Such Extremes

We have had a few weeks of extreme weather here at home with some days reaching 36C (97F) and then a day later plummeting to 17C (62F)! Along with these extremes comes the inevitable topic of climate change and the past few days we have watched with horror the extent of the bushfires to the east of our country. It is devastating to read of the loss of lives and homes along with animals. It is not even summer so it is distressing to see how many fires there are and over such a wide region that you can see here on the maps......

Even more distressing is that several people have been arrested for lighting some of those fires. We are well away from it but still have a sense of guilt that we are not suffering in any way. While temperatures have been erratic we have had lots of lovely blue skies....and dare I say the roses are still blooming??!! Sorry to bore you with them all again but they do bring such joy......

 Even Maisie was impressed!.......

 The front of our home has been transformed from when we purchased it and in just over 5 years........

 I am chuffed to also have some foxgloves blooming after being in the ground for well over a year.......

Our favourite store has been building on their nursery displays and it was looking fabulous when we there recently to buy some mulch with even more foxgloves blooming.....

  When it was time to spread the mulch we saved it for a day that we had little Wade but it is pretty slow going when one is using a toy spade!...but what fun he had......

We are still battling the pesky possum who must have quite a belly ache nibbling on the peaches way before he/she should and we've counted almost 4 dozen half nibbled ones over the past couple of weeks! We are getting someone to cut the tree back as it overhangs the back fence from a neighbouring property, so there will be no peaches this year........ 

 Wade continues to grow and develop his own unique character while enjoying treats (that only a grandparent can get away with!!), and enjoying the shop Christmas displays.......

 The expression below is his tentative look at Father Christmas but he was not impressed when Father Christmas came over to say hello......he was a wee bit scared so hid behind me and clung on for dear life!......

 Last Sunday he had a day on the trains with his cousins Beau and Maisie and the smiles say it all.......

 Sophie had her gorgeous William Morris top on too........

We treasure these photos that Sophie took of Beau cuddling and reassuring Maisie as she didn't like the noise of the steam train......her hearing aid must be such a hassle sometimes........

 I had an unexpected visit to the surgeon 2 weeks ago because of some ongoing issues and that resulted in the cast being removed a week early. I did expect to see it all healed after one month from surgery but each day it is looking better and enjoying the luxury of water! It is now 6 weeks since surgery but I am still not allowed to use the hand for another two weeks and maybe not drive for even more. I am so lucky to have Larry and his patience is way better then mine!....

 So I had better finish this post on that topic of "extremes" as I share these stunning photos that we received from our friends in Canada of their first snow which is now 3 inches thick.......

I will conclude with the hope that the bushfires in the eastern states will soon be over and our thoughts are with everyone affected 💕