Almost tropical

Thank you to everyone who left 'warming' comments yesterday. We really needed them as the temperature never reached 6º during the day, and the sun had no warmth in it at all. Possibly the coldest day I have experienced in Canberra in 30 years. Obviously others felt the cold too as gas supplies dropped dangerously low.

However, today was much brighter and warmer, at least in our area. It was warm enough to sit in the sun for morning tea after I had walked around the hill to get a few more photos.

Fog rising.


Black Mountain peeping through.


Brindabellas above the fog.


Icy patches in the shade.


Could this be my favourite tree, I wonder?


Thick fog hovering over the Murrumbidgee River.

Brrrrr....... and later.

Yesterday's photos were almost summer-like with clear sky and the sun shining on the frost. This morning at 8.30 the sun was still hidden behind the fog, the frost was a bit heavier and it looked just a mite chilly! We don't get a lot of foggy days, so I hope this one clears away soon.

I know these are nowhere near as thick and heavy as those we experienced in England, and although those very heavy frosts are beautiful to look at, I'm quite happy for them stay over there.

















By 11 o'clock it looked like the fog wanted to keep us company for much of the day so I took a walk around the hill, mainly to look for spider webs, but didn't find any. So, I just had to be satisfied with these wintery views.













This is my usual 'sunset' view.







I knew there was a sun up there somewhere.

"Does it ever get cold in Canberra?"

Several people have asked this question recently. These photos were taken at 7 o'clock this morning, just after sunrise. This was a -7º C (20º F) frost, which followed the -6º frost yesterday; we can expect similar tomorrow morning. Although the days have been fine and sunny the maximum temperature has been around 8º C (46º F). So yes, it does get cold in Canberra. On Sunday I put the thermometer on the letterbox and in just a few minutes it was down to 3º in the cold south-easterly wind.

I'm sure the frost would have been thicker in other places, but this was the best I could do in dressing-gown and slippers.










Tree dahlias finally succumbed.



Regal Pelargoniums. I hope they won't be cut back too much.

Frozen, crunchy ground.

The Hanging Gardens of England!

For ages I've been promising myself that I would rummage through the 3500 photos that we took whilst in England in 1993 and find some shots of hanging baskets. Well, I finally did it!!!
Yet again I must apologise for the quality as they are only photos of photos (when, oh when, will I buy a scanner???).

These really are a garden in a basket, with a wide range of plants - rarely did one see a basket with only one variety of flower.

The Horseshoe Inn at Ledbury.

The Harbour Light Cottage at Boscastle, Cornwall.

Pedestrian Mall, Exeter, Devon.

More baskets in Ledbury.

The gardeners in Ledbury were really striving for perfection.

Our very modest little garden in Ivybridge, Devon.

The Feathers Hotel. Ludlow, Shropshire. Is that Aussie contemplating a quick drink?

Summer decorations at the Barbican, Plymouth, Devon.