Heatwave and chaos

Melbourne's latest heatwave caused chaos in the city. Trains were cancelled, power went out throughout the city, people went crazy from the heat as well as the normal pressures of life.
We were exceedingly fortunate. With newly installed ceiling fans, closed blinds and wet T-shirts we were able to keep the house to an almost reasonable 31 degrees on the last 45 degree Celsius day.
My poor garden was not so lucky. Now the silver birch tree has dropped many of its leaves following a severe burn. Many other deciduous trees in the local streets are also brown and the drift of leaves in the hot winds adds to the feeling of extreme heat stress.
My water tanks are nearly empty after 30 odd days without rain. However, the tomatoes have survived (with sunburn) and also the sweet corn. So far the Camellias look okay but the Correa groundcover has nothing but crisped branchlets.

Oh I wish for the money to invest in photovoltaic panels to hook up to an air conditioner!!! Then we wouldn't have to worry so much about extreme heat and power blackouts. My house is designed to be more passive solar with eaves that keep the sun off the windows in summer.

A big cheer also to various emergency services people who were slaving in the heat to douse fires nearby, fix broken traffic lights (bad accident) and various other life saving events.

Spring is here!

Yeah! finally the days are lengthening, bulbs are flowering and sadly the grass has risen enough to be mowed again. Though to call it grass is somewhat a misnomer as the weeds outnumber the real grass. The lack of watering over the last few summers, due to water restrictions has seen to that.
The Magnolia tree has bloomed and now is covered in new green leaves. The hyacinths are just about to finish, as are the daffodils. My lovely Camellia's are also nearly finished their flowering as are some of the Azalea's.

My Plum tree is flowering, though rather lopsidedly as the "other half" got carried away when pruning it in July. However, neither the Persimmon Tree or the Ginko tree are showing any signs of bud burst or leaf.
One of the joys of Spring in Melbourne is the antics of the swooping bird population. I haven't been attacked by a Magpie yet, though my son on bicycle has. The Masked Plover's have raised a chick and annoy us with frequent warning cries and constant dive bombing when anyone approaches.

And to top it off the water tanks are completely full. Summer here we come!