Being in the Southern Hemisphere our temps are somewhat "upside down" to those experienced in the USA and UK. While you guys are hunkering down for a chilly (and in some places frigid) winter, we're stripping off, filling the pools and sadly coping with bushfires.
This year, it seems summer has descended on us earlier than before. Now, our temperatures are in Centigrade and the US is Fahrenheit so I'll do a quick translation for you:
32C = 89.6F
34C = 93.2F
36C= 96.8F
38C= 100.4F
40C= 104F
Hubs (Mr Nix) went out on the weekend to check our tanks as we knew they were low and we're in a dire situation as we're down to the last ring (well, actually down to the last half of a ring) and if we don't get storm rain/water in the next 2 - 3 days, I'm going to have to order in water. At a cost of about $500 for 30 000 litres. Ouch!
Topping all this off we are also now on Fire Watch... yippee! What does this mean to the average-rural area dwelling-Aussie?
Barbecues are fine (so long as it's not an open fire pit) any burning off (which usually takes place about now to kill off vermin and to reduce the fire load) has to have appropriate permits and they can only be used under very strict restrictions.
I'm not really looking forward to the burn off that should be coming up soon. The Rural Fire guys do a fantastic job but our house is bounded on 2 sides by areas that need to be burnt off. Smoke, ash and embers then are high on my "I don't really enjoy" list.