Weather

The day has been dominated by it. Even more than usual.

We woke at dawn to just 3C. On went a jumper and long pants. Bean requested an extra blanket for her post-breakfast sleep.

At 11am it was 16C which made for a very pleasant walk up the hill. Until we rounded the final corner and walked straight into a howling northerly, from which we had been sheltered until that point. It was a struggle to get to the top. Then my hat blew off into a paddock and I had to scramble through a fence to rescue it. Bean's ears were doing a wind-blown dance all of their own.

You really can't tell how windy it was in the photo, although the telltale presence of some lenticularis clouds give the game away. (In the thumbnail.)

Back home the wind picked up further and started to come from the north-west, straight across the property. However it was sheltered in and around the truck, so I got on with making a Blue Farmhouse Cheddar cheese (now in the press overnight).

The wind hasn't abated (although it is due to die down this evening) but the temperatures have ramped up and up, to reach 28C by mid-afternoon. 

The combination of heat and high winds has kept me out of the garden for much of the day, although I have picked raspberries. There won't be many more dishes now, but they still taste amazing so I am savouring every mouthful.