Looks like things are getting a little cooler for those in Vic / SA - glad to hear that.

So sad to learn about all the property that has been lost. I follow a lot of animal resuce groups on FB and a boarding kennel got burnt down, all the cats being boarded and many of the dogs were lost - so sad for everyone involved. 

Bushie, I think your verandah looks lovely! I'm not much help with paint colours - maybe a sage green would look OK???

Sorry to hear about the poor chooks that died as well.... heat can beso tough on any living thing

When I was a kid we had one summer when I remember birds were literally dropping out of the sky with heat exhaustion. Mum gathered the few that dropped in our yard and were still alive and put them under the weeping cherry where she had watered thoroughly, with a dish of water. A couple of them came good!

I have been busy doing some renovating here - I finally got to get some paint onto  couple of walls here, sprucing the place up a bit more before we put it on the market. Funny how you will put up with a broken door knob or marks on walls until you start looking at things with a critical eye! Still have a fair bit to do, but I have at least washed all the walls.

I wouldn't survive without my aircon! I need it to take the humidity down or I really feel like I can't breathe  Amber, if I was you I would be spending as much time as possible in the shopping malls! I think booking into a motel is a brilliant idea short term. Gee you will have fun finding a unit big enough to cope with 22' ceilings though.....

We are planning on putting in a ducted system when we move south. 

Freddie, hope you get to feel better soon. Any idea why things have flared up now? Heat? Stress of the renos??