hot summers and dry grass

It has continued hot here, unseasonably warm for the beginning of autumn, so we're still tending to go out walking early in the day. Penny feels the heat, so she was glad to find a big puddle on the grass at one of our regular parks this morning.

It was interesting to see that she put her belly into the water but didn't roll over. I think she cools herself through her belly and her paws.

The water sits on the top of the grass when the groundsmen water, and I think it's because the topsoil was removed when a water harvesting system was built under the ground in this area. 

We often see lines of disturbed soil across the playing fields, and one groundsman told us it's so that the water might penetrate to lower levels. You can see that the grass grows in lines around these spots.

Some areas have to get special attention.

Thank goodness for all the hard work the turf specialists put in. Otherwise the whole area would look like this part that isn't maintained.

Penny meets a graphic designer

Today Penny and I went to a local park to mooch around, and we met a friend there whom Penny loves. She (the human) and I were discussing 'earthing', so all three of us lay on the grass in the lovely evening sunshine in the hope of improving our emotional welfare. How nice!

I hope I didn't overdo it by taking Penny for this first major outing after her recent illness. She was out in our backyard munching on grass this evening. Back to the vet tomorrow, I think.

But an interesting thing happened while we were in the park. We met the man who is one of the designers of the great signage that I love so much, the signage that explains the fascinating water harvesting that goes on under this park.

And with the Monster El Nino looming over our summer, water harvesting is going to be on everyone's mind soon. Unfortunately. How terrific that Banyule Council has put all this investment into the future.

Here he is with our friend, holding his own dog, Chas. (Chas the Chihuaha - you have to love that name!)

If you'd like to see more of his work, have a look at this.