Australia · clouds · garden flowers · in my garden · Mount Warning · rain · summer · Tweed Valley

Colour on a Rainy Day

Lavender Lights

There was nothing to see in the valley today other than mist and rain, so luckily I have a few photos taken around my garden when the sun shone brightly in the blue sky. With the amount of rain we have had lately, fine days are fast becoming a distant memory.

White Buddleia

On the plus side, the rain is chasing away the heat, so it isn’t all bad news. I can’t remember a February – ever – filled with day after day of cooler temperatures.

Duranta

With our kitchen renovation in full swing, husband and I have been surviving on pre-prepared freezer meals or take-away meals. Another day of cooler temperatures today inspired me to try something unseasonal – I cooked a meal in the slow cooker. It must be the first time I have served a casserole-style meal in summer, but it was soooooo good!

Type of hydrangea. I’m not sure of the name.

We both went back for second helpings, and there’s leftovers for tomorrow too. 🙂

Rain, rain, rain …

The last photo is to document today’s weather. Nothing to see here! Rain persisted all day, with the temperature reaching around twenty-five degrees Celsius. I can imagine how happy the weeds are, but when we have a break in the rain I will have a quick whip around the garden to remove any wayward weeds. Thankfully, the plants are all getting a good soaking too. 🙂

Australia · clouds · kitchen renovation · Mount Warning · renovations · subtropical weather · summer · Tweed Valley

Is it still summer?

After a run of cooler days, I really have to question the sanity of the weather. This is the month of February, renowned for being the hottest month of summer in the subtropics. And here I was today, considering grabbing a cardigan!

I checked out a few fun facts about the history of the weather on this day in previous years. In the last thirty years, it has rained on twenty days. The record low temperature for this day was back in 2000 at 18 degrees Celsius, while the maximum on record is thirty-two degrees Celsius in 2010. Considering today’s temperature reached twenty-seven degrees Celsius, perhaps it wasn’t overly unseasonal weather after all.

This morning, the kitchen cabinet installers arrived and took over my house, while I hid away in my office. By the middle of the day, my kitchen had transformed from this —

… to this.

After the tradesmen left, I was more concerned about the thin layer of dust covering every surface of my house, so taking photos of the finished product was forgotten today. The men did a wonderful job, and I can hardly wait until my kitchen is completely finished, and they did attempt to clean up before they left …

Needless to say, I gave every surface around the house a thorough clean, vacuumed and mopped the floors, and by 9pm, we finally sat down to another quick-and-easy dinner.

It’s getting there, slowly but surely. And I think the messiest day is finally behind me. 🙂

 

 

garden flowers · kitchen renovation · Mount Warning · rain · subtropical weather · summer · Tweed Valley

What’s Happening, Inside and Outside

After the old kitchen cabinets were removed, we had to clear a space for the new cabinets when they arrived. Our living area has never been so snug, with having to find space to squeeze our lounge chairs, coffee tables, and eight-seater table and chairs all into the one living area.

When we built our home twenty-seven years ago, we somehow managed to end up with one sliding window amid a house full of double-hung windows. Apparently the error was in the house plans, and when I asked the builder to please replace the window, he insisted it was too much trouble to remove the window he had ordered. The window was too wide, so there was not enough wall space for an overhead cupboard beside the window. The deal-breaker, however, was that when opened, the window slid from right to left. My gas stove burners, being positioned to the right of the window copped the full pelt of our frequent southerly breezes coming through the window. Therefore, no matter how hot the day, I had to keep the window closed while cooking.

Today, husband installed a new window in the kitchen, a double-hung window, which I can open at the top on a hot day. And the new window, being narrower, allows space enough for overhead cupboards that will fit neatly against the wall. Hallelujah! 🙂 (The gap to the right of the window has now become a part of the wall.)

Meanwhile, the day that began bright and sunny gradually turned to grey. There hasn’t been any rainfall, but the high humidity is a strong indicator that there is rain about.

With so much activity inside the house, I haven’t spent much time in the garden lately at all. Yesterday I noticed a small potted frangipani in bloom, and what a beautiful pink flower it is too! When the weather cools over the next month or two, I will plant this frangipani in the garden, so hopefully next year there will be even more lovely pink flowers to admire. 🙂

And I spoke too soon – the rain has arrived …

Australia · blessings · clouds · family · grandchildren · grandson · Mount Warning · new · summer · Tweed Valley

Announcing …

Meet the newest arrival to my family, my grandson, Arlo! ❤

Arlo is three days old now, but of course I couldn’t announce his arrival until his Mummy and Daddy were ready to introduce him to the world.

Me and husband met our newest grandson tonight, and we both agree that he is absolute perfection.

This afternoon, just for fun, my daughters put together a collage of my three grandsons and one granddaughter, with photos taken just after each of them were born. I don’t know if I’m the only one who sees it, but I think these babies have some similar features to each other.

Compared to my announcement, Mount Warning seems like rather a bland topic today, however, I did commit to sharing a photo of the mountain every day. So share, I must.

Poor mountain – on any other day the sunlit, clear blue ranges and mountain would be something to rave about. Today, they pale in comparison to my announcement.

Oh, and tomorrow, I will have an update on my kitchen renovation.

This has been quite a busy week! 🙂