Our resident rain god, Huey, has a great sense of humour. December 1, the first day of summer. Hee hee hee. Cold and rainy, the classic Aussie summer, eh Huey? Very funny.
Many houses in my area were built in the first two decades of the 20th century (ours was built in 1916). And they have tiled roofs over the living rooms and bedrooms, but out the back, where the laundry and kitchen are, the roof is galvanised iron. And in the early morning, as I wander out into the kitchen, all you need to do is listen, to know that it's raining. I love the sound of rain on a tin roof. Out in the garden, the water bowls are dancing with raindrops.
The water garden needed bailing out, lest the goldfish suddenly find themselves on the wrong side of the rim. And the gardenias behind are quickly turning from crisp white perfection into slimy brown mush. Thank you Huey, very amusing weather.
Almost every plant in the garden loves Huey's humour at the moment. Perhaps the succulents and Mrs Lithops could do with some warm, dry sunshine, but this potted cumquat is lapping up the rain.
Flowering plants such as this NSW Christmas Bush glisten with droplets and sag slightly under the extra load.The long-term weather forecaster people say that this is going to be a wet summer, and that's a welcome change, a good thing for our dry soils. Certainly Huey has had a good laugh at our expense this morning. The classic Aussie summer – it's off to a squelchy start!
