Brrr! SoS August 10, 2019.

Bleak is the best word to describe today. An Antarctic freeze has buffeted its way from the south bringing with it the coldest weather we’ve had in a long time. Snow has fallen not far from us, and a small amount of rain, bringing the total for the whole of winter (so far) to 13.2 mm (half an inch). We are officially in drought and water restrictions have been imposed. Because of the lack of rain and cloud cover, our overnight temperatures have been lower than usual, well into negative territory, but this morning, at 1 degree C was warmer than we’ve had for a week!

There has been very little happening in the garden, apart from pruning, but today I managed to find six photos for Six on Saturday.

One: (Above) Creatures are hungry. The local parrots have discovered the seed bell I hung from the Crepe Myrtle and have been crowding around, eager to grab as much sustenance as they can. These are Red Rumped Parrots.

Two: Also present at the banquet are King Parrots.

Three: A White Cheeked Rosella also arrived. The brightly coloured birds bring cheeriness into the wintry garden.

Four: Red Rumped Parrots gather below the tree to clean up any inadvertently discarded seeds.

Five: A brave viola staunchly provides a spot of colour.

Six: Narcissus ‘Erlicheer’ lives up to its name : a beacon of light during a break in the clouds.

Do take the time to have a look at the Propagator’s blog where gardeners from all corners show what is happening in their gardens – different climates, different garden styles and different plants. It’s always fascinating.

Weather today: 1 – 8 degrees C. Cold, wet(ish) and blustery.

45 Comments Add yours

  1. Barbara says:

    Oh you have colder weather than us! But it is a bit wet and stormy tonight.

    1. Jane says:

      It’s unusually cold, but yes, generally speaking I do think we have colder mornings. Much less wind though!

  2. That is worse than our current winters. Lovely pictures nevertheless

    1. Jane says:

      Thank you, Derrick.

  3. Fred says:

    Good luck to brave the cold … you are near the end of the tunnel and your summer is coming. Here is the storm and the rain these days.
    Beautiful birds this week !

    1. Jane says:

      Thank you Fred. The cold snap will be over soon and we’ll be back to unseasonably warm days. The weather is up and down!

  4. Anonymous says:

    Brrrrr. That sure IS cold, Jane.

    It’s been cold down here in the south, but definitely not ski gear weather……….yet.

    Glad to see there’s plenty of birds to brighten up your day 🙂

    1. Jane says:

      Thank you. Perhaps you had skiing weather later in the day when it was even colder?

  5. Granny says:

    Our few starlings and sparrows are not as colourful, nor as plentiful as your beautiful parrots! It’s strange to see winter flowers when we are, apparently, in full summer!

    1. Jane says:

      I’ve been warming myself inwardly with the northern hemisphere flowers, Granny!

  6. Tracy says:

    I am sure the parrots were very grateful for that, Jane. At our house, they are quite fond of the seed heads on the crepe myrtle too. Stay warm. Regards. Tracy.

    1. Jane says:

      They don’t seem to have eaten the crepe myrtle seeds yet for some reason, Tracy. Today I’ll buy more seed for them as now they’ve discovered us, they’ve spent large amounts of time in the garden. So thrilling.

      1. Tracy says:

        It certainly is, Jane.

  7. Also freezing in Canberra … as you can well imagine. I love your white cheeked parrot, very striking, I have never seen this parrot in Canberra.
    Keep warm!

    1. Jane says:

      Thank you Gerrie. I think it was even worse for you in Canberra! The Rosella is sweet. I’m surprised you don’t have them where you are.

  8. How fun to have wild parrots at your feeder! It’s 90f here in south Florida, USA. I wouldn’t mind just a touch of your color weather!

    1. Jane says:

      I expect it was humid too, Victoria, which can be very taxing. Pity we can’t swap a couple of days at will!

  9. I grew that narcissus this year. Smaller than I thought it would be but very pretty.

    1. Jane says:

      Mine is spreading quite nicely which I’m happy to see. It’s early appearance is a bonus.

  10. Such colourful birds make ours look rather drab. They’re all hiding from the storm that’s currently raging outside here. I think we’ve had your total rainfall in the last half hour!

    1. Jane says:

      After I posted we had more rain, the most we’ve seen in months but still not much, maybe half an inch. Not drought breaking unfortunately, but most welcome.

  11. Anonymous says:

    I love to see your colorful birds. Hope it warms soon. We are looking at 100f.

    1. Jane says:

      100 sounds quite appealing to me at the moment! We tend to have dry heat here, so that kind of temp is not too unbearable for us.

  12. Cathy says:

    Stay warm! Those parrots are stunning!

    1. Jane says:

      Thanks, Cathy!

  13. Plucky plants violas. Wouldn’t be without them. Some very pretty pollies there.

    1. Jane says:

      Yes, I love the violas. Some very pretty ones appearing now. I like the way they spread themselves around.

  14. Jude says:

    Crazy weather all around the world. Some places here in the UK received two week’s worth of rain in one hour recently, causing flooding and other damage. Now we have strong winds and rain, though it is actually lovely and sunny in Cornwall. You may not have many flowers this week, but those colourful birds more than make up for it.

    1. Jane says:

      A few Sixers mentioned strong wind and rain this week. The weather is such a feature of our gardening lives isn’t it? I’m glad yours is sunny and warm. Sounds heavenly.

  15. rusty duck says:

    The total rainfall figure is frightening Jane.
    I think we probably had more than that yesterday alone and of course it is summer here. As Jude says, parts of the UK are flooded. The world is becoming one of extremes and no happy mediums.

    1. Jane says:

      It rained lightly for much of Sunday which was most welcome but did nothing to alleviate the drought and large parts of the state are in serious trouble. We have been hearing about floods in the UK.

  16. Cindy says:

    I love the parrots. What color they bring to your garden and something we would never see here. Thanks for sharing!

    1. Jane says:

      My pleasure, Cindy. The birds are a joy.

  17. Kris P says:

    Your cold weather and snow around Sydney made the national news here this morning, Jane. I didn’t realize that your drought had worsened to that degree, however. I hope things turn around soon and you get more moisture in some form. Long-range rain forecasts for our upcoming fall and winter are sounding a bit ominous too.

    1. Jane says:

      Our long range forecasts are dire, Kris, and we have the warm weather coming. In the meantime we hope for possible showers that might keep the garden going.

  18. hb says:

    Very sorry to hear you are in a drought. Hope it abates–it is especially hard on the wildlife.

    1. Jane says:

      Thank you hb. Btw I do follow your wonderful posts but for some reason I’m not able to comment!

  19. Until today the chill hadn’t reached us here in QLD, but there is a very cold wind blowing this morning. Lovely bird photos!

    1. Jane says:

      I hope it doesn’t reach you, but rain, if it arrives would no doubt be beneficial!

  20. Anna K says:

    You have such beautiful birds where you are! They are like jewels adorning the trees. Sorry about your cold snap. The weather is so odd these days. Can you believe it – today, August 10, in normally summer dry Portland, OR, we had RAIN accompanied by thunder and lightning!!! Almost unheard of…

    1. Jane says:

      ‘Jewels in trees’ …lovely. I’m sure your rain was most welcome.

  21. Hairbells and Maples says:

    Lovely seeing seeing your photos of the birds in your garden. They certainly brighten things up! We don’t get the Red Rumped Parrots or the White Cheeked Rosellas here. They are beautiful! Hope you get warmer weather soon, and that some rain heads your way to alleviate the drought.

    1. Jane says:

      It surprises me how the bird life changes in different areas. No doubt you have your own selection of colourful birds up north. The day after I posted we had some rain which was so welcome, although it hasn’t done anything to alleviate drought conditions.

  22. Lora Hughes says:

    We’re all having bad weather, it seems, altho yours is the season for it. Lovely group of birds to brighten the garden, as you say. I can imagine there’s a bit of noise to come w/them. There’s bands of green parrots around here that long ago escaped from somewhere & have survived our climate. They’re always very bold w/their singing. That narcissus isamazing.

  23. Jane says:

    Parrots can be quite squawky, it’s true, and they quarrel with each other over the food.
    Thank goodness for the narcissus as there’s not much colour in the garden just now.

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