Wet and windy

We have been waiting for a tropical rain event, to replenish our soil moisture, for years. This week we have a couple of lows around and limited visibility.
Tuesday walk has been cancelled and we have already exceeded our March average rainfall. Our tanks runneth over.
In February we had 163 mm. Previous years have been 89, 105, 56, 56, 11 - and our monthly average [13 years] has declined from 122 to 110.
I have removed a spreading weed from the paddock in the past couple of weeks and we have been busy mowing. The bluegrass is growing well and there are not many bare patches left as couch is also spreading on the block. The summer grass [annual] has been doing very well and we shall see what the paddock looks like once it dies off, but it has provided good cover during the recent rain.
Despite our good rainfall, I am still finding the soil quite dry beneath the mulch, when I dig holes to plant things.

Looking back at how the place was when we came in October 2004, things have certainly grown.
September 09 is already out of date.
October 2004
February 2010

A fresh start

Welcome to the New Year. It starts today as January was reserved for the summer of sport: a time where I watch quite a lot of TV, my hand/eye co-ordination improves, and I am exhausted after some matches - notably Henin, Federer and Murray. I wish my tennis shots showed more improvement but at least I find the centre of the racquet more often. Without the shot making technique this usually sends the ball over the baseline.
The summer of sport is also a time for sewing and, as well as mending clothes for various family members, I have completed the scrap bag quilt I have been working on for at least the past year.
This project was interesting as I visited my artist cousins in New Zealand early last year and that provided great stimulation. I then handed the 8 patch pinwheel units to Lee in November and she made the design which we put together at Christmas. We then decided to wad it and I hand quilted it over the past few weeks. It has been very satisfying and I have reduced the accumulation in the sewing room significantly.

We have long waited for a spent cyclone to head our way with a big rainfall event and at last we are experiencing it. The rain sounds different and falls in sensible amounts. We have 39 mm in the gauge this morning after a day or more of wind and overcast. The tanks are filling and the place will revive. I spent Saturday morning planting out trees and shrubs in anticipation.
This year I hope to complete several writing projects which have been almost finished for too long. I hope to benchmark my progress with monthly meetings of the U3A Genealogy discussion group. This used to work for me when I was in Mareeba.
It looks like the garden might look after itself for a while.
I am looking forward to returning to U3A choir and Scottish country dancing this week which is the beginning of term. Swimming/aqua has continued over summer and USQ fitball is also continuing.

Coming together

We were busy on the weekend; cleaning, mowing and putting the path to the tank back together after the big slump in November. The mesh fence is now in place around the tank with tomatoes, purple king beans and native clematis attached. Hopefully it will be a green leafy fence soon. The beans below the tank were waving around looking for direction and have already started producing so I will need to walk down there each day from now on. Fortunately the grass is now growing down there after all the construction traffic from recent months. The compost bins are also busy with the third one now full of weeds, so I have emptied the first one into the other two with some compost going to the potatoes.
This activity was all prompted by lunch on Sunday to celebrate Dick's last day before turning 60. The forecast hot weather and rain did not eventuate and we had a very pleasant afternoon with friends.

Our combined culinary efforts with Jim produced an antipasto tray, crudites with basil and pistachio pesto dip, macadamias in sour cream/garlic, asparagus/veg tarte, pizzas, smoked chicken breast and salad, cheesecake with mango and fruit cake. Allan brought a sample of his first home brew which was followed by some of mine, then wine.
We were lucky to find George, our resident dragon, in the front garden as our guests were leaving.

photos taken by Allan

Replenished

I thought I was kidding myself when I used to say that we would need a major event to replenish our soil moisture after these dry years, but last week we received the monthly average of 93 mm in 24 hours. We had already reached the average with 103 mm - something which has only happened 16 times in the past 4 years. Our previous maximum monthly rainfall was 130 on November 2005.
Although we had no damage from the storms, hail and heavy rain, we did suffer a slump in the fill behind the tank, as predicted by the plumber. I had poured all my grey laundry water for over a month into this area, but obviously this was a different scale of wetting and the area dropped over 20 cm, resulting in the input pipes from the roof dropping and disconnecting. A great deal of water then flowed around the tank with some wash of soil and mulch. Fortunately they did not break and we were able to put things back together before the next lot of rain.
Also, fortunately, we have a bit more dirt to move from below the tank area, so we are able to restore the top area to its previous level.
It was nice to see the overflow pipe spreading the water across the lower paddock.
The top tank has also overflowed so we are fully replete in tank storage.

An independent water supply

Carers of the Murray Darling catchment may disagree but all rainfall collected on our block is returned to it, unless it evaporates from bird baths and washing or transpires from vegetation.
Our house is now connected to our new concrete reservoir and we have transferred 7000 litres from our plastic tank. This should last us until the next rain event, which is forecast for the end of August. There are many rocks scattered along the trenches, now being filled, so there is plenty of physical work to do to restore the lawn areas and complete the landscaping around the new tank.

Things are happening

This week the plumber is connecting the tank to the house. This involves a lot of trenches, pipes, wiring and things. The rain has gone and it is good weather for it.
On Sunday afternoon I found a new eucalypt seedling on the top part of the block, then on Monday another, and today yet another. That makes 13 volunteers. At this rate we will have a nice stand along the top boundary, extending the line along the ridge. Won't the birds be pleased!
I wonder what else will come up on our native grassland?

Climate change

It is a wet week. We are signed on to the Solar Bonus Scheme but Sunny Boy is straining to generate anything. Meanwhile we have exceeded the monthly average rainfall for July by almost 100%. The plastic tank is almost full and we are running it out onto the garden so that it does not overflow. The concrete tank is not yet connected and we actually have slight soil erosion from the bubbler off the house roof, where the pile of dirt was. Most of the dirt has been spread which is good with this rain.

It's raining again

How good is this? We got 24 mm in the previous events and now there's more. At this rate the tank will fill - the old one that is - the new one is yet to be connected. One day the plumber will come and do it. Meanwhile I am moving dirt around it and looking forward to a new vegetable garden in spring.
Last week it was wet and misty on Tuesday morning and four of us turned up for the walk as well as Don the messenger of non-start. We headed west to Kingsthorpe lookout and the finer side of town. It was a pleasant drive and climb with things looking fresh straight after rain. Gisela had made a big cake for the planned bus trip to Nanango which was postponed so we four ladies enjoyed it in the park at Gowrie Junction on the way back. We enjoyed the best of the day.
The weather on the weekend was not so good but I got out to move dirt on Saturday afternoon, then on Sunday we went visiting family with lunch at Scarborough. It was nice to see the sea and we called in on Jim and his friends moving house on the way home.
Today we walked in the Upper Perseverance area which was nice and soft for a change. The moss on the rocks in the gullies was lush and moist and the grey green lichens were leafy and bright. We even saw a pool of water.

The Arts

This week we had a clash on our subscriptions to USQ and the Empire Theatre, but we made it to both.
The Twilight Series at USQ included a seminar by Carl Conrad Merten, sculptor, currently tutoring at the Winter School with his twin brother Rex Steele Merten, jeweller. This turned out to be very well done, despite the latter being taken ill and thus unable to be there.
We were unable to stay for the reception and drinks following, but headed in to town for Queensland Ballet's performance of Carmen, which was very good, apart from the grumbling of the airconditioning [or sound system] which took away from the music. It was a large cast and the choreography had a nice flamenco feel, while being ballet. The dancers, costumes and set were also very good.
At home my own Grand Design is in progress around the tank.

Into July

Rain fell in the first week of June, then it returned to normal and has become quite dry again. Meanwhile the tank is built and last week I missed my walk as the dirt was replaced around the tank. Since then we have moved six railway sleepers now radiating out from the tank down the bank towards the north and east. We no longer have a mountain of dirt, but there is plenty to play with around the tank.

We are enjoying now moist and overcast weather, a bit windy, but hopefully some more rain in coming days to settle the dirt before the plumber digs trenches to connect the tank to the house.
In the absence of rainfall, the solar energy has been appreciated. We are looking forward to the Solar Bonus Scheme generating income for the Cotswold Hills Power Station.

Navigation

Our tank is done [it still needs dirt replaced and connections to house] and we enjoyed being at home on Saturday. Sunday was navigation day at Glen Rock. We really enjoyed it three years ago and were disappointed to miss it in the past two years. Once again it was a day of interesting learning. There are so many aspects to navigation and Ian manages to set a course which illustrates different things on each leg. Dick and I worked well together and made it to all points. We had a challenging climb to a knoll at 1 pm where we planned to have lunch. Thankfully there was a ribbon on top and also a box of lollies - we don't usually get that on a bushwalk.
On Tuesday we walked in the upper Perseverance area. It is greener and softer after the rain and is a wonderful backyard, but I wonder if the creeks will ever run again?

May days

The month of May is slipping away and we have had 3mm so far. It is very dry here.

We walked at Stringybark, on hills south of Helidon on Tuesday 13th.

Jim came up for the following weekend and played golf with Dick on two mornings - nice and chilly. I planted out more Xerochrysum seedlings and some lilies I got from Ann. On Saturday night, the wind faded and we were able to have a campfire with roast lamb and vegies cooked in the camp oven. It was very quick, cooked well and tasted delicious. It also used minimal wood, consisting of old garden prunings.

Our tank project is happening quickly. Last week I posted the contract and deposit and the hole is already prepared, and the tank will be poured this week - unless we are washed out!

Last Monday I met up with a Clark second-cousin, Neal Price, who was visiting Toowoomba for work. We have corresponded for a few years.

On Tuesday we walked in the Grapetree creek area, descending below the cliffs into a creek in the reverse direction to our last visit. In the evening we had a sunset/full moon campfire. I cooked chicken drumsticks with vegetables in the camp oven. It worked really well.

On Wednesday I hurriedly cleared the tank site of remaining vegetation and mulch. In the evening we had a Twilight Recital at USQ featuring Collusion and modern music.

On Thursday the hole was dug.

On Friday we had an extra working bee at Franke Scrub.

Yesterday we walked from Peppers Resort to Spicer's Peak, just south of Cunningham's Gap. It was a perfect day. The morning was cool with fog on the Downs. We descended a razorback with nice views of the Main Range to the east, then climbed through rainforest to the western peak, where we had lunch on sunny rocks in a small saddle before some of us continued out to the escarpment above the Cunningham Highway. The views to the east extended to Mt Warning.
It was a long day ending in quite a steep climb back up to the resort and a drive home into the sunset with a hot bath to look forward to at home.

Rain at last

It rained last night - over many hours, although not heavily. With luck this gave time to find its way through the mulch and into the soil. We got 32 mm and the tank is now half full. It rises 32 cm with that much.
In anticipation, I sowed carrots yesterday and also planted a circle of kangaroo paws around the septic tank. I also uncovered the compost heaps, revealing a small mouse which appears to have made its home there.
We hope to get more rain today and tomorrow. The lawn had in fact sprung back to some life after 5 mm on the weekend.