Heat wave sewing continues

A second heat wave gave me few more 

hours at the sewing machine.

                  

I needed replacement chair covers for our outdoor chairs 

No-one sells them.

They would rather sell you new chairs

The frames were fine

I was forced to work it out my self 

based on the design of the ones that were dangerously 

close to dumping someone on the ground.

If I had to do it again I may modify that difficult curve however

I think these canvas covers will last for years.

We bought a secondhand air conditioner just a few weeks ago!

 Moved the water tanks and installed it into the wall.

That keeps the windows free for gazing out of 

rather that looking at a big lump of air conditioner. 

It's what we refer to as a "swampy", they work best in dry conditions.

That's us!

Thank goodness the project was completed swiftly.

Thanks Joe for the innovative, make do with what we have, stand.

Perfect.

Fantastic!

A life saver!!!

Mildura losses an icon

 Where am I going to sell my herbs and Silver beet now?

It was a very busy newsagent with a small supermarket 

and the best take away food.

Conveniently near a bakery, butcher, pharmacy and florist.

Very popular store gone up in flames.

All the others were saved thankfully.

http://www.sunraysiadaily.com.au/story/2038689/photos-pjs-mildura-supermarket-fire/?cs=1763

The local paper got some amazing shots of the fire

and the firemen as they battled the blaze.

Here we go again, this time looks like 7 days at least

Heat wave with predicted temperature over 40 for the next week.

The low will be moving through tonight but here in the north west of Victoria

It won't effect us slipping under.

Those on the coast will cool down but we are in for it.

Already falling far short of the monthly average rainfall,

that's no way to start the year.

It rained the other day, 

I saw it in the distance evaporating before it hit the ground.

The big black rain cloud had lots of promise....

but not even registering a trace.

There's a Farmers market on Saturday.

The forecast is for 44!

Market is going to close at 11am  an hour early, due to the heat.

This is certainly going to be an indoor week.

Smokey sunset

It was a little unnerving to have such a smokey environment

all day.

The bush fire was 100 km's away but the wind had picked up,

changed direction and brought the smoke with it.

The sun was very red, my little happy snapper has not captured the true feel

I was compelled to grab the camera, next time I must grab my glasses as well!

Just behind those trees there is a public park and a sound shell of sorts

There was a Summer concert with The Angels, Suzie Quatro

The Black Sorrows and Shannon Noll.

We can hear the music from our yard...

Too tired from the week long heat wave and market to attend.

The weather has settled down, thank goodness.

A week in the mid 30's seems positively cool

by contrast.

We survived as did most of the garden.

Deep watering and mulch is amazing.

Day 5 heatwave

It is amazing that I was able to pick any flowers

after this extended heatwave.

Its market day tomorrow...

Day 5 over 40 degrees

The cool change can't come quick enough.

They say it won't be until late this afternoon.

 This Tansy was taller than me.

I am sure the plant will appreciate the hair cut.

Mum has been encouraging me to grow different coloured 

Sunflowers

I raided her garden this morning for a few roses

That pink is just her colour.

I have been indulging in Peach smoothies for breakfast.

Our peach tree is dripping with fruit and they are ripening fast.

2 Peaches, loads of ice cream and a dash of milk.

Yum.

4 days forecast over 40

The forecast is fierce

Day 2, 3 pm 41.1 outside. 

Thanks to our air conditioner it is 30 inside

Inside is the place to be, a good chance to catch up

on rainy day chores...

Cushion covers

I've had to make up the pattern as I go,

 so no two covers will be the same.

I chose the fabric months ago on a sale table....

Not enough fabric on the roll so I have had to improvise 

with some old couch covers.

It is getting easier however

I had totally forgotten how to put in a zip,

used the ones off the old covers!

The cushions were pretty bad so this heat wave is timely.

 I have to remove most of that leather top as

it can still be felt through the canvas.

They are in service as soon as they are finished.

The colour is reflective of the climate this summer. 

It is strange that the Northern Hemisphere 

is having the exact opposite but extreme weather event.

Do they call it a cool wave, given ours is a heat wave?

Lost no more.

I have been looking for a sculpture

that has been lost in my garden for more than a year.

It was a child student who made this and it has become

 a symbol of differing ability and proved a learning lesson 

in teaching for me.

 The other day I was very excited to see this

Last time I saw it was after a weeding effort

I looked for a new spot for it but decided to 

return it to the original spot so I knew where it was.

I have spent much time looking for it ever since as the garden

once again became out of control and overgrown.

In fact I have done some serious cutting and pruning 

over this past year in this area just looking for the figure.

The soil has coloured the raw clay, no wonder it was hard to find

Oh my goodness, a winter flowering gladdy in a most inappropriate place

Would it have forced up the sculpture as it tried to grow,

we will never know

This is such a genuine naive piece

There was a student of the same age in the same after school class.

she had made a figurine of her grandmother

in a rocking chair, wearing bunny rabbit slippers and spectacles

It was amazing, such detail, such fine work....it was finished with the same

attention to detail, beautifully underglazed.

I enter all students work in the local agricultural show and I try

to ensure that every child will win a prize for their efforts.

Most of the sections are divided by age group which means

the students are always competing against each other

I was aware that the student of the above work had an aide 

in her regular classroom to assist her with her learning.

It was with the best of intentions that 

I entered this piece in the disabled section.

She won first prize, as did 

the Grandma in the rocking chair with bunny slippers.

She asked me what disabled meant when I gave her her prize.

I stumbled over the teachers aide rationale.

I never saw her in class again and as you can see she 

left her winning figure behind.

I love it, 

however it reminds me that perhaps she should have competed

with her age group, we will never know how she would have gone,

Maybe third prize or award of merit may have 

kept after school pottery as an option for her.