Hello, Wednesday readers

It's been a week of extremes; sweltering heat and violent storms, which pretty much sums up February in Australia.

We did make time to finally get out for a quick walk to one of our favourite spots locally, Maddens Falls in Darkes Forest. It's a beautifully easy walk, and the falls at the end are the perfect pay-off. Luckily, my husband has a real knack for spotting wildlife and found an absolutely gorgeous Diamond Python. You can read about our encounter with these gentle snakes this week. Rounding out a perfect day, we then hopped, skipped and jumped across the road to enjoy the music, food and ciders that make up Glenbernie Orchard's Cider Sunday.

In plant news, Emma introduces the Kurrajong tree. I hadn't heard of it before and now I'm on the lookout to see this beauty in the flesh. Maybe you've spotted the lovely Ginger Lily in your travels. I know we have quite a few plants growing around our street. I didn't realise though, that they're not native and Merilyn shares with us what to plant instead.

I also had the chance to speak to fabulous nature artist, Jess Hutchison. She grew up in the northern Illawarra and now lives with her family down in the Shoalhaven. Her work features flora and fauna most of us here in the Illawarra would recognise and she's a real delight to chat to. I'm sure you'll enjoy reading about what inspires her and how she came to be where she is now, working as a full-time artist.

Until next week,

Amanda