Another day down!

Another day has almost passed and we are still safe on Shipley Plateau although our friends on the other side of the Great Western Highway have been through three days of high drama.  They are still fighting the fire as it makes its way through Pope's Glen and miraculously it appears that they have not lost a house yet in Blackheath.  I hope that is true and if it is it's only because of the mighty effort by our Rural Fire Volunteers.  I called into our Shipley Fire Brigade shed late this afternoon and they assured me that I should feel safe tonight and that all of the action at this stage was on the Govetts Leap Road side of the highway.  I know they will be working tonight to save houses that back on Pope's Glen as it works its way from the Grose Valley.  It has been a couple of days now of high drama in our beautiful village and everyone is feeling the stress, there's no doubt about that.

Amidst all of the drama today I had a wonderful surprise.  If my travel plans to Perth to see my family had not been cancelled because of the fires I would have been at a Blipmeet with Ninniex, Doyley22 and DonnaWanna.  You can't imagine how thrilled I was to have a FaceTime call from the three of them and all of a sudden there I was at a virtual Blipmeet in Perth with three of my favourite blippers!!  They even poured me a glass of champagne and offered me some of the scrumptious sandwiches.  Thanks so much the three of you, it was a very joyful experience and it meant the world to me.  Oh and I was able to give them a virtual tour of Wombat Hollow at the same time :)

Another kind gesture as well this morning when my neighbour Greg from the Lazy Gecko down the road called by and helped me remove one of the large banksia bushes that was hanging over the Billabong and the lower tank.  I had realised that I needed to not just prune it back but remove it altogether.  If a fire did come through I would need to be able to access the water and it would be impossible if the banksia were alight.  I'm happy to say that there are still dozens more bushes for the birds to feast on so I didn't feel too bad about removing it.  Greg also checked my gutters for me and declared them free of leaves and debris.  It's just a question of consistently doing the preparation and being ready for any situation that may arise.  Thanks again for all of your heartfelt messages of support.