Sunshine!

29th December, 2010. It is so nice to see some blue sky and sunshine today. I don't like to whinge about rain, but there has been what seems like a constant, steady deluge this month. To check I wasn't imagining the volume of precipitation, I've had a look at rainfall records at the Southport weather station. Rainfall total for December 2010 so far is 494mm, with the highest daily fall of 112mm this Monday. The rainfall total for December 2009 was 107.8mm for the month. I have memories of last year being a fairly wet one, clearly the La Nina pattern is stronger this year.

In the garden, green is luminous, growth is rampant and the climbing Rattlesnake Beans I had planned to seed save for sowing next year, have sprouted in their pods.

Christmas Weather

As you can see from yesterdays weather chart we had a beautiful clear summer's day for Christmas. Lunch was in the garden and dinner on the verandah.

We feasted on local seafood, berries, cherries and Australian free range ham and a christmas cake made from Australian dried fruit and I thought how lucky we were to have fantastic local produce to enjoy.

Earlier in the morning we had called my partner's sister who lives in North Western new South Wales on a wheat and sheep property. Their day was spent rushing to try and get the harvest in before the rains came. Lunch was a ham and tomato sandwich. At about 4pm we got a text from Carol saying there had been a cloud burst and the paddocks and roads were flooded. What started as the bumper year to recover from many years of drought was not to be.

Much is made about the inappropriate use of land by farmers but I think we all want to eat local, not imported, food for our Christmas feast and, for that matter, everyday. Some one is eating a sandwich in the field while you sit down to the family lunch Ms Gillard. Look after our farmers.

The Day before Summer Solstice.

It's 10:30am the day before summer solstice and outside it is blowing a gale and I have had to stake my prized sunflowers which are now over 2m high. And, yes that is a fire as it is 9˚C outside.

Wild summer weather.

Storm Clouds Thursday 16th December

The deep cornflower blue of blanketing clouds in the sky sends ominous signs of an approaching storm front. The air feels thick with heat, humidity and pressure building, working towards the first deep rumbles. Summer storm season has arrived.

Sydney Weather

In Sydney for 2 weeks for my exhibition I am struck by the difference between the coastal and highland summer climates. It's been hot and humid here although there are afternoon sea breezes to provide some relief. This blazing pink sky was the evening view from the apartment after a hot summer day.

Sunday 5th December 2010

Rain, rain, rain and....MORE rain. Predictions of a wet summer are looking very accurate at the moment. Wet is almost too weak a term for the volume of rain some areas have recieved in the last week, saturated and flooded is more like it.