Smoke over Melbourne

We've been having the worst bushfires Victoria's ever seen. Overseas relatives have been asking if we're alright. Yes, we are, we live well into the suburbs and away from the fire, but that doesn't mean we aren't affected.

This was the view out my front door yesterday late afternoon. A red sunset from all the smoke.

There's smoke haze in the air all the time now - I don't want to go walking outside, because I don't want to breath it. The extreme heat has killed lots of the plants in the garden - everything is looking brown. Leaves have fallen off trees everywhere, even though it's still summer.

And everyone's collecting for bushfire relief. We've contributed through the kids' schools; we shopped at the supermarket that was donating their profits yesterday; we're extra motivated to save water.

And tomorrow I'm off to a stamping fundraiser. Gail is running a "Stamp-a-Stack" - a stamping class where everyone makes lots of cards to take home - and she's donating all the proceeds. She's running several of them over the next week or so - look at her blog and book in for one! She's hoping to donate hundreds of dollars, so I'm happy to support her.