June 24, 2016. A winter wonderland!

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Cold, sleet, hail, snow,  sun, and clouds.  Everything!  High about 39

The weather forecast was dire today, but since the morning was sunny and nice, we decided to go on a short excursion.  We got as far as the supermarket, where we lost sun and encountered wind, clouds, and  sleet.

So, after buying some groceries, we just headed back home.  The sky was bright in the north, but really menacing looking in the west and south (think Antarctic winds).  

The storm was beautiful to watch.  The kitchen window soon gathered a beautiful pattern of ice...

The cactus plants on the back deck got sprinkled with pretty sleet.

The sleet turned to a hail mix, and we could hear the little pebbles beating at the windows and skylights.  I thought  about ice-skating on the deck...

We were cozy inside in front of the fire with a piping hot bowl of soup for lunch.  The hail then turned to beautiful snow.  It stuck quite a bit in the front yard.

The black driveway turned a pretty white.

We heard that it hasn't snowed here for about 5 years.  The TV news showed delighted children throwing snowballs.  The ski resorts at higher elevations were thrilled.

After all, it is the equivalent of Christnas Eve, December  24, in the northern hemisphere.  

Being Friday night, we walked to our town's cafe for Friday night pizza.. The cafe, also a renovated historic building, is open most days for breakfast and lunch, and then on Friday nights so that locals can gather and  chat about their week.  Last Friday, we were seated at a separate table;  tonight, we were part of a long communal table, just for locals.  We had great conversations with several people.  We split a delicious roast vegetable pizza.  Great fun!