Tuesday, March 14, 2017

AUTUMN?


It rained today..
and I think some of those lorikeets had no idea what it was...
over 90% of our State now being drought-declared...


The heat has continued, and although it is officially Autumn,
there is no sign of it.


Here's a recent picture of our youngest grandson, C2 in Canada..
just to help us cool off a bit..


Remember those snake deterrents we bought before Christmas, when the Canadians were coming to visit?

They worked a couple of months, emitting their strange vibration, but they have all become corroded in their little solar powered batteries and no longer work.


Cue the first snake sighting of the season, when I went over towards this limp tree fern to take a picture of the effects of drought.
It slithered down near the fence, and hopefully went away..

At least after a bit of rain the tree ferns are now standing proud once more.


This was the only flower I could find in the garden this week.
Thank goodness for the evergreen hedge plants for a bit of greenery..


And did you see what Her Majesty wore pinned to her yellow coat at Westminster Abbey yesterday?
Yes, it is the Australian Wattle Brooch making an appearance.
I'll have to wear my faux version somewhere soon - it is time for an excursion.


I bought a little yellow clutch at a recycle shop for $3, because why not?


I put a tiny pot from the Hopi Indians of New Mexico into Mr C's mini Zen Garden.  A mix of cultures, but I am excited by the Making Modernism exhibition at the Art Gallery which opened at the weekend.
The Georgia O'Keeffe paintings are so stunning, and it is a rare treat to have them come to Australia.  O'Keeffe spent much of her painting life in New Mexico, as you probably know. 

While we are looking at the Zen Garden, I want to tell you what happened to me on Facebook.  Someone hacked into my Facebook account and made a clone version of me, same name and some of my photos, and then sent friend requests to all of my friends.  Some of you would have received them.  I was unawares this was going on until our daughter alerted me.  My fault was I did not realise my privacy settings were set to 'anyone can see' instead of 'friends only' which is how a stranger had access.  They then made a 'clone' of me, and the attempt to gather in my friends is with the intention of collecting their data or finding a way to defraud them.   Most people know to delete a friend request from somebody who is already your Facebook friend, but I am telling the story for those who have not experienced this.  One friend had accepted the friendship of the 'clone' Patricia, and was then subjected to a series of messages about large sums of money available for the taking (something similar to the well-known Nigerian scam to which many Australians have succumbed).

I hope nobody has been hurt by this event, and I will pay much closer attention to my Facebook and Instagram settings in future.


May the rain and Autumn descend on us ...

XXXX




14 comments:

  1. Oh gosh, I hope that you get some rain and some autumn soon! Hope that the snakes stay away too!

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    1. Thank you Amy, we did get a bit more rain today, and already a few green blades of grass have appeared. Fingers crossed there will be more - and with cooler weather the snakes tend to go away for a few months.

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  2. It rained during the night up here in Ferny Hills, enough to settle the dust and clear the air. My husband has a bonsai collection and has been struggling to keep it watered this summer. I can't remember a summer like this one even when we had the drought....and not one cyclone this year either. I am looking forward to the exhibition very much. Cheers Lindsey

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    1. Isn't it great to have that fresh rainy feeling? I can't remember a Summer like this ever before either - and they have said it was the hottest on record. Hope you have a chance to pop in to QAG and enjoy the lady Modernists :)

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  3. Hi Patricia!
    I love that picture of our Queen!
    We arrived home on Sunday night, and the storm started Monday morning!
    Been snowing ever since! Good grief!
    Enjoy your week, I hope things cool down for you.
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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    1. Ps....I left FB after Christmas...best thing I ever did!
      Love IG!

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    2. Wow, you must have driven non-stop, you got home so quickly Linda. March seems a bit late for all that snow, Good grief indeed. Wonder how the Ottawa gang are faring. Interesting you left FB - I will consider..

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  4. Hi Trish! I"m so sorry you're still in drought and not really getting the rain (or Autumn) you want. Sending rainy thoughts and hope the right weather finds its way soon!! Snakes = yikes!! Although we have quite a few big woods and water spiders where we live and I'm pretty used to them by now. Plus lots of mosquitos and woodticks in the summer - both yuck!! Lol
    Love the photo of the Queen! And that is the prettiest brooch.
    How scary about your FB!! I agree with Linda - come to instagram. I love it lots better!
    Blessings. xoxo

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    1. Unfortunately the hottest Summer ever recorded has coincided with my getting older and my body less able to cope with the hot weather Carrie. Here's to more cool days! I do a bit of Instagram, so a foot in each camp these days. At least FB acted quickly and shut down the clone site. Blessings too xx

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  5. Val it was really bizarre to see myself in another site especially as there were photos of strangers among my pics. Weird. I think I got caught out with those changes which I often forget to check out. Not any more!

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  6. As you know we had drought for 5 years and this year we have floods. One extreme or the other, neither works very well. At least I didn't find a slithering snake in the garden. I have no doubt they are out there but I haven't actually spotted one.

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    1. Yes, Queensland and the West Coast USA do have quite similar climates. I wonder if we will have a flood year next? Even the experts don't seem to have a clue what to forecast these days. The only bad snake I have heard of in Nth America would be the rattlesnake, which in my mind only appear in cowboy movies in the desert, he he

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  7. I really like your tiny garden display, Patricia, it's lovely. So sorry to hear you are in a drought. California was in one also, but thanks to the tremendous amount of rain this winter, we are doing better. Oh my, that snake in your garden area would have scared me, Yikes! Love that yellow clutch you bought, and yellow is a cheerful color to wear. Those Lorikeets make me smile every time, Patricia. I hope you get more rain, dear.

    love, ~Sheri

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    1. Good to hear California is getting some rain, and we hope for the trend to come over here, pretty soon..
      Yellow is indeed cheerful, and I have rather a lot of it in the wardrobe. We live in the Sunshine State as the Tourism people call it, so why not. Yes we smile every day at the mad lorikeets, always full of tricks.

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