Wednesday 19th July 2023

Wednesday 19^th July

SHE SAID:

The wet & windy weather appeared again this morning. I was hoping it wouldn’t turn up, but it did come! The wind was awful - 60km, with 80km+ gusts. Not fun when you are trying to take photos of tiny Wispy Spider Orchids! YES, I finally found some open ones. I was very happy.

I went out with Kathy, as sensibly Geoff hid in the house with Charli. I showed Kathy “Geoff’s Spot”, the area he found a week or so ago, and she seemed very impressed. A final stop in the afternoon yielded lots of clumps of Wispy Spiders; we were stunned & excited. If only the wind wasn’t so strong. I think a return visit is needed when the wind is less nuts.

Wispy Spiders (undescribed, according to Andrew Brown),
though they look like Western Wispy Spiders to this amateur!

HE SAID:

Today was one of those days where the weather prediction was for an awful day. So, I mostly stayed in the house nice and warm and dry. I took the dog to the retreat for a short while before the weather came in, as Varena had mentioned that one of the ute indicators had failed and there was a warning on the dash. I collected a replacement bulb on the way, and while I had the bonnet up changed the air filter and fuel filters, which I had meant to do day a week or so ago. As I returned to the house the rain started, so excellent timing!

We had some howling rain squalls throughout the day, though Varena said that they didn't get any rain at all inland. But they did get the big winds. I still feel sensible for staying at the house.

Mum is still having an awful time of it. The hospital is the best place for getting her some treatment, but hospitals are crappy places to be. She is not enjoying the experience, nor the actual afflictions that got her there.

The first day of the fourth Ashes test started in the evening. I couldn't last to the end (as usual) but I managed to watch the Aussie batsmen waste their excellent starts, leaving us at 8/299. It could be a lot worse, but just one batsman going on with their innings could have had us looking at a really good score. We'll see what tomorrow brings.