Summer has begun Downunder.

Tee hee.. I'm already downunder... so there!! LOL. Glad to hear you had a good time with Mossy, and nice plants :o)))

OMG, Bernieh, the noise is deafening, had to switch it off after a couple of seconds, showed OH the beetles, unfortunatly she said I can visit Aussie on my own ( :o)) ). Keep up the good work, and keep us posted, Hot here today, +5. LOL.

incredible, the plants look so lush, mine look so tired!

Pip ... lol, maybe I should have also said 'anyone coming up north?' It was great to meet a fellow GOYer ... it was something I was not expecting!

Littlelegs ... yes you're absolutely correct! The sound of cicada song is an iconic Aussie summer sound, but when you live so close to bushland it can be amazingly loud!

Hot ... huh? You might need to step outside just to cool down!

Stickitoffee ... those plants will be looking pretty tired very very soon. A few more weeks of the summer heat and humidity will definitely wear them down! Just like me.

So pleased you had a nice time with Mossy, That was the one think i did'nt like about Australia when we lived there was all the insects etc.....

Hallo Bernieh. I´ll swap your hot weather any time for the cold freezing weather that we are having in europe at the moment.

I'm not so sure, Rogi - I mean its positively balmy here today (5degC) compared to recent temperatures, and it is tempting to imagine all that warmth, but really, I find high humidity and heat an absolute killer now I'm older. So on balance, I think I'll stick with the cold - at least you can pile on a few more jumpers, but you can't take your skin off when you're just too hot. Nice idea though, all that warmth, sigh...

i agree bamboo ~ i can bake to feel warmer but i go lifeless when its too hot and i hate that

Bernieh, why is that Cicadas suddenly go instantly quiet. Do you know?

There are insects like those in Spain as well & they can also be pretty noisy! Obviously you don't get them in the towns & cities but out in the countryside they are all around you making a real din!

Like others above say in their places it has been warm here today as well! But not "a little less cold" as they have become fond of saying on the weather forecasts during the last few weeks. "Warm" has dropped out of their vocabulary it seems only to be replaced with "a little less cold"!

Could do with some of your "warmth" though!

Beautiful garden and those in the smile box are wonderful especially the 3 pink dangling one they mainly look exotic.

Going on about the weather I forgot to mention how much I liked the photos in the Smile box, Bernieh! Sorry! :-(( The Orchids were really lovely!

Carol ... the insect life here is definitely varied, with so many varieties, especially here in north Queensland. We seem to have the most varieties of Cicadas ... as well as several other types of insects.

Rogi ... I wouldn't mind a little bit of the cold, but I don't think I'd cope well with your freezing temps.

Bamboo ... glad to hear it's warmed up for you, lol! Only 5! I'm feeling a little cooler just thinking about that. Now that I'm older I'm also finding it harder to cope with the heat and humidity despite having grown up with it all my life! I'm just turning into a grumpy old women!

Stickitoffee ... yes I'd agree with lifeless. The humidity does indeed suck the life out of you ... it's exhausting trying to do the vacuuming!!!

Jasonf ... I'm not sure why the Cicadas just all suddenly stop their singing. The chorus stops pretty much around the time the sky goes dark ... maybe they just like to sing when there's light.

Balcony ... I'd just love to share some the warmth from here! We could spare at least around 5 or 6 degrees of it. Oh, how I wish! I'm so glad you enjoyed the Smilebox presentation ... there's still quite a bit of great colour out in the garden at the moment.

Sixpence ... I think the pink dangling flower you talked about is the Globba winitii or what's commonly called the Mauve Dancing Ladies Ginger or the Thai Beauty ... from Thailand.