My Bright Field

  From our Penrith apartment we can hear and catch a glimpse of the trains (as we could from our Blue Mountains home).  We know them by their different "voices" -- suburban trains, intercity trains, freight trains, Bathurst bullet train, the Indian Pacific and Dubbo XPT.   My husband's favourite is the XPT which passes through Penrith around 8:00am each day and returns around 8:00pm. Nearly every day for the past 30 years he has suggest catching the XPT out to Dubbo 'one day'.  We did back in 2009 and it was time to do it again this week.  The countryside was spring green with all the rivers and creeks full. Around Wellington we caught the canola fields in flower too.  A great trip.  We must do it again 'one day'.  

  In this photo you'll see that some of the trees are "drowning".  This is my favourite Windermere Dam and it is now 87% full!  They have stopped releasing water downstream for a while because the river is sodden and further downstream Burrendong Dam is 133% full. There is flooding out that way (Wellington and Dubbo) again this weekend. We have never seen this dam so high, hence trees that are usually on dry land are being inundated.  The islands in the lake have disappeared and as we drive past it's interesting to see water now reaching into unexpected places. I have to keep my wits about me when driving the local roads these days, there are pot holes galore.  The council is doing a wonderful job of maintenance but they can't keep up with the constant damage. The Bureau of Meteorology says the big wet is going to continue a while longer.   That means fast growing green grass and lots of mowing again this season.  None to worry, it is going to be ...

  There was another nice surprise in the garden this week.  A bunch of hyacinths beneath a rose bush have flowered this year.  The garden is alive with lots of different blue-purple flowers at the moment.  And there are bees everywhere. Now that had me wondering whether bees have a preference for purple flowers so I looked it up and this is what I found "It seems bees, especially honey bees are born attracted to the colour purple. Flowers in the blue-violet range produce the most nectar." The clumps of always reliable grape hyacinth are also in flower.

  Isn't it great that in the windy tunnels between tall buildings spring still manages to burst out.  This the courtyard in our apartment complex this weekend.