Weather, Stuff and Sunday

On Monday and Tuesday the weather was in the high 30°s. Not unpleasantly humid but definitely on the hot-side.

On Wednesday the temperature plummeted to about 16° and it was cloudy and damp. No actual rain, though.

The temperature has slowly clawed its way back up to the mid-20s, which is very pleasant. But the weather is strangely autumnal, given that it's only January. Foggy or misty and cool in the mornings, cloudy, clearing to sunny as the day progresses. I'm not complaining, you understand. I quite like that sort of autumn weather. Except that it's mid-summer so not quite what I was expecting right now.

I think the weather is supposed to warm up again as this coming week goes by.

We had something of a kerfuffle yesterday morning. I was inside, at about 7 am, reading the news and drinking a cup of tea. Whiskey was eating his biscuits. Brandy was outside in the courtyard. Suddenly he started yelling, as in: I am not happy about this - do something!

Whiskey and I went to investigate. And there was Brandy, by what will eventually be a bed of fruit trees but currently has very late-planted potatoes in it, being very disgruntled about a strange cat who was sitting on top of the fence. Whiskey was disgruntled too, once he saw it. It disappeared into one of the trees over the side fence when it saw me, then peeped over the fence to see what we were doing.

It wasn't a cat I had seen before. A quite cute, quite young tabby. It ran away when I approached the fence to talk to it. I have suspicion it might have run down the laneway over the front fence. Certainly, Brandy and Whiskey rushed into the house and down to the windows in my bedroom. I think it if had run the other way they probably wouldn't have done that.

Lindsey and I went out to Elaine to check out the Elaine Farm Shop, which has recently moved from the Ballarat side of Elaine to the Meredith side. They are still in their shipping containers but have taken the opportunity to reorganise and to put in proper parking area. I didn't need much so just got some milk and some biscuits for Jim. They had some nice stuff, though. Must go back out when my freezers and pantry have been emptied out a bit.

I have been motivated  (shamed!) by my visit to Susan and Robert's beautiful garden last Sunday to try and do something about getting mine under some sort of control. Granted theirs is much more established than mine, but mine would be quite nice if it got a bit more attention. I can see very clearly what needs to be done and even how to go about doing it. I just need to clear a bit of time (and enthusiasm!) to get on with it. I have started by moving the last of the hexagonal garden beds in the back yard and putting the soil on the side bed which will, in the late autumn, have a peach, a Bromley apple and a Tahitian lime tree planted in it. In the meantime it has some wizened, very very late planted seed potatoes chucked in to see what, if anything, they will do. I've also put some late tomato plants, zucchini and cucumber plants out the front. It's probably too late to get much from them, but I had them in my little greenhouse anyway. It was way too cold and wet to plant them out in the spring and early summer. I figured I didn't have anything to lose by putting them in the ground now that it's (sort of!) warmed up.

Lindsey, Ian, Stella and I have just been for Sunday lunch at Pipers by the Lake. We haven't been there for a while. We had a table looking out over the lake and it was all very beautiful. The food was good, too. My lamb backstrap, Mediterranean style, was delightful.

Stella's all right!
Three drinks glasses:
Water,
Lemon lime and bitters,
and white wine!

My lamb backstrap,
with giant couscous, pomegranate reduction
and salad