47.5

I stepped out of the air conditioning of the department store and gasped for breath as the sudden change into the hot gusty wind sucked the air from my lungs. The temperature gauge on my car said 47.5 Daughter darling says the only thing making it bearable is it is dry heat and I totally agree. The dust blowing around town gives the air a reddish tinge and my heart goes out to the firefighters dealing with this disastrous wind in a fire day labelled 'catastrophic'.

The old signs said low, moderate and high and very high and extreme

Because there is always fire danger even when it floods

and the fires of recent years have seen a change to the signs so now we have the catastrophic warning




The fires up and around the Grampians lately have been both terrifying and magnificent in their beauty. It is always easy to admire from a distance of course, being in or near or threatened by fires is not something that leaves any capacity for admiring beauty. The following images belong to people in and around Stawell and the Grampians and do not belong to me but I share them to give a visual of what the fires of the past week have been like.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year my darlings. May you all have an incredible journey through 2014 filled with love, inspiration, fun, laughter, a few challenges and the wherewithall to meet them.

too hot yesterday

forty degrees is okay if we can build up to it.

Luke turned 18 and we had guests for tea and lots of heat with little warning so I did as little as possible online.

Here are my two Christmas themed sketches for yesterday and today.

May your days be merry and bright

It was wonderful having the number one son come to visit for Baby son's birthday, now all my boys are adults and it feels right and good. Baby girl in two years. :)


It is 18degrees right now after yesterdays forty it feels positively chilly but I am not complaining. There is rain on the way. I won fifth place in the Ho! Ho! Ho! The 3rd Annual Holiday Writing Contest on Susanna Hill's blog and you can read my entry a few days ago. I get to choose from a marvelous selection of prizes.

Last night I had an awesome email about my art and four of my beta readers have come back to me with all sorts of messy bits in my latest WIP to fix. Spelling mistakes mostly and I need to make a bought brought poster to remind me to use the correct word.

The cicadas were singing yesterday because ti was warm enough to bring them out, I bet they are snug and hiding today.