They lied about the temperature today - they said it would be 29. At present it is 31 and rising and so too is the wind. I was out at the crack of dawn watering the plants, and then, once a civilised hour arrived, mowing grass. But I had to stop at 11 as it was getting a bit too warm for such exertion and I am sooo unfit and fat at the moment I decided to stop. Having had a (younger) cousin drop dead recently from a heart attack does tend to make one err toward caution. So instead I took some photos for you

This is the small paved area I created to put the gas bottles on - it will continued downward in the frame to the corner of the house where an English lavender will be planted to stop people on the terrace (a future project) from walking round the corner onto this. I picked up a few shovels full of crusher dust from Barwicks when last down in Hobart to provide a base (the fill is rubble and small rocks I have found around the place while mowing). Once the succulents are established it should look quite nice I think.

These are the cornflowers that have been blooming fairly non-stop for some time. They have been lucky to survive as I thought they were weeds and asked the gardener why he had not pulled them out while he was weeding, lol. I also have volunteers of evening primrose and another plant the name of which I forget, but which promises to be very ornamental - must be all the rain and milder weather we have had this last winter.

The loungeroom looks much the same, and it would appear the dog has not moved since the last photo - the corner in the background is where the cabinet will be intstalled to house the fire wood. It will look suspiciously like the cabinet that was there previously, but will probably have two doors and a shallow shelf at the top for matches, firelighters and flue cleaner. The kindling and paper will be stored in the paled green magazine rack that is beside the plywood box. The plywood box is the cat cage they travelled in from Europe and is there on standby in case of the need to evacuate as it has the bowls for water in the front which would permit watering without accidental escape in strange surroundings.

The mirror on top of the chest of drawers is a freecycle score - the brackets are not screwed into the drawers - all I have to do is put two strips of wood behind to stop it falling off in the event of violent activity in the bedroom (dog playing, not me!! keep it clean!). Apart from clearing out some junk this room is pretty well ready for decorating so am looking into the idea of wallpaper to cover the cracks in the plaster ...

The study is almost there - all I have to do is sort through those huge piles of papers, most of which will be thrown out (old bills, already paid) and the rest filed. Then work out what to do with the various craft bits and pieces that do not currently have a home - the CD collection was unearthed very recently and was a major find! Who knew I had CDs of the Whitlams and the Audreys? The boxed set of gregorian chants is rather nice and restful...

The spare room is still a work in progress and until it is done the table saw will remain a feature of the loungeroom. But not too much more to do - I would like to give it a bit of a scrub as there is a linger odour of mouse pee in here despite the cats' best efforts. It will be good to get this sorted and a window in the hole in the wall before next winter.