Sorry to leave you in suspenders. It's still all good here. We took a run into Oatlands yesterday afternoon as it was very smokey and I feel safer in there than here. The animals were a bit more cooperative this time so all three of us made the journey. Poppet was less than impressed and tore up all the newspaper in her box to make an even more tiny cave to hide from the world. At least her feral experience means that when frightened she remains silent so no caterwauling to accompany us. Billy just sat at the front of the box and watched the world with big eyes.

I have left the proper computer in the ute now, so am using the new one which has no storage.

Well according to the pundits armageddon will be unleashed in Tassie tomorrow. I have done what I can to prepare the yard (not as much as I should, but as much as I can), and am progressively packing the ute with things to take with me (and the pets) should evacuation become necessary. Most of the local farmers have prepped but next door has left long dry grass under the pine trees, so if that goes up, so too will all the houses in the row (me first) because of the wind direction. Aerial attack is the most likely source of problems so once the ash starts falling I am piling the dog and cats into the small crevices remaining in the ute, and heading into town. Close to the lake in case all else fails.

The things a spinner knitter sewer packs include spinning wheels, fabric and fibre stashes, button boxes, pattern books, important documents, clothes, boots as well as newer shoes, and technology. A prescription or two will also be added to the handbag once I stop typing. And in case you were wondering about the sewing machine, not only is it inaccessible but I need a new one anyway haha. So far today has been windy but not hot. And the fires are a long way off. Tomorrow .... well who knows? With any luck a cool change will emerge from down south and we will get rain instead (which is why stuff is in plastic bags in case the ute leaks).

Basically the situation is such that the services and volunteers are already stretched to the limit. Mainland help will presumably be withdrawn if they have problems at home, and so it's up to the individual to maintain personal safety. And that is why I have decided to get the hell out at the earliest indication of a threat.

There's also a spinning day scheduled for Saturday so keeping the wheel and relevant floof accessible also has to be a priority so I am glad I have time to do things progressively. I have worked out how to follow ABC on the laptop which is handy as I get updates on emerging situations. The phone is old so the battery takes ages to recharge and drains fairly quickly, so it remains on the charger.

It's hot - really hot by Tasmanian standards, and hot for far too long for normal Tasmanian Summer (where a run of five days is highly unusual - and this has lasted for two weeks so far and more to come). So not much has happened on the home front other than on-going slashing when the Nuisance regulations permit morning activity, and other commitments like driving people around, generally catching up with myself and so forth permit.

Today was the inaugural meeting of the new knitting group (an offshoot from the spinning group prompted by the leader of the spinning group turning her attention to other members now she doesn't have me to pick on). Quite a good gathering including one person I didn't know, and a really lovely day - much more friendly, open to sharing ideas and skills and so forth, with none of the negativity.

My knitting is doing surprisingly well with four beanies sold in the space of a week at outrageously high prices. So rapid a sale that she has put up the price because we can. This led to a discussion at the knitting group and we have agreed that prices for items for sale will be commensurate with them being craft items (not just granny's knitting). So it's all good - another outlet for our work, and a great group of friends. One of them even wants to buy my spare spinning wheel so I am very happy with that.

I have also finally found a source of plant dyes (madder, weld etc) so have ordered some smaller packs to experiment with. Once I have sufficient funds from beanie sales I will order more wool from Bendigo to dye. Though with those particular dyes I would rather use handspun as I would like to incorporate them into garments using natural fleece colours.

Planning an early night tonight as it has been too hot to sleep lately and last night was a nightmare.