Addendum to addendum

It's still raining here in Armidale and the region just east of us has now recorded more than 750mm in three days. Since I was curious about annual UK rainfalls, I went online to http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/ and discovered that the annual average rainfalls where Phillip lives (in Poole) and Brian lives (in Plymouth) are 750mm and about 950mm respectively. That gives you some perspective on what's happening here. For the record, Armidale weighs in at an average between Poole and Plymouth (about 850mm), though Armidale is now turning out to have a fairly wet year.

AS

Rainfall addendum

In the 24 hours to 9.00 am this morning, Dorrigo - which lies about 60km east of here - had, wait for it, 449 mm of rain. Given that it has been pouring since 9.00 am here, I'm prepared to guess that they've had another 200mm. That makes 650 mm in just a day and a half (or 26 inches) ... and my British readers thought that the UK was a wet place. Taking another guess, I'd say that Dorrigo has had something like 3000 mm of rain in the last 6 months. It least the place should be clean!

AS

Water water everywhere

The title of this posting is not quite accurate. Australia is the driest of the inhabited continents, with only Antarctica drier. And some parts of southeastern Australia, though fortunately not here, are still in the grip of a seven year drought.

Occasionally, though, it can rain hard and two days ago a low pressure cell formed off the coast of southeast Queensland. It turned nasty - into what now looks like a mini cyclone (hurricane to you northerners) - and it is heading our way! Brisbane has just had 200 mm (8 inches) of rain in two days and nearby communities received up to 400mm one-third of their annual rainfall in 24 hours.

Now, that's heavy, even though Brisbane gets an annual 1200 mm. Some of the south coast of England receives750 mm annually, so 400 mm is like getting half your annual rainfall in a day. Armidale is now receiving gale-force winds as the system moves SW, and the eye of the storm, which has no rainfall, is located near Grafton, about 160km away. We're also beginning to get some heavy showers. I'll let you know if our house blows away.

AS

Bridge Lesson

One of my great pleasures in life is playing bridge and, increasingly, teaching it. I've now established regular intermediate classes for club members wishing to improve their skills and the most recent occurred yesterday.

For the cognoscenti among you, I spent three hours yesterday (Sunday) talking about two topics concerned with card play: end plays and safety plays. For the first time in such classes, I got my willing subjects to play some hands around those themes before diagnosing what ought to have happened if they were thinking rationally. I also covered general principles on those themes. I selected some exciting deals, including several slam contracts, which made the session especially enjoyable!

My students, ranging up to about 85 years of age, were very enthusiastic and, at the end, the club president (and many of the players) thanked me for giving the session in such profuse language that, for a moment, I thought I was dead.

AS

Vale Juno

I'm saddened by the passing today of our favourite cat, Juno. She was 15 years old and was diagnosed by our vet with acute kidney failure and dehydration. She was in some pain and could no longer take solids so that she was getting thin.

We acquired Juno for Rebecca as a present when she was 11 years old, and Beck adored her. Juno reciprocated and was the friendliest and most gentle cat we have had. Juno loved to sleep among us and to spend evenings on our laps in front of the television. She will be greatly missed.

AS

Mothers Day

One reason behind our recent trip to Canberra was to celebrate Mothers Day together for the first time in mnay years. We had a wonderful (and expensive) lunch at Poachers' Pantry near Murrumbateman just outside of Canberra last Sunday. Em and Beck were both there with their partners and, of course Max. He had pieces of chicken, chips, and orange juice, while we dined on champagne, and fancy items with long foreign names.




AS

Autumn Weather

We have recently experienced a long run of excellent Autumn weather as Summer gives way gradually to Winter. During the last four days we travelled to Canberra and back, a distance of >1700 km (or 1100 miles), and it was brilliantly fine much of the time. Temperatures were also around the 17-18 degree range at either end (Armidale and Canberra) but rather warmer at lower altitudes in the middle.

Along the way we saw ample evidence of what the Americans call fall: brilliant red and yellow foliage among European and North American trees. The natives stay green the whole of Winter! For example, we saw this row of poplars where we dined for Mothers Day just outside of Canberra near Murrumbateman.



AS