Category: summer

Australia · Christmas · clouds · family · Mount Warning · pets · summer · sunset · Tweed Valley

What day is it?

Joanne18 Comments

It’s that time of year again, when one day blurs into the next and I forget what day of the week it is. Thank goodness for calendars!

So having discovered it is Saturday – not Silent Sunday – I can say a few words. 😉

Today I spent the day relaxing. Christmas is over, everyone enjoyed the food and gifts that were handed out, the kitchen looks liveable again, the fridge is stashed full of left-overs (so I don’t need to cook for a while) and the torn wrapping paper and curling ribbons are ready and waiting in the garbage for next week’s bin collection. With a contented sigh, after another Christmas well celebrated, life moves on.

This morning we had a sweet little visitor who arrived with her mummy and daddy.  After a swim in the pool, she enjoyed a gingerbread ice cream sandwich.

After they left, I spent over two hours on the phone to my sister, who lives about a six-hour drive away. After catching up on how each of us spent Christmas Day, my next visitors arrived.

This is the newest addition to the family – my fur-grand-baby, Summer.

Summer’s owner, my eldest son, stayed for dinner and helped us eat some Christmas left-overs while his wife was at work.

We have had some beautiful weather the past couple of days, with temperatures around the mid-twenties, and very little humidity. Perfect Boxing Day summer weather, accompanied by another beautiful sunset sky. 🙂

Australia · garden flowers · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · native Australian plants · rain · subtropical weather · summer · Tweed Valley

Cute and Curious

Joanne5 Comments

How’s that for a crystal clear day? I shouldn’t have gotten too excited, the rain returned a couple of hours ago, but that’s to be expected at this time of year. Our area is known for hot, humid days during summer, ending in a subtropical storm – or heavy rain shower, at least – later in the afternoon. The day began beautifully though, which was a very nice change from seeing mist and haze in the valley every morning.

This morning I noticed the little Pee Wee bird dancing around the top of the fence, clearly trying to get a look at something down below. I watched for a minute, as I was curious to find out what had caught his attention. After a while, a little head popped out from behind my potted Lilly Pilly plant.

Baby Magpie has taken to foraging in the dirt of my newly-potted plants, so I suppose the Pee Wee was hoping for a share of whatever Baby Mags came up with! 🙂

Australia · Christmas · clouds · family · Mount Warning · summer · sunset · Tweed Valley

A Bit More Mood at Sunset

Joanne14 Comments

If you close one eye and squint, you might just see the outline of Mount Warning. Well, almost. For just a few hours yesterday the mountain was visible. I must be careful not to claim the mountain is back, because clearly it didn’t go anywhere. It just hasn’t been visible much lately, due to the clouds, mist, or heat-haze we have had hovering across the valley. Today, it was hidden again.

Just as the mountain teased us all with a hint of normality, so too did Covid-19. Australia had no new community transmitted cases for a short while, until late last week. Somehow, it has leeched into Sydney, sending the country into a panicked frenzy of border closures again. The Queensland border, which is just up the road from us, had reopened. The community rejoiced. The locals were free to cross between states without being scrutinized as if they were lepers. Families planned on travelling far and wide across Australia to be together again for the first time in months, to celebrate Christmas.

It seems like it was all a cruel joke. In many ways, people are suffering more from the promise of seeing their loved ones only to have that promise ripped away, than they were when they thought they couldn’t be together at all. Tonight on the news, we saw scenes at airports, of people disembarking from ‘planes only to be told they couldn’t stay. Border closures were announced mid-flight. The government would pay for their return flight, or they could go into two weeks quarantine. Theose were the choices – four days before Christmas.

I am one of the lucky people. My children and grandchildren all live nearby, in the same state. We can spend Christmas together. Our friends from Sydney, who were going to join us, have to stay home. Their visit will have to wait. My heart bleeds for those people who are not fortunate in having their family close by, as I do.

Did I just note that it’s just four days to Christmas? I have so much to do in so little time!

In other news, tonight at 9:02pm – just over two hours ago – our summer solstice occurred here on the eastern coast of Australia.