SURVIVED THE WEEK!

WOW, what an inferno of a week, tues 42, wed 44, thurs 45, friday 46.5 by which time the birds were all sitting quietly inside shrubs and the air was light a fan oven.  i left the hoses on all day and the activity around the bird baths outside the loungeroom and kitchen windows was constant and a delight to watch while i tried to stay cool and do a bit of painting in the kitchen.
i've set up an easel on the kitchen bench under the cooler vent and have started two more self portraits.

it's been a christmassy week despite the weather on friday.  i've been in to see martin, he had the big reveal of the large piece he's been working on all week, it's the beginning of something terrific.  we had lunch too, always so good to spend time with him :0)  despite the 46.5 deg temperature  😟

On wednesday i spotted a small group of wrens far off on an old dead climbing rose.  they looked so pretty in silhouette i zoomed in with the camera and started taking pics.   when i got the pics on the laptop and zoomed in more, lightening the silhouettes i realised it was a family of white-winged wrens, i've never seen them here before - didn't even know they existed until an excited airbnb guest returned from perry sandhills with some gorgeous shots.

i think i might use some of these pics for prints at some stage

AROUND THE BIRDBATHS before and after my visit to martin in the stinkiest hot day of the week.

friend di dropped in for coffee and spotted this gorgeous black-faced cuckoo shrike behind me - it's usually way up high and out of sight, i hear it but rarely see it. but it came down all day to be near the water.  i wonder how the kangaroos fare out in the saltbush

it was funny to watch the face-offs between different birds but in the end they all decided it was too hot to bother about pecking orders and shared the water

last night was christmas drinks at rod tebrett's, a friend of friends sue and derek.  haven't been there before, he has the cutest little scottie like dog dougal and a magnificent lemon-scented gum in the front yard.  and who was there?   Don Cullinan, the guardian angel who saved vicki and i the day we ran out of petrol in the middle of nowhere, somewhere between broken hill, pooncarie and wentworth on a very hot day last year.   i thought he lived on the property he took us to for petrol, but he and wife cherry live next door to rod in wentworth.  so we had a good old catch up.

i love these pics, sunny was asking about them so i dug them up in an old album,  classics!

 I've been sent more pics from the old days at Brights - it's hilarious to think that fashion manager maxine thought these costumes would somehow draw attention to the shoes in this shoe parade. she came up with the whackiest ideas for parades and ads, and we had a groovy fashion shop for a while called Clobber Globber!! ??

darling ray again, so serious about his role :0),
and mary, lizzie and bill from menswear

what can i say??  maxine looks impressed (in black vest)

Cool mornings again, it's such a relief - still getting up in the 30's during the day but sleeping is comfortable and the house stays cool

i'm wondering if

the large goanna

is pregnant or

just ate something

large and oval 

the hot 

weather

does bring

gorgeous

sunrises

and sunsets.

staying cool by the lock

HOW GORGEOUS now to have cool silvery mornings 

again