I had posted yesterday's blog a little before midnight, temperature 28.5C, when this arrived in my email, just taken by my friend Christine in Watford. It didn't, as she had hoped, make me feel cooler, but it did help me imagine feeling cooler, She was rugged up inside, with heater going full blast.
I left the aircon on all night, which I hardly ever do. That made two nights in a row. We also had fans going in both bedrooms. It finally got down to 24C at 6am which was about when I heard rain, which didn't last.
I was very surprised, then at 8.30 am to look to the West outside and see, not rain clouds, but smoke haze over the city, and , when I checked, also over the Hills in the East. Within minutes the smell of smoke had penetrated the apartment.
Fire fighters had been working all night to contain the fire that started in Cherry Gardens, in the Southern end of the Adelaide Hills. It had spread north to Mylor and residents were being asked to prepare to evacuate. Rain this afternoon reduced the danger to property and lives, but the fire is now burning deep in bushland hard for firefighters to access and is expected to take 4-5 days to extinguish.
I have been trying to find a way of working the crochet squares that doesn't involve either winding off smaller balls from the 200 gram balls or carrying several 200gm balls around with me. The trouble with the latter is obvious, and the former ends up with joins because lengths are difficult to judge efficiently.
Today I tried a different approach. I made a square using a small ball of blue I had wound off and a full ball of ecru. I then made eight circles from the ecru. I have 11 different colours in 200 gram balls. I'm going to make two more circles from the ecru, then swap the ecru for another 200gm ball in a different colour. I will use the new colour to work the outside square of one of the ecru circles, then work 10 circles in the new colour - and repeat the process. If I don't get bored, this method will give me a full suite of all possible colour combinations without my having to carry more than one 200 gm ball around with me.
My visitors and I had lunch today at the Queen St Cafe, then, on the way to the airport, dropped in briefly on Brigid, Fionn and Niamh who were home today. It was raining by now. The airport was relatively quiet. The visit was short - but fabulous from my point of view. I'm so grateful to them for making the effort to come. 'Catching up' is an important process. I'm a fan of electronic communication, and know how effective it can be. I have to admit, however, the benefits and nuances that come with being physically together. and able to integrate all senses.
Tonight's sunset was a contrast to this morning's view. It rained solidly for a couple of hours this afternoon. The smoke has cleared after the rain. The temperature was down to 24C. Tonight's minimum is 18C.
That's a big improvement from my point of view.
It still leaves the fire fighters with a big job to extinguish the fires burning in the Hills, even if there are no homes in its path.
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