Fog tracing fingers over the ridges. Nineteen millimetres of rain yesterday afternoon from a noisy storm. Lots of thunder and lightning, some of it very close so that the flash and the bang were one. The verandah birds were unsettled but the horses, standing on the ridge of land surrounding the new lake, didn't even twitch.

It's been too hot to do much of anything. 36 yesterday. Did a little drawing but the heat is so enervating that even my mind has difficulty engaging. The length of the drawing board laying across my bare legs, keeping what little air there is from reaching my skin makes me even hotter. All I can do, along with R and all the animals, is wait it out.

Hugo, one of the greenies, even lies down on his stomach in the corner of the cage and pants. R saw him on his back once. The first time I saw this I thought he was sick but it's just his way. He looks like a little green quail. Speaking of his quail-like qualities, he hasn't grown any flight feathers since he's been here and was even losing feathers on his head. I started to think the worst but his head feathers are regrowing and they look normal so there's hope. I don't want to have to put him down.

The new drawing has had a difficult gestation. I did a series of thumbnails as inspiration, unlike the previous two drawings, was absent. Suppose it was too good to be true, those previous two drawings. Thought creativity was going to roll out of me.. Then there was nothing. Not a nice feeling. Even took to drawing lines with my eyes closed to see if anything suggested itself. Finally, something did. Although it's early stages, barely more than a line drawing, I like it. It's of a sleeping woman with her hand draped over the back of a sleeping cat. I love the hand. I've always loved hands. It's one of the first things I notice about people after their eyes. It's sinuous and soft and quite beautiful, even if I do say so myself. At least the outline of it is. Whether it will remain beautiful as the drawing progresses remains to be seen.

Have meant to say in previous posts that Cornelius is fine. He's singing again and dashing from one end of the verandah to the other. I'm still treating all of them with coccivet. He had to have picked it up from Tony as he was the only new ingredient to the mix and Tony did have coccidiosis. Because Cornelius was such a healthy bird, never having a days illness after his wing was taped, it took a long time to incubate. What threw me too was that until the very end, when he was weak and I believe near death, his faeces remained normal. I don't have a microscope to examine faeces. Tony's faeces are still a bit soft and when he's on my finger and I hold still and watch him he will close his eyes for a second or two. That's not normal. He's been on coccivet off and on his entire short life but what choice do I have. Tony eats well, flies well, is always cranky in the morning, like Jake, and seems to have energy and vivacity – but I don't believe he's 100% either. It was a mistake to treat Cornelius with Flagyl when he didn't have trichomoniasis but the state of his faeces is what put me off. The turn around came when he was directly dosed with coccivet. It was a joyful day the first time I saw him eat a few seeds, with his poor heavy head hanging over the cup, but at least he was eating. Now you wouldn't recognise that he'd ever been sick.

The flood disaster still holds most of Queensland, parts of Victoria, NSW and Tasmania in its thrall. Brisbane is mopping up but most of the CBD is back to work, the markets have reopened and power is being restored to most homes. Some homes will be destroyed as the damage was too great. Grantham residents were allowed to return home yesterday. Twenty people are dead and another 12 are missing still. A couple of days ago we walked to the end of DGR. The road at the far end has been completely destroyed. It has been sliced in half by a new creek, about 16 feet wide and 6 feet deep. The residents have cut a 4 wheel drive track through a paddock but they have no phone, no power and no chance of getting same for quite a while. Someone told them to evacuate as the road would not be repaired but I don't believe they can do that. At least five families live there. It's just going to take a while. We aren't going to repair fences until the rainy season is over.