Here comes the heat

 We have been fortunate to have had lovely coolish weather for a couple of weeks but this weekend the heat will be back again with 35C days and it is already frightfully hot in the Outback where my daughter lives. I don't know how they cope with that heat. Unfortunately I planted my hollyhocks too late and they won't like the coming heat one little bit. 

As I mentioned in a recent post I asked the Council gardeners when to plant hollyhock seeds in Toowoomba and they said that they plant theirs in March. I planted these in winter which obviously was much too late...

...as I think the edges of the flowers on this bush are getting burned. This red hollyhock was from seeds a friend gave me a few years ago...

...as well as this light pink one and the darker pink in the first photo. However I also planted a whole packet of Mr.Fothergill's Chaters Double Mixed Hollyhock and so far...

...only this one has appeared. I have also bought some black hollyhock seeds on eBay so will give them a try next March just for variety. I just love hollyhocks. I also am going to experiment with growing Foxgloves for the first time. I don't really have a green thumb but will give it a go anyway :-)

Despite the lack of a green thumb some of the roses are flowering beautifully without too much TLC from me. I think sometimes that I kill my plants with kindness and water them too much. Oops!

Now that it is getting hotter and I have just finished using Efudix on my arms to get rid of the skin cancers, I have started wearing these  sun protector sleeves I bought on eBay a few years ago. They are easy to slip on when going outside and can also be used to protect your skin when driving, playing golf etc. Not that I play golf mind you. Hopefully I can prevent too much more skin damage as I am a tad tired of using this cream and it costs $55 or so a tube so isn't cheap. 

Last week I made a few covers to put over bowls of food to keep the flies off during summer. They should come in handy. These are reversible. 

On the The Home Maker's Forum  we have been having a challenge of sorts to make something we haven't made before using sourdough starter discard. I don't usually have any discard but do have plenty of starter so made some of Little Spoon Farm's Sourdough Crackers. These taste very cheesy even though there is no cheese in them and they are so easy to make. They will last a week in an airtight container but I think most families have them eaten by then judging by comments people have made. 

Tin sheep for sale at a previous Bush Christmas. 

Toowoomba's Bush Christmas is still going ahead despite the pandemic and will be held from Wednesday 25th November to Friday 4th December. There are some narrow hallways in the venue so I imagine there are going to be a lot of people counting how many visitors are in the rooms at a time as it is normally very busy especially on the first days of the exhibition. It is a good time to buy some really nice Christmas presents made by our artisans who live in the more remote areas of Queensland. 

Life goes on as normal here in Queensland as far as we are concerned but from what I hear on the news the pandemic is spreading in many countries around the world. I hope and pray that you and your loved ones keep safe and well wherever you live. We are thinking of you.