Mid-summer downunder: rainy day view down the driveway towards the street

That looks lovely, so much nicer than all the snow pics here :-))

Lol ... I'm rather enjoying all the snow photos Annella ... it's not something I'm used to ... and of course I don't have to live in it, but the winter scenes look very pretty to me.

Agree Annella with you.

Oh bernieh we have about nine inches of the white stuff, completely stranded here at our home, and a mile from the nearest shop, just wish the snow would go away now we have had to much of it and its still coming down.

Bernie - I'll swop you some snow for some of your rain :-)

What Id give for a nice stroll along there!

Me too Pansy shall we go pay Bernieh a visit.......

Let's all get the next flight...do you think we could get a good group discount?

Beautiful scene Bernieh....:>)

You're all most welcome to come for a visit ... sounds like you've all had enough of the snow now! I'll keep my lovely comments about the beautiful winter scenes to myself now I think ... lol, I do now how you feel .. it's the same with the heat over here. By summer's end you're at your wit's end!!

Yes we're right in the middle of the 'wet' now .. we've just started getting the thundery storms tonight but it's been raining or should I say showering for over two weeks now. Not the monsoonal 'wet' we had last summer ... but it's still lovely rain and the garden is loving it. Of course after the rain we've had horrid sticky humid weather ... but that's to be expected.

Thanks Avis ... we're still getting waves of showers during the day and night here ... it's so lovely and so needed!

What are the red flowers on the brow of the hill in the middle of the picture Bernieh ?

That's two of my Delonix regia - my Poincianas, Mushy.

They wonderful as you look down the driveway ...:o))

Yes they're a great sight Mushy ... they're actually out at our front gate and the first thing we see when we come up over the little hill out in the street .. always a great sight during summer!

Just for your info the jumbo with 400 odd goy members arrives at 8pm ..Hope you have enough space for us all..:o)))
Ps the last person leaving the UK please turn out the lights .Thank you....

Lol ... Mushy ... lots of room out in the bush here if you don't mind sleeping rough!!

Actually the beginning of last year was the first time I'd ever got mould in any of my houses Marguerite ... it was the first monsoonal rain season for over 30 years here, but boy when it came the mould just bloomed everywhere! So far this year the rain hasn't been monsoonal at all ... so no mould! We've had years without rain here ... we were in the grips of drought conditions here for nearly fifteen years ... I think that's why we get so excited about rain.

Don't mind sleeping rough as long as it's warm .....:o))

It's definitely warm Mushy!!

Great view! Especially of the Delonix regia! lol! : > )

I'm glad you're receiving rain. Can you send some to San Diego,CA? LOL!

We've just been so warm and dry...we desperately need the rain!

We've been having quite a few days of light showers that roll in every couple of hours ... it's been going on now for around two weeks! Very different to this time last year ... we were starting to get the first of the monsoonal rainfall at the end of last summer. The summer weather here has been wonderful so far ... wish I could spare a bit of the rain for you ... but the garden is loving it!

So you spotted the regias ... huh!

Bernieh:

It does sound like it quite different from last year. Didn't you receive major flooding rains last monsoonal season?

So, you don't wont to give up any of your rain. LOL! : > 0

Yes, I did notice the Delonix regia. : > )

No ... don't wanna share!!! Lol! I think it was towards the end of January that the monsoonal rain swept in last year ... there have been no predictions of anything similar this year, so we have to make do with the showers we're getting at the moment.

Bernieh:

Well, be that way! LOL! : > )

Actually, today is cloudy and cooler (maybe around 70F/21C -- coolest day for the first time this year) and we may have some showers...however, tomorrow it's suppose to warm up and dry out again... and maybe some hot, dry Santa Winds. The meteorologists are predicting by mid-next week we may be in a wet-weather patern. : > ) We need the rain so badly...I can't imagine how horrible the water restrictions will be if we don't receive enough rain this year.

Well today it's back to stinking hot and sticky! It's all blue sky, hot brilliant sunshine and high humidity ... aahh! the tropics! Looks like the rain has moved on for now ... I'm blaming you for wanting to share.

Bernieh:

See what happens when you don't share your rain. LOL! : > )

Stay cool on those very hot, sultry days. Oh God, do I hate that type of weather!

Are you having any trade winds? I know the trade winds can make the heat a little more bearable...somtimes. : > )

Yep ... that'll teach me to be greedy huh? I spent most of the day indoors in the air-conditioning .. although I did get out to the greenhouse to pot up some new plants.
We're in a most unusual spot here in the foothills ... we get land breeze that comes in from the north-west and then we also get the cooler breeze from the ocean coming in from north-north-east ... and then of course there are those days when there's not the slightest waft of a breeze at all!

Bernieh:

Sounds like what I do when it's very hot...sit in the house with all the blinds closed in front of the A/C. LOL! It's true. : >)

It seems to be an intersting wind flow. Which direction does the Monsoonal flow come from?

Well, about being greedy with rain! LOL! We're suppose to receive an incredible amount of rain next week. We are setting up with a typical El Niño pattern all next week.(Monday - Saturday). Finally! : > ) We are going to be getting a "Pineapple Express" which is a real meteorology term. It's when we have a series of potent, juicy storms which come from around the Hawaiian Islands stream up to California. It can hit any area of the Western U.S. Coast though. The "Pineapple Express" storms have caused the most widespread destructive flooding ever recorded in Califronia in past El Niño years.

It could be bittersweet for some people...especially, if there's major flooding.

Hi Andy ... yes it's our location in amongst the foothills here that results in the rather strange wind flow ... but we don't mind because when we sit out on our verandah we can get a lovely breeze from one end in the morning and then the other in the afternoon ... quite refreshing when it happens on a hot summer's day.
I wonder who came up with the name 'Pineapple Express' ... such a spot-on term ... we of course can get similar summertime storms but there's no fabulous name for them! I'm not talking about cyclones here either .. they can sometimes have the most interesting male or female names.

Bernieh:

I know that topography makes a huge difference with winds, direction of winds, rain and so on. I live on a south side slope on College Mesa at 460 feet/ 140 meters elevation. This makes the climate very hot in summer and especially warm,mild in winter...because of this southern exposure (hottest exposure in nothern himisphere). I can also get strong winds and heavy rain when the storms come in from the south...if storms come from the north...I'm not that greatly affected.

I'm not sure who thought of "Pineaple Express" or "Pineapple Connection"
which is the other name. However, it's very appropriate.

This "Pineapple Express" may put a big dent in our drought...so the meteorologist say. We're suppose to get 5 - 8 inches/ 12.7 - 20 cm of rain this coming week. That pretty much our annual rainfall here. We'll see what happens. : > )

Do you get a lot of cylcones where you live?

Well it should be ... here comes the rain!!! ... over there now. That amount of rain sounds like our monsoonal downpours which we don't get all that often any more ... as I've said before, the record monsoonal rainfall we received at the beginning of last year was the first one since I was a small child.

As for cyclones, yes we do get a few. The section of the north-eastern coast between my city and where Pitta lives is in fact the part of Australia that is most susceptible to cyclones! Yep it's true ... in the last third of the nineteenth century when records began, in 1867, 1870 and 1896 ... we had 3 major cyclones .... then more devastation in 1903, 1971, 1990, 1998 and 2000.

It's a paradise here ... really it is!!

Bernieh:

Well, it is pouring rain with very strong winds right now...and this is just the beginning. We expecting 4 more huge storms this week.

This tremendous amount of rainfall that we're experiencing is very unusual and only happens during an El Niño or an MJO (Madden–Julian oscillation) year. What so strange about all these storms coming our way -- is that they are backed up to the Philippine Islands...which is more typical of an MJO instead of an El Niño pattern. Go figure! : > /

It sounds like paradise there...because it seems you don't receive many cyclones there which is good news. It's almost like the Hawaiian Islands...they rarely get hurricanes (cyclones).