so far, so quiet

Our local school is open, but I don't think many kids are going in.

I've cleared up the yard and stationed buckets of water around. I mean, even if spot fires don't take light, that'll still go onto the garden, right? :)

Plants have been watered, I'll pop out in a few hours to see how everything's going.

It's heating up (oh, gotta go let down the external shades), and there are occasional wind gusts but nothing too big right now.

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I bought a tray of on-the-edge strawbs for $7 yesterday. 12 punnets. I hulled and sliced over half of them last night with the intent of canning them, then read that it's not recommended to can strawbs. So I froze them instead.

But I still want to make strawberry pie(Just So Tasty). Except: baking.

Oh well, while I'm here: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (although there's apparently an improved version, too), and Strawberry Rhubarb Soda Syrup, both from Smitten Kitchen.

And now I'm hungry. I've had two cups of coffee (that's probably why I have an impending headache; the caffeine is sucking all the water out of me, and that always makes me headachey) and an egg. Maybe I need something a little more solid.

It's just...not likely to be strawberry pie.

Probably.

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I guess I could do the syrup.

Hm. If I'm going to make that Syrup, better be soon about it.

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made it through CATASTROPHE

We're good so far. Hot and exhausted from waiting all day, but good.

There was a fire sprang up <5km away (2.3 miles) where they were telling people "don't try to leave anymore, seek shelter", but the wind was going in the wrong direction for it to move towards us.

Sun's gone down, temperature's falling, but the wind's picked up from the south. There's always the danger of flying embers if a fire starts south of us. However, if there's a fire south of us that gets so out of control that we need to evacuate, it'll be right in the middle of Sydney and it'll have to cross a lot of major roads.

Not that it can't happen, but it's unlikely.