last night on an after dinner walk, we noticed the mist comming in. We could see it start to converge around the street lights. Then this morning we woke up to the biggest pea souper we have seen in a while. This was the view to the park two houses down at 7 am. I might add here that it was well after 9am before the fog lifted & we finally saw the sun.

Parsley Germination

As autum continues, the morning temps are getting cooler. Just 9 degC in the garden this morning. The recent rain has also been welcome, making the ground soft, the weeds easy to remove, and germinating the parsley seeds that I let drop. I just hope the slug doesn't have these babies for dinner before they are big enough for me to use.

A Cool Morning

What was I saying about autmn yesterday? Cool crisp mornings? Mmmmm........................... this morning was certainly crisp, just 10 deg C in the garden this morning. That so far is the coolest morning of the year. Winter is certainly on the way.

Singing In The Rain

It is raining in Sydney today, buckets of it, and just what all the new transplanted babies in my garden need. 28mm of the wet stuff yesterday, and it is still comming down.

I have transplanted double jonquils, african daisies, two dahlias, and split apart this daisy into quite a few different plants. I also want to split up my shasta daisies as well. A job for another day. The pic above are of jonquils comming up in another bed. I have them scattered all over the garden, and have just recently given away a bucket full of bulbs. So watch this space to see them bloom in the comming weeks.

Red In The Morning.......................

There is something to be said for old sayings. I used to hear as a child "Red in the morning, shepherd's warning." Well, this was the sunrise yesterday morning as viewed from my back door, and I thought of that saying as I pondered what was in store for us for the day weatherwise. It was a sunny/ cloudy kind of day, nothing special ,until I spotted the cloud formation to the south of us around mid afternoon. Storms are my phobia & I watch them like a hawk. This one wasn't doing anything much, well at least not wandering too close to us. There was rain in it, but we weren't getting any. It wasn't until much later, after dinner , that the rumbles & flashes started. This one was comming from the west and was making it's presence known very loudly. Putting on a fantasic light show, it thankfully didn't wander too far east. Just far enough to give a little drink to my garden.

A Visitor in Autumn

One day I will get a great pic of a dragon fly. I have tried a few times & so far this is the best that I have got. This little one made a visit to my garden with one of his friends last week. I do not see them very often so it was a pleasure to have them.

It is Autumn in Sydney and this morning definately had signs that summer is gone the chilly weather is on it's way. A minimum of 13 degrees overnight, this has been the coolest night so far this year. We have also had some rain. A late afternnoon storm on the weekend, then two later at night, brought a total of 32mm to the garden, which made pulling weeds yesterday easy.

Australian Contrasts & A Lizard Rescue

This last week has been one of lots of things happening in the real world. Around the country we still have fires in Victoria, there have been floods in Queensland, floods along the North Coast of NSW, and the valley where I grew up had over 28inches of rain. There was a National Day of Mourning on Sunday with a special service held in Melbourne for the fire victims of Black Saturday. This service was telecast all around the country and I watched some of it with the comfort of my tissue box. Very moving, with addresses by politicians, dignatories, and HRH Princess Anne. The music created by combinations of orchestra, didgeridoo & sticks was haunting and will live with me forever.

Here in Sydney my garden has had a drink with most of last week being wet. One morning I went to read the guage to find a lizard sitting at the bottom. Lucky we hadn't had too much rain the day before, as he was still alive with his head just poking above water, though I figured he must have been very cold. It took a while to get him out, he kept wanting to run back into the guage, even though I had emptied the water out & layed the guage on it's side. He must have just wanted to get warm first. He eventually came out & sat sunbaking on the table, only to be gone later when I came to check on him. Maybe he will be more careful next time.

My Country

There is a poem called "My Country", by Dorothea Mackellar, which has come to mind after so many years. It was a poem that I learnt in Primary school, and had forgotten about until yesterday, when I woke up to the tragic news comming out of Victoria. The second verse of this poem says it all today. This past week in Victoria, the temperatures have risen to record highs, and I mentioned to anyone who would listen that this was a bushfire waiting to happen. Well happen it did. 108 lives (& still counting) and over 750 homes, this is Australia's worst ever natural disaster. My heart goes out to everyone in Victoria. Be strong.

Summer Scorcher

Yesterday was a scorcher of a day. It got to 41C ( 106F) and my garden is suffering.

My poor pink roses fried in the hot dry conditions, drying out before they even opened properly. We finished the day with a small sprinkling of rain from a thunderstom, but it wasn't enough to do much good, and with water restrictions, I have to wait until Sunday before I can give them a drink. So I have been out this morning & deheaded them all, encouraging the new growth to return. Lucky there are still some buds that did no suffer too much.

Summer Colour

Sydney's weather has been typical summer lately. We have had over 5" of rain in December & now we are getting the January heat. 35 Deg C yesterday & 37 the day before. It is also predicted for another hot one again today but hopefully with storms today to cool everything down again. As a result, my geraniums are flowering a treat in my hanging baskets. This one contains a pretty mauve/pink & a deep red one.

Another Hibiscus

Well, the weather people certainly got it right over the weekend. From a cool top temp of 18 degrees on Friday, we got to over 31 degrees on Saturday. Now that is more like the summer that I know. Hot winds from the west certainly helped to remove all that humidity that was hanging around after the rain, but it took just about all day to do it. The wind is still with us but has moved more around to the south now so it is much cooler again. The lovely rain that we had on Friday, combined with the heat of Saturday are just the perfect growing conditions for my hibiscus. This is the flower of my other hibiscus. I actually like this one better than the pink one.

More Rain

It's raining again this morning. Not that I am complaining, as my garden desperately needs it. It is just that I am over this cold weather. We got to a top of 19 degrees with an apparent temp of 14 degrees yesterday & in my way of thinking that is winter in this part of the world. It is after all summer in Sydney, & Christmas is around the corner. It really should be sunny & hot, with temps in the 30's. The weather people say it is going to be seriously hot tomorrow, but something serious is going to have to happen for us to get to that. In the meantime, my pots are all out from under cover getting a drink, including this geranium.

Caterpillar Party

Yesterday the weather forcast was for late showers & thunderstorms, so being the storm watcher that I am, I was checking the radar site to see if any were on their way. By 4pm there was a whole band of storms along the ranges, so hoping we would get our share of rain, I put all my wall pots out to get a drink. Doing so, I noticed one particular geranium looking a little sad, and on further inspection I found out why. There were at least five of these little creatures having a party on my plant. Needless to say the party was soon over. I might also add that the storms missed us totally.

This morning I noticed a very red sunrise, "red in the moning, shepherd's warning" and all that stuff. So I am hoping for some rain today, the forcast is for storms again, so we will just have to wait & see. There are more caterpillars having another party again this morning so I think it is time to bring out the heavy artillary................. bug spray!