Wind in the trees.

     
For a long time now, Di has been worried about the big Grey Gum in our garden.  

Years ago it was nearly split in two when a mini tornado passed through and left a big vertical crack running between the two main trunks.  With all the wild weather and very high winds we have been having lately we thought the time had come to do something about it.  It seemed important to remove some of the very long branches off the left hand trunk to balance up the tree against the prevailing winds.

We hired a young man, a friend of neighbours, to carry out the work.  This is Matt starting his assent while his girlfriend, Jemma, looks on.

 

Its a long way up but he is there somewhere.

There he is!

What you may say as being out on a limb!

He's up in the top right hand corner.

 A bit closer.

And closer still.

A couple of hours later and its all done and he's on his way back to terra firma.

Some of the bigger timbers were cut up for future firewood and the rest is a huge load on the truck for a trip to the tip in the morning.

Bush Fires !

The bush fire season in NSW has started very early this year and is the worst for many years.

We have extreme temperatures, high winds and no rain in sight.  Wednesday is a very critical day.

The sun trying to break through the huge pall of smoke hanging over the mountains. At times its like night.

At the moment there are three major fires burning out of control in the Blue Mountains area, at Springwood, Mount Victoria and State Mine national park near Lithgow.  There are fears that the Lithgow and Mount Victoria fires could link up.

The sun and smoke produce an eerie atmosphere.  It is a lot darker than it appears in these photos. 

We have burnt embers and leaves drifting into the garden.

So far there are over 200 homes been lost but many more expected as these fires run out of control.  Many thousands of hectares have been burnt out but so far only one life has been lost.

Lets all pray for rain in the next few days.