Day 326 - It's all about rain

It's all about rain today - beautiful, constant, musical, WET rain. We've waited a long time for this, and we don't know how long we'll have to wait until another solid rain, so there isn't anyone complaining about it.

I took a couple of shots after church but they don't capture how saturated it looks. Inside the church, the unusual darkness made the lights stand out.

We have some extremely old icons. This one of the saints, Emperor Constantine and Empress Helen, has a wide crack running up through Empress Helen.

At home, I noticed the rain had brought out the colours of the different types of wood used to make the new fence. Pity that we'll have to get rid of the rosemary bushes but it has to be done if we want to plant something which will provide more shade.

I hope Sydney's cool change comes soon. I wouldn't like to be there today - top of 41 degrees celcius and probably humid.

Day 324 - Relief after a very hot day

Sometime during the afternoon of an extremely hot day (lucky us in the library with air conditioning), we heard the rumble of thunder and waited for the welcome sound of rain. Instead the fire siren sounded and we walked, grumbling, into large but sparse drops of rain and - finally - a coolish breeze. Three fire trucks later, pointing to the dust storm as the cause of the alert, we returned to work. Driving home, it was good to wind down the windows and feel the cool air rushing in.

After dinner, I could smell the wet greenness through the open windows, so I decided to go for a walk to check out garden casualties.

Spring growth has added size to trees.

This is the only rose on the bush; the others have already bloomed and dried out. I'm happy to see the kangaroo paws starting to flower (pictured above).

Day 315 - School grounds

Our school is situated in beautiful surroundings. I think I've mentioned this before. I noticed young new trees in a dry area. They will have to survive without too much water, especially the way our temperatures are soaring so early in the season.

Day 314 - Thankful for shade

We're so thankful for the thick vine which provide shade for our back room. We pretty much live in this room. The last few days have been in the 30s and there's more to come, so I'm happy to have few western-facing windows, good insulation, verandah in the front, and this lush vine. Meanwhile, I don't really know what to do with the fast-growing vine branches - thread them back up the top or leave them in the natural Tarzan fashion.

My dog doesn't seem to mind the heat as much as we do.

Day 31 - Heat damage in the garden

After several days well over 40 degrees celcius, some of the plants in my garden have been burnt to a crisp. Just as I was thinking the camellias have never looked so green and bushy, one day of 46 has finished them off. The robinia, a favourite of mine with its giant ball-shaped greenery - has lost all its leaves and created a crackly carpet on the grass underneath it. Today we have a drop in temperature, but in my area it's still going to be 39 degrees. I suppose that's better than 46 but the next few days will be in the mid-to-low 30s which is an improvement.

Day 28 - Scorching heat

43 degree heat and many trees have burnt leaves. I wonder how much will die in the garden this Summer? This Japanese maple will lose most of its leaves - with four consecutive days over 40 degrees, and 30s after that.