Oh boy...fire season is here.......

The dry weather is becoming somewhat serious. The owners of this house sit have said not to water the trees on the block which is understandable because it will use quite a bit of water, but many of them are becoming stresses and several of the shallower rooted plants are dying back.

To help the wildlife here, we are keeping the bird bath full, and there is a fountain by the side of the house. The pump has finally packed up….Peter has repaired it several times, but now it is kaput, like Katut. But we keep the top level filled with water for the hares, birds and lizards that are around here. Having the pool is also good for many of the birds as they dip in and out to drink from the water there. The saltiness doesn’t seem to be a problem.

I got some pictures of a lizard taking a drink by the pool. Unfortunately I got a bit close and frightened it, so it went right in. They can swim like a fish, I was amazed. But Peter got the net and pulled it out.  Here are a couple of pictures.

The bird bath on the front lawn.

The fountain...top part. We keep this full for the animals and birds. You can see how brown the grass is.

He swam from one end of the pool to the other. He was quite at home.

The poor lizard. Back on land again.

 The news tonight is showing pictures of the Blue Mountains outside Sydney. There are many fires there tonight and many houses are being destroyed with many more to burn tonight they think.  If we had a bad fire around here, it would be similar. It is so dry an fire will be unstoppable.  And unfortunately, no rain in sight. Tomorrow morning maybe some showers and storms. The showers could be good, the storms could be bad. Lightning strikes start fires.

One good thing, there are supposed to be lots of snakes around with his heat but we haven't seen any yet.  That's a bonus.