My Bright Field

OK it's another blog post about the weather ...  but the transformation with the rain is just too exciting to miss. After the big rain we have had continuing showers one of which delivered this spectacular light show during my customary sunset watch as Rose Orchard Haus. And look at what has happened to the grass - remember it has been brown  for many many months. The roses that steadfastly refused to flower all summer have now they burst into life. It's so nice to have them on the hall table again. And I had given up hope of having any oranges this year because the fruit created by the spring flowering all fell off the tree.   Now nature has delighted me with a second flowering. I said to my husband, all we need now is bees and they turned up too.  Talking of bees and orange trees here is: A book I have read recently I loved Melissa Ashley's debut novel The Birdman's Wife so was immediately tempted by this new one I saw in the bo...

One of the delights of living in the country is the variety of animals we get as neighbours. At Christmas time I was surprised to find this brown hen in our garden at Rose Orchard Haus.  She had flown over the fence and would not be persuaded to go back home so stayed for a couple of weeks before choosing to go on another adventure - we don't know where. This week I heard a rooster crow and looked over the fence to find this new neighbour along with a couple of ducks.  Those feather "boots" must make walking difficult. And here's the other neighbour I love to watch from my kitchen window.  I believe her name is Francesca. And all of these reminded me of the various neighbours at bush block at Whistlers Rest I have shown over the years.  I had fun digging through the archive to find some of them. An assortment of cattle. A pony Sheep and goats And occasional native animals.

It is like a fantastic chemical experiment.  Add water and fog rises. And next there is an amazing explosion of green. It has been bucketing down with rain for several days at Lawson with this old disused thing now an essential accessory. As recently as Tuesday I could see the smoke plume of the Erskine Creek fire which was burning 5 kms from our home at Lawson.  I suspect it is now well and truly doused but it's too foggy to tell. I am not sure how much of this bounty is reaching Kandos (definitely not as much as this). I will find out this week. NEWS UPDATE: The mountains are said to have received 1/4 of our annual rainfall over the weekend (250ml+).  At Kandos I have just read the rain gauge, over the last week we have had nearly 100ml with more storm clouds in the sky.  How good it that ... I will be mowing here soon too.

We drove over to Bathurst from Kandos yesterday to take a long drive in an air conditioned car and then go to the movies as a way to beat the 40C+ heat.  It's nice to see a little bit of green in the grass over that way.  And it's great to see clouds forming in the sky on a regular basis at the moment. I have become a keen skywatcher of recent months.  When we are out at Kandos I head to my dining room window at Rose Orchard Haus to check out the vista. The sun is now tracking back to the north, having reached its most southerly point to the left of that tree at the end of December. And for several nights earlier this week the sky was wonderfully pink and blue. I love a crescent moon.  It's is now much higher in the sky at sunset so not possible to get a shot like that now. Despite the implied promise the storm clouds didn't reach us this week.  As you can see some local farms were getting good falls which is great.  We all need wh...