Murrwillumbah Tuesday 24th May

I was in Northern New South Wales yesterday, so my Tuesday weather comes from Murwillumbah, where it was looking very green. It was a mostly sunny day with a light breeze, temperature around 21 degrees during the afternoon. Very pleasant and cosy whilst in the car and lovely outside when in the sunshine. Like most of the eastern coast of Australia, Northern NSW has had a lot of rain over summer and into Autumn. The colours in this photo aren't tweaked, the rolling hills really are luminous in their green-ness.

Willow Vale Tuesday 12th April 2011

Early morning

Pink-lilac fungi I noticed while weeding. The continuing wet weather has provided perfect conditions.

Afternoon clouds move in.

Weather for Willow Vale QLD - Currently: 26°C °F Wind: W at 19 km/h Humidity: 36%

Tues: 26°C 17°C Sunny

Wed: 26°C 17°C Sunny

Thurs: 27°C 17°C Possible showers

Fri: 25°C 18°C Possible showers

I woke up to sunny, clear blue skies and warm air this morning, a perfect day to be out in the garden. It rained heavily last night and late yesterday afternoon, leaving the ground soft and damp, even squelchy in some areas. I donned my usual long sleeve shirt and earth stained hat before heading out to begin the mammoth task of taming weeds in the orchard. Outdoors was pleasantly warm with a slight breeze and none of the pressurized humidity of summer that makes gardening almost unbearable.

Pomegranates, bananas, lemons and limes, five-sided starfruit and passionfruit vines are fruiting now. The mulberry tree is just starting to lose it's leaves and grasshoppers are still prevalent throughout the garden.

Blue skies

I'm not sure that I've been listening more intently this last week or just that constant comments on the weather from many people and conversations has accumulated in my mind. After a week of sunshine, warm to hot days, some with out a cloud in the sky; I've noticed two view points in conversation. The majority of comments have been along the lines of ....'Thank goodness for the sunshine, I'll take this heat any day over the rain, we don't want any more rain'.... a smaller proportion of comments have lamented the return of heat with clear sunny days. This week it would seem conversation about weather is not just the stuff of passing comment or a polite word between strangers; it's become a topic of genuine merit.

This got me thinking about what we wish for in weather, what is the perfect day? 24 degrees? sunshine? Perhaps a light shower over night and cool air for sleeping? What would it be like if every day was the same? Without seasons, what would our food be like? plants? clothes? Variation is at the heart of life, and although we would all like to live without the extremes of recent events, I can only imagine monotony without the daily changes. Change is one of the ultimate certainties in life, as long as the earth keeps spinning.

3rd January 2011

This morning I walked down to the vegetable garden with some scraps for the compost, fed the chooks and headed back to the house. In this short time sweat was dripping from my forehead. It's hot, humid and steamy. Dark storm clouds moved through in the afternoon, but were gone as quickly as they had arrived, and brought no relief.

4:36 PM