Cloudy but no chance of showers

I had a lovely weekend down the beach - happily alone. After a fairly brutal couple of weeks at work (just busy, not actually brutal, although I felt a bit punch-drunk by the end of it) it was blissful to vegetate. The weather was cloudy and not very warm, but it didn't matter. I went for plenty of walks, including along by the creek, which is looking very green at the moment.

This is in sharp contrast to the rest of the countryside, which is as dry as I've ever seen it. I noticed buildings I've never seen before because the foliage is so reduced, and the most phenomenal amount of road kill. One stretch of road about a hundred metres long had four kangaroos and two wombats ... all on the move for food. Except these actual animals, who were very dead. According to the Department of Primary Industries 98.9% of New South Wales is drought-affected, which is pretty damn dry. Our "lawn" is mostly sand at the best of times, so not much to look at at the moment.

This is one of my favourite cliffs down to the sea, with the spring flowers. The sea did not look welcoming but there were the usual keen surfers and little kids having a swim. I made another dress, ate lots of cheese, read a book, watched the footy finals and spent some time just sitting. Friends came over Saturday night for drinks which was lovely (and stopped me being completely hermit anti-social). I was so close to throwing a four-day sickie and not coming back ... but I restrained myself.