SkyWatch - Oh happy day . . . or not quite

Great hope of a downpour, beautiful to see

but soo disappointing. Not a drop of rain ensued . . . at least they 

provided a little shade for the struggling vegetation

and made for fun cloud shots.

Check out lots more skied on the logo at right.

Wild Bird Wednesday - Never count your chickens . . .

I am partially back on line again. The reprieve in the last post 

did not last long. An apparently endemic problem in the hinge

to a number of Macbook airs also attacked mine and cut out 

access to the net.

With lots of detours in the delivery of my new Macbook Pro,

now, a month later, apart from not having photoshop installed

yet, I am cautiously back in business again.

It is the end of summer and today we are having, what I 

hope, is our first autumn rain.

I have no idea what nature is up to these days, these house 

sparrows are obviously building nests. In autumn??

Judging by the news from States further north along Australia's

east coast, they seem to be having frightening flood event
with loss of life on an almost monthly basis while our
state has seen hardly a drop of rain all

summer.

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday

With thanks to Stewart for hosting this great meme.

Back on Line - Happy Days are here again . . .

Again, it has been some time since I posted.

There have been some health issues to sort out as 

well as a few emotional ones to take care of.

Hope I'm back again now without any more hitches.

A shot of my ex-garden last winter

although this is at the same time, it puts springtime 

into my heart again.

My pensive companion, still a little overweight in this early shot.

He has lost the chubbiness he accumulated from his soft hearted

previous owner and continuous snacking.

Kookie has also learned a few manners since that time and

sticks to me like glue.

It is rather nice to have his company and raised voice 

when anyone comes near my yard.

Hope all of you, my friends, are well and happy.

TODAY'S FLOWERS - Nothing but Roses

I feel like I had been sent to outer Mongolia, 12 days without 

contact to the outside world!

The internet totally cut out, nothing would rectify the problem. 

My fabulous grandson checked and tried everything inside 

and out. We thought of having to replace the computer.

This evening I switched it on again and, hey presto! everything

worked in tip top order!

Whatever he had done, had fixed it after all.

Just the pictures loaded in the wrong order.

Just a few roses from another lifetime in my garden.

I guess you have noticed by now that roses, especially scented roses,

are very dear to my heart.

When you have roses in your heart, how can you help smiling?

Thanks for all the kind folks at TODAY's Flowers for 

this flower filled meme.

OUR WORLD - Wambelong Fire

One of my favourite National Parks, the Warrumbungles,

a treasure trove of fossils, rockformations and beautiful bushland,

have been consumes by massive bushfires.

A ferocious fire that has already consumed 33 homes as well as

the living quarters of the Siding Springs Observatory, the most

important observatory in Australia and a major link of the great

observatories of the world.

40,000 hectares have been decimated with terrible stock and 

wild life losses.

High winds, high temperatures, difficult terrain and zero

humidity were all factors in the difficulty of getting a grip on it.

The fure service threw everything at it that they had available 

without much effect, it is still raging out of control and will 

take some time manage. 

There are still 22 fires raging in New South Wales.

My heart goes out to all the people affected who have lost their 

homes and have to put down suffering animals.

We went through the same 30 years ago and the psychological 

scars still linger.

Sorry for the quality of the photos, they were shot off 

TV news programmes.

I tried to find my photos of this area from our last visit, but with 

two computers and two external hard drives full of photos,

it would have taken me a week or two .

Hats off to all the volunteer firefighters snatching a few hours of 

sleep on camp beds at the relief centre in Coonabarabran.

These dedicated men and women leave their work places at the

sound of the siren and put their lives on the line for weeks to

keep their community safe, often having their own home burn 

while they try to save someone else's.

Please God we are spared more loss of life!

TODAY'S FLOWERS and Weekend Flowers - Roses of Yesteryear

Once upon a time, only two years ago, I had 150 roses in bloom

and the garden was awash with perfume,

the last two summers have decimated my garden, 

the combination of extreme heat, lack of water and 

the will and stamina to brave the heat and drag 

heavy hoses around, is a gardeners bane.

Even this though as nails bi-colour "Fourth of July' rose

has barely a green leaf on it, let alone a flower.

Like life, youth and beauty fade to give way to weariness

decrepitude and one last journey.

Yet the roses of yesteryear still bloom in our memory.

Click on the Logos at right and walk in meadows full of flowers.

SkyWatch - A Purple Sunrise

A delight to behold,

a right royal sunrise in purple and gold.

There are many diverse skies to be seen, just click

on the Logo on my side bar and enjoy.