Summer time -hot lazy days

It has been HOT HOT HOT -in Perth for a week or so. Several days over 40 degrees Celcius meant that we were struggling to keep our garden alive. Fortunately the new water tank has come into its own, because I can use the water every day on precious plants like this hydrangea and our asparagus crowns, to keep them alive.

We didn't plant a summer crop of veggies this year, because we were going to be away for ten days and knew that a hot spell like the one we just had, would wipe out anything we started. The beds have been fertilised and mulched and we have plans to plant-but only when things cool down enough to let seedlings get a couple of days of settling in before they have to face the heat.
Other plants enjoy the hot weather. These bougainvilleas next to our front fence are relishing the hot weather and are covered in flowers. I hope to encourage them to spread over the fence and soften it. We are happy to see the pomegranate has several nice big fruits just colouring up, and the new Eureka lemon has fruit too. The new olive is growing nicely and the quince has one -rather pretty -fruit too.

For the rest of us, it has been a matter of resting and enjoying the rhythms that summer in Perth imposes. We go for a walk nice and early when it is cool (or just cooler than it will be later) then we retreat inside. I have been making salads cooking as little as possible.

We are of course both back at work after our holidays, so we can at least pass the main part of the day in air conditioning. We don't have air conditioning at home, and that is our continuing choice at the moment. Our shade sails, our window blinds, our insulation, our ceiling fans fortunately make the house comfortable except for runs of extreme weather such as we have just encountered. The house inevitably heats up after a run of over 40 degree days as the overnight temperatures gradually rise too.

Then we get a respite -the sea breeze returns, the evenings become cooler -and so the season progresses.

I hope you are finding ways of enjoying your weather -and making whatever adaptations you need to it.

Finally the before and after bathroom photos

YES! at last we have a new bathroom. The builders finished on Friday with the painting, and we moved in on Saturday. Here is our lovely new vanity and tap set. We chose these taps because they are 'lever action" and so are easy to turn even with my hands. You can see how lovely our glass block window looks here.

Of course we took the opportunity to purchase new towels to match!

The shower cubicle was made as big as possible, and is a lovely sight to behold. Good bye clingy shower curtain!

In case you have forgotten, this is what was here before:



So glad to have seen the end of the purple bath and the icky brown and yellow tiles!

It took a long time, made a fair bit more mess than I thought, and yet it was still worth it. We love this house and plan to stay here for many years yet, so we see it as an investment in our lives.

In other news, we have inherited some lovely pieces of china from my DH's mum and dad, which have gone very nicely with the pieces I have already collected. I had some Royal Albert china which were 'flower of the month" pattern and also some pretty Queen Anne red and pink roses trios. The tea set from the Royal Albert "Country Roses" pattern sits nicely along side of these ones. I now have enough pieces for a very nice "Afternoon tea party" which I will hold just as soon as the Perth summer eases off a little. We have a very hot week ahead of us with temperatures from 36 degrees Celsius to over 41 degrees Celsius, and no end in sight.

I think there will be cold showers and iced tea all round for a while!