Hello Birdies, Hello!

What a weekend we had down at the country property. Ferocious rain and wind storms kept us rugged up inside. Arriving on Friday night we quickly turned on our heating but in an hour it became obvious that something was wrong, the heater was not working and the thermometer inside the house was quickly heading down to low centigrade readings. Luckily we still had wood in the old wood shed and Kees soon had a merry fire burning so at least one room in the house was comfortable. I curled up in an arm chair and caught up on a few top copies of journals I subscribe to - Hortus, The Garden [Royal Horticulture's monthly magazine], The American Primula Society and the American Rhododendron Society] - these are piled up on a table, unread, with the stacks nearly reaching the ceiling!

All night the rain sheeted down and the wind moaned around the house, so loud it kept me tossing and turning in my warm bed. I left the comfort of this cocoon, very early, intending to start to write this article. But horrors of horrors, the electric light would not turn on, we had lost all power to the house and on my transistor radio, I heard that all Tasmania was suffering from floods and/or branches torn away from trees that had fallen across the power lines and thus causing the blackouts in many areas. The news also told me that enormous, horrible forest fires were burning in Canada. The weather is so extreme, all over the world, it is time we stop destroying our nests and clean up the environment!

Feeling rather cross with the world, I glanced out of the sun room windows and through the curtain of rain, I observed a delightful happening. Two fairy wrens were sitting on the honeysuckle bush, twittering and kissing one another. I rushed for my camera and as always happens, they waited until I had nearly crawled up to the window when, with one glance at me, they flew away. All weekend they teased me by sitting on the window sill, looking in and then vanishing with twitters when my finger was on the button of my camera. I swear their chattering was really laughter. But their 'carry ons' all weekends lifted my depression like magic. I had time to 'waste' time, time to watch the enchanting scenes that Nature was producing, time to realise that the world does not stop spinning when we lose our mod cons. Breakfast was cooked on a camping kerosene one jet utensil, water boiled for tea and afterwards we inspected the damage in the garden, which was minimal. The power was off all day but I was happy to rush back to watch the courting pair.

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