What a bizarre spring!

I know that there is usually a bit of unsettled weather that comes with the change of seasons but temperatures of 35C (95F) and upwards in a cool temperate zone are a bit hard to take for those of us who are used to easing into the warmer weather and gradually doing away with the multiple layers of winter clothes. 

We had a lovely holiday at the beach where the temperatures were quite pleasant but the day we left we could feel a change in the air and within a couple of days we were smack bang in the middle of a heatwave. Records for the hottest day in November tumbled around Queensland as the temperatures continued to rise and we had to quickly dig through our wardrobes to find sleeveless tops and shorts or anything that looked cool. We survived the energy sapping heat and eventually our normal spring weather returned. Then the storms came and we were fortunate to get a little rain which we were grateful for.

Unfortunately Queensland's capital city of Brisbane was hammered by a hailstorm last week. The CBD was in its firing line and there was well over a million dollars of damage to the CBD and various suburbs and the city is still in recovery mode. The army was called in to help get rid of the debris which was blocking roads and thousands of cars were written off as the windows were smashed by cricket sized hail. My nephew had 52 hailstone hits to his car and everything on his patio was wrecked but he escaped damage to his unit otherwise. The unit behind him lost its roof and most of the other units in his complex had damage to the doors and windows. 

So November was a very unsettled month temperature wise and we can only hope for some normality over the Christmas holidays when so many families are travelling around Australia.

 

I did an end of the month walk around the garden to see if we had lost many plants but most were still okay. The Ollas came into their own on the hot days and I kept them filled most of the time. Rhonda's elderberry seedling make its way back from the Sunshine Coast in one piece and is growing nicely. It is probably used to the heat I would think.

There are so many figs growing that I think I will have to sew up some more calico bags to protect the fruit from the birds and the flying foxes. I will have a lot of preserving to do when I get back from Mt.Isa at the end of the month. 

 

We have another tamarillo tree growing courtesy of one of the birds that frequent our back yard and Tamarillo and Mustard Relish will be on the menu soon I think. 

 

 Our hydrangea bush is flowering profusely this year for some reason. Perhaps it likes being neglected as it hasn't been given a lot of water this year. I did cut it back hard when it last stopped flowering so perhaps that is the secret.

I love the different colours that are displayed as the flowers grow.

Hydrangeas are one of the old reliable bushes that seem to cope with being neglected...

...yet continue to blossom despite the lack of attention. A bit like some people...

 

...who are always reliable, work hard in the background without wanting to be in the spotlight but who are always there to brighten up a corner of somebody's life. 

I hope they brighten up some of my readers in the Northern Hemisphere who are enduring freezing weather at the moment. As for all of the Aussies...I hope we have a mild summer...but I am not holding my breath :-)