WINTERY WEATHER

Funny weather we are having here this Winter.

It's usually fine and sunny with daytime temperatures hovering around 22 degrees.

Oh, the nights get cold - mainly around 10 degrees but the days usually warm up quickly.

Lately it's been cold for Brisbane, with daytime temperatures not warming up because it's overcast.

Bleak......( for us !)

with lots of high cloud and fitful sunlight...

and only around 16 degrees....

Of course Queenslanders think it's  COLD

but for me it's a chance to wear some warm clothes and rug up for a change and cook some lovely comforting food.

Out came the big pot.....

and soon healthy vege soup was on the boil.

That should keep us going for a while ! ( some will go into the freezer for next week )

Yesterday I went out into the country about half an hour's drive from here to visit a friend.

She's busily renovating a little wooden farmhouse near Minden.

It's coming along very nicely....

and look at the views from her windows.

 and look there's that funny weather I was telling you about.

Clouds in one direction .....

and sunshine in the other !

Cheers

SHORT POST

Life has been fairly busy around here lately and this has been getting a workout.

Our winters are usually fine and sunny and reasonably warm but we've had a lot of overcast cool days.

Just the weather for casseroles in the slow cooker.

Time to try out a few new recipes........

and sample some BBQ kangaroo too. ( very tasty and tender provided you don't overcook it )

Have a good weekend.

Cheers

NEIGHBOURS

Before we moved into this house and suburbia we lived on 13 acres of land not far away. Around us were other houses on acreages- mostly about 10 acres so not exactly close by. The houses were all  new modern houses built for life in the "country" with swimming pools and BBQ areas for families and many had horse paddocks and sheds and even tractors to slash the paddocks and play at being "on the land".

Even though we were not close in distance to our neighbours,
could usually only wave hello from afar,
we forged deep, lasting friendships with them.
They became close friends whose company we really enjoyed and many happy times were spent down in the paddock with a campfire cooking BBQ breakfasts or dinners topped off with damper and golden syrup like the olden days.
The kids are mostly all grown up and flown these days
and several of us have moved on to other houses

but almost twenty years later we are still the best of friends and continue to celebrate our friendship with three monthly get togethers when we all meet for a meal - usually a BBQ -
 and what a jolly time we have.

Last weekend was one of those occasions.

As you can see they were very occupied with the feast !!!

Look at the camera, folks !

There's still plenty for seconds!

Though now we live in very close proximity to five families we hardly know them,

wave and smile as we drive past on our way out.

Good neighbours, the ones that become part of your life, are hard to find and should be treasured.

Cheers.

THREE THINGS

1. We are so enjoying Winter here that Dreamworld ( our version of Disneyland ) is manufacturing snow for the kids who are presently at the beach on school holidays.

Lots of Queensland kids have never seen real snow so instead of going to the beach to swim in the surf they can go and play in the man-made snow.

2. On the next page in today's paper is this story about a kookaburra.

It was photographed recently in the wild with this child's stuffed knitted toy in its mouth.

3. And finally, a progress report on my crochet class.

I've found working on the foundation chain very difficult but...

double crochet is going OK with a slight tension problem.

Experimenting with a double crochet edge.

and treble ( only the navy blue bit is my work ) around this granny square is going well.

So progress is being made.

 I'm practising and coming to grips with it a bit better and soon I'll be doing granny squares.

I'd better hurry up or Winter will be finished !

Cheers.

LOVE THAT COLD WEATHER

Here is an extract from todays paper (the Courier Mail )

"BRISBANE residents have woken up to a bleak morning with showers and grey skies adding to the piercing chill.

The Bureau of Meteorology's Peter Otto said the showers came in from the northwest overnight but should start to disappear over the next few hours.
"The pattern we've got is for conditions to dry out over the next several hours," he said.
But while the clouds are set to vanish, the cold is staying put.
"We should see a clearer morning tomorrow and colder temperatures," Mr Otto said.
Early morning temperatures on the weekend are forecast to reach double digits with 13C the low and a maximum of 17C on Saturday."

So today the temperature hovered around 13 degrees all day and the citizens of Brisbane shivered and told eachother how cold it was!!

I  LOve  it !

I'm searching through my clothes and pulling out the stuff with long sleeves.

I'm trying on jackets ......

.....and cardigans

.....and boots !!!

Yippee !!

Better hurry and wear all the wintery stuff

 'cos it doesn't last long !

Cheers.

 PS. If you follow this link you will see more photos of the whales that are off the Gold Coast ( our fantastic  holiday beaches ) about 60km east of Brisbane.

BRRR RR RRR......

Br rrrr rrrr
Winter has come to Brisbane!
Today was chilly.
The temperature didn't get above 15 degrees.
The sun refused to come out of the clouds and warm us up today
and it's 9:30pm and 9 degrees and falling.
Heading for a cold one tonight.

Our houses are built to be cool,...
lots of big sliding glass doors.,.
shutters and blinds to keep the sun out and let the air in, instead of curtains,.....
So they can be a bit chilly unless you are lucky enough to have reverse cycle air-conditioning ( and can afford to pay the high price of electricity to run it )

I'm off to snuggle down in my cosy bed.
Cheers

MIGALOO IS COMING !

Yes Migaloo is on his way!

Who or What is Migaloo?

Do you remember I mentioned him last year when I was telling you about Hervey Bay?
Every year at this time ( Winter ) hundreds of humpback whales cruise up the eastern coast of Australia from the waters of Antarctica where they have spent the Summer.
Most of the females will give birth to calves ( baby whales weighing about 2.5 tonnes at birth ) when they reach the warm tropical waters to the north.

They will stay there for a short time, mate again and when the babies are strong enough, they will begin the long swim back to Antarctica where they will spend the next Summer. When they are in Antarctica they feed on krill and plankton and small fish but while they are in the tropical waters they do not feed at all but survive on their stored reserves of fat ( blubber ).
Sorry for the lecture, I got a bit carried away !!!

Anyhow back to Migaloo.

Way back in 1991 a pure white humpback whale was first sighted off the coast of New South Wales cruising north.

Since then eager eyes watch out for him every year. He was named Migaloo which is Aboriginal for "White Fella".

Whale Watching has become a popular tourist activity especially in Hervey Bay where the mothers and babies appear to stop for a rest and can be seen frolicking - breaching , spy hopping and tail slapping - in the protected waters of the bay.

Of course there are all sorts of regulations to protect the whales from harassment. These include slow approach speeds (6 knots) when within 300m of an adult humpback, and vessels are prohibited from approaching closer than 100m of adults, or 300m if a calf is present.

Because Migaloo is such a unique whale he has special Queensland and Commonwealth Government legislation that is enacted each year to protect him from harassment. For this reason all vessels including Jet-skis are prohibited from approaching Migaloo any closer than 500m and Aircraft no lower than 2000 feet. The Fine for breaching this law is $16,500.00

However whales are curious creatures and often they swim right up to the boats to take a look and then some lucky whale watchers get the experience of a lifetime as they actually make eye contact with the whale !!

Last year Migaloo was seen swimming with a friend - we don't know if it was a girl friend but we are waiting eagerly to see if any more pure white whales appear.

So he's on his way.
He's survived another year.

He will be off the Queensland coast soon and there will be pictures on the news and in the papers.

I'd  love to see this astonishing creature.

Wouldn't you ?

Cheers.

PS.  None of these fantastic photos are mine !