Back from holidays

 Last week a classmate and I drove to Caloundra for a holiday which we have done for the past three years. We always arrange a mini reunion with our old classmates at the same time as we are all in our seventies now and some have retired to the beach or the surrounding areas. 

Even the seagulls got out of the water quickly in the cold snap

Halfway through winter

Here we are halfway through winter already. We have had a couple of really freezing days when I actually had to search for my beanie and gloves which I rarely wear but today the forecast is for a 20C day and the sun is shining. 

The beginning of winter

Although the cold weather actually started here in May we are now officially in winter. The seasons seem to be very jumbled lately but I am not complaining that we missed the searing temperatures in the high thirties during summer. 

Technology changes

I rarely use the PC I am typing this on. I can't do a blog post on my iPad nor on my phone which has a small screen so have to resort to the PC. However I have just realised that when I take photos on my phone and send them to Gmail so that I can then resize them to be suitable for a blog post the options for resizing have changed. Years ago I was told to keep them under a certain limit for a blog post as Blogger was complaining about the size of photos at the time. 

Winter is here!

 Normally we ease into winter here but this year it has arrived early....at least that is what it seems to me. I can remember the weather being quite balmy at the beginning of winter a few years ago but that is certainly not the case now. At least the sun is shining again after weeks of overcast skies and rain and there is nothing like enjoying the sunshine on a cold, frosty and crisp morning. 

A cold snap, surgery and soapmaking

 As we are now in winter I suppose we shouldn't wonder why we are having a cold snap but it does seem to have come quite early in the season this year. Down in Victoria there is flooding which is bad enough when that happens in summer but must be dreadful in winter so I hope any readers from down there are doing okay and are keeping warm although I believe a lot of people lost power for quite a long time. Here in SE Queensland it is starting to warm up a little during the day which I am very thankful for.

A little rain and and a Blogger problem

We had a little rain overnight and I am sure nobody is complaining. We heard thunder yesterday for the first time in many months and hopefully some areas received helpful downfalls in the storms that passed through. We had mainly light rain where we live but I am not sure if it was heavier on the other side of town which is often the case. Still a little rain is better than no rain as it is extremely dry in many parts of Queensland and some towns are almost out of water.

The end of another month

It is hard to believe that we are almost at the end of July. Only five months till Christmas. LOL! I am sure nobody needed to be reminded about that fact. We have had a number of really warm days and it was actually 25C a couple of days ago and almost too hot to be out in the garden.

Brrr! A chilly start to winter

It has been a cool start to winter and the cold snap arrived right on cue! I was outside and could feel the cold front moving in but we can't really complain as we have had lots of beautifully warm autumn days.

Tracking the flu in Australia

A few years ago someone on the old Down to Earth forum wrote about the Flutracking Project in Australia. As it says on the website 'Flutracking is an online health surveillance system to detect epidemics of influenza'. I signed up and from next Monday, when this year's survey begins, it will only take me 10-15 seconds per week to answer a few questions about whether we have had the flu in our household. It is hoped that 3,000 more Aussies will sign up this year so would you like to be one of them.

Preparing for 2018's Winter Chills

Last year I made a version of Fire Cider for the first time. I was disappointed at the time to find that the horseradish I had planted didn't grow very well so I planted the root again and hoped for a better outcome this year. I have two plants in the ground and one in a large pot so I firstly had a look at the one in the pot and wasn't terribly happy but there was enough of the root to use in a bottle of Fire Cider. I still have to dig up the roots in the ground which hopefully have grown larger and will make up another bottle using the recipe from last year but will add horseradish as well.

Bee Hotel ~ All bees welcome!

I was visiting our local plant nursery Sungrown Seedlings last week and for some reason I asked if they had any Bee Hotels and blow me down, they did! If you are in Australia you may have seen Sophie Thomson demonstrate how to make one in this episode of Gardening Australia not long ago. That reminded me that I had intended to make one for some time but had never gotten around to it. It was on one of those 'One Day' lists. Do you have one or a few of them?

Are you sure it is winter?

The weather has been so warm recently that I have had to keep reminding myself that it actually still is winter. We have just had the warmest July on record in our region and in other areas of Queensland as well. I am not sure what it has been like down south but considering it was snowing there a few days ago I don't think they are enjoying our balmy weather.

 

Lard and three oil soap

What a sad and sorry week it has been! I was hit by the flu last Monday and have absolutely wasted a week lying in bed, staring at the wall, issuing orders to the menfolk and being generally bored out of my brain. I take my hat off to those who have to endure long term illness as I think I would be a bad patient. However, today I have remained upright for an hour or so and am trying to get back into some kind of normality once again.

 

Noisy visitors

I was sitting on the sunny back verandah having breakfast today when I heard the squawking of cockatoos and looked up to find at least ten of them flying around in the back yard. I quickly ran to get my camera with the terrific zoom and managed to take a photo of one of them sitting up high at the very top of the huge pine tree next door.

A Dark and Dismal Week

After weeks of cold mornings followed by blue skies and sunny days we have had a week of dark and dismal weather as there was quite a bit of rain falling in the east most of which missed us apart from a most unusual winter storm on Monday which hit about one minute after I thought it was time to bring the washing in. Oops! Too late!

Preparing for the winter chills

Many years ago I first heard about Fire Cider which has been commonly used to ward off winter colds and the flu. One of the main ingredients is horseradish, a herb that we used to have growing back in the seventies but had died off, so I reminded myself each year that I needed to find a new plant but never did until last year.

Any weeds at your place?

We have had a fair bit of rain during winter which we keep being told was very unusual although it did remind me of the winters we used to have but perhaps not as cold. So now we have weeds everywhere which are very hard to keep under control when you have 1/2 acre and are getting a bit long in the tooth!

The Joy of Friendship

A new view of the moon

Recently I contacted Meg from A House in the Hills asking what type of camera she used to take her absolutely stunning photos as the DSLR which I was given is quite heavy and complicated to use (for my brain) so I tend to just use my little Canon point and shoot. Also the DSLR camera is now being used  by my son who is into astrophotography. So I did a search for the camera Meg kindly told me about and found a refurbished one on eBay which had a one year guarantee and was the previous one in the series but practically the same. It has a 60x optical zoom which apparently is pretty amazing for a small camera so I thought I would treat myself for my recent birthday as my little Canon is looking a bit the worse for wear.