A close call...

The hot day yesterday brought with it some very strong hot north winds that caused a bush fire in our town. See here

We have heard that the blaze was caused by an electricity transformer blowing up with the strong winds. About 2.30pm our power went out with a bang when the wind suddenly got stronger.

Here are a few photos we captured of the fire, but for obvious reasons we couldn't get too close.

I captured this one on our arrival at the scene with my mobile.

We thought the local primary school was alight, but it was only the big trees surrounding it that was causing all the smoke...

The fire started in this vacant paddock,

and quickly spread.

It jumped the road and got into trees and grass on the other side. Behind the trees there are houses, and to the side there is a primary school and kindergarten...The trees border the school boundary.

About 150 houses were evacuated...

including the school children...

The fire was under control within an hour and monitored all night.

The cool change is here now thank goodness...

There was another bush fire that caused a bit of concern to the township of Gladstone, which is about 131 kms (81 miles) away from here. It was threatening the town and the local grain storage at one stage, but is also under control now.

A bit worrying for the up coming Summer that isn't quite here yet...

Pickling beetroot

The beets are done...

Using a recipe found here...

I am very pleased with the results,

and they taste so good!

We are going to plant some more beets and hopefully get a second crop. It is a bit risky planting them this late with the heat, but a risk I will take.

Some of you asked how I manage to grow veggies in the heat. This year we have put in wicking beds like found here and here and got the plants in early so they were well established before the heat arrived. We also have shade cloth to pull over if needed, which we haven't had to yet.

Yesterday was 38C (100.4F) and today is the same. Trying to sleep with a 25C (77F) night was fun!

Wishing you well,

xTania

Today's Pickings

I picked from the garden this morning,

heaps of zucchini's, some beetroot, one apple cucumber, two cauliflowers and seven tomatoes of varying sizes...

Now I can get busy this afternoon and finally get my beetroot pickled,

I have been waiting for more to be ready so I can add to this lot....

Hotting up here again with today 35C (95F), and reaching 38C (100.4F) by Tuesday...

Wishing you a lovely Sunday,

xTania

Keeping busy...

Things are busy here at the moment...

We are pulling up old carpet and preparing for the new to arrive.

Should be here any day now,

it had better be lol.

We removed the furniture from each room, and had to manoeuvre it around to different parts of the house.

Pulled up the old stuff and the underlay, then all the staples had to be pulled out and the 20 years of red dirt vacuumed up.

Now this is what I like to see,

A man with a vacuum cleaner :)

Lots of echos in the house now, it is amazing how the carpet dulls the sound...

The blue cord going across the lounge area is the internet for our son. It goes all the way up to his room. Hubby is supposed to be running it under the house soon so it is out the way...

The flooring creaks a lot so hubby is hoping to stop most of the movement by putting some screws in the places where they are the noisiest. No burglar can sneak in this house and be unheard lol!

The furniture has just been plonked anywhere for the moment...

So I have a house that is in disarray, hopefully not for too long, but by the sounds of it could be a week or so yet...

A good chance to have a good clean out and work out what we really want and what we really need...

And my little friend the gecko (well I think it is the same one) was back yesterday, this time in another spot...

It is a wonder the birds dont eat him...

Must be well camouflaged...

Just received the phone call for our new carpet to be laid on the 2nd of December...

So a little longer to wait than I had hoped but at least it will be in by Christmas. My birthday is on the 1st December so it will be a nice present :)

What are you busy with this week?

xTania

Too Hot for Lizards

41 (105.8F) Hot degrees today...

Yesterday was 39C (102.2F)

This little gecko must have thought he found a nice cool spot...

He or she was quite happy for me to take some pictures...

The fiery sky at day's end yesterday...

There is a bush fire burning in the nearby ranges, hopefully there are no strong hot winds today, although I think they are predicted...

The good news is that there will be a cool change tomorrow...

Hotting up for November

It is nearly swimming pool weather.

The season has been mild so far but now the heat has arrived. Hubby had this lovely green mess to clean up in our pool. He took the cover off to discover all this algae had formed even though through Winter he had treated and cleaned the pool a couple of times! Maybe it is because the hot weather is late this year and the pool would normally be ready to use in late August...

But after a frustrating day of trying to figure out how to get rid of the green problem, he finally worked it out with the help of YouTube.

It is now ready to go!

Today is supposed to be 37C (98.6F).

The hot north wind is blowing quite strong and it is a good day for staying indoors.

The temperature for the rest of this week is quite hot too!

I am hoping that the radio weather person has got it right for the long range weather forecast for Summer. He is suggesting that November will be a hotter than normal month, but December and January may bring more above average rain than usual, which should keep the temperatures lower.

These are the temperatures expected for this week as forecast by willyweather

Sunday 37C (98.6F)

Monday 33C (91.4F)

Tuesday 37C (98.6F)

Wednesday 29C (84.2F)

Thursday 33C (91.4F)

Friday 37C (98.6F)

Saturday 38C (100.4F)

So looks like Wednesday we get a bit of relief from a cool change :)

Off to check my veggie garden now to see if it needs the shade put over.

Have a great day everyone!

11.11.11

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

"What Happy Is"

I found this catchy little song on YouTube.

Have a lovely Sunday...