Summer Rain

The recent rains in Australia have been incredible but should have been expected as we have been in drought for 10 years. In keeping with Dorothea Mackellar's poem, it has truly been a land of droughts and flooding rains. I think we had 200mm of rain in two days, as we are on a hill there is good run off so no damage. But we deeply feel for the victims of the recent floods. Our sons are scouts, their leader organised a sausage sizzle to raise money for the flood relief and they raised $1300.

With all the rain the local waterfall was in full flow and looked amazing. A quick stop on the way home turned into a drama as No. 2 son slipped over and then had a muddy bottom and our daughter got bitten by a bull-ant. Then both complained all the way home.

Tail-less Skinks

After xmas was over we headed up to the hills again. Everything has grown so much with all the rain we have had. Our neighbour was up in December, when we had a large rain event and she said it was incredible to watch. Gully's turning into rivers. Her dam was full, the highest it has ever been. Lots of wildlife around and lots of weeds, a full day weeding the paths and beds. The weeds are constant but are good for filling the compost bins, then mulching the trees and plants. I think we can expect a large population of frogs next year, as there were thousands of fat tadpoles in the dam next door. That may keep the mosquitos down next year, voted the most annoying this trip. Lots of small skinks this time without their tails courtesy of our small fox terrier. I told her that one day the tail sticking out may not be what she thinks, and she may be lucky to come away with hers.

Halloween

Late Spring

Summer has nearly started. With record rain and cool weather this spring the insects are slow to start their infestation of the landscape. Something tells me they are still coming and in large numbers. We arrived Friday night of the long weekend and found the shed as we left it. When we left last time we had to bug bomb the shed as there was an infestation of bugs and spiders living in and on it. Nine Huntsman, large Centipedes, European wasps, Cockroaches and a few bugs I have never seen before marched on there way. One Huntsman stood out as it was the size of an adults hand.

We love the fact the "shed" is in a healthy environment but there is a point where one thinks this is ridiculous, there was more life inside than outside. We where happy to find a bug free home. We spent one day weeding and one day checking out the local markets. A large kangaroo passed the kitchen window one evening to everyone's surprise. The vegie garden is going well with the carrots doing the best. Next time we go up we will dine on organic carrots hopefully before the bugs find them (locust).

"Timbbber"

The problem with trees is sometimes they fall down or are blown down as was this case. A large storm passed across the state recently and blew one of our large trees down. You don't realise how tall these trees are until they hit the ground. We spent the weekend cutting it up for firewood and burning the branches. We also had some crushed stone delivered and spread it around the shed and paths. The fire season is coming soon and we are slowly cleaning up the the fallen branches.

The real shed

The shed went up in 1 day after plenty of help from the children. It was a team effort. Even though they learnt a few new words it was a successful day. Finished off with a spectacular camp oven roast lamb and a bottle of wine. The secret we found (after a google search) is to put the oven close to the fire and 2 shovel full of hot ash on top. No hot ashes underneath. It worked great then a little flour in the juices for gravy.

To put the finishing touches to the shed we will need couple of metres of crushed stone around the outside. Something else to save up for.

The vegie garden is doing fine. We thought it may not be getting enough sunlight but everything seems to be growing. We are looking forward to spring.

They're here, they're here.

Another successful weekend away with friends. Even though the Dinner (camp oven style) was not a huge success. Another night of cooking marshmallows on the fire and finishing off a few reds. Our friend is a fantastic photographer (http://www.juliancowley.com/) so I have included this great photo he took. There are Powerful Owls sharing our forest and they are huge. Two sighting so far. They are said to feed on Brush Tail Possums and judging from the size of them they are right. We now have to be careful with our little Jack Russell at night as she would be smaller than a BTP and might become a BLT.