Is Summer Over Yet?

Is it just me or are you a bit over summer too?

This summer just seems to go on and on here in Queensland and quite frankly it is holding up my favourite season Autumn.

I love the warm but not hot days and cool nights that we get here in Queensland in Autumn and I am hoping that April will bring just that as so far March has failed to deliver.

Sadly the future is looking a little bleak in regards to cooler weather.

How is the weather at your place?

What are you looking forward to in the coming seasons?

Permaculture Workshop

I little while ago I signed up to follow a couple of the local (to where we will be living in New Zealand) permaculture groups on facebook.  I discovered that while were going to be in NZ there was a whole weekend of events happening, most free of charge or by donation.
We were a bit short on time so could not attend more than 1 event so we chose to attend a discussion about wind and water.

The discussion was held at a private property and the gateway that greeted us was quite magical.

Our host had only owned the property for a few years and it used to be a horse property so had compacted soils, a sand arena, no food production or wind protection.  He demonstrated how the water flowed across the property and how the property had been poorly designed as all the buildings created dams and blocked the flow of water.  Plus they were made of metal so the end result would be rusting.  Something we will have to be much more aware of when we plan our property.

There were about 30 people at this one talk and there were 2 other talks happening at other locations around the city.  It was great to see a diverse range of people attending.

They have planted over 50 fruit and nut trees so far and are using ally-cropping where you fence off your wind break and use chickens or ducks below food and shelter plants.

The property we visited had a section of very steep pasture and our host discussed how he was using Poplar poles to stabilise the hillside.  This is a very common form of tree planting for stabilisation in New Zealand as the hill sides are prone to slips.  They are basically giant cuttings that grow into trees and they only cost about $3 each So they are an affordable option for farmers needing to stabilise large sections of their property

Once the tree cutting has been planted they get surrounded with a plastic tree guard to stop the stock rubbing against them.

You can see the top of a slip in the photo

It was a very interesting day and we met some great people.  There was a seed swap later that day but we had other plans and since we are not living there yet there was not much point.
It seems like the permaculture group that hosted all the activities over the weekend do this a few times a year so that is something to look forward to doing once we are living there.

Hare you attended any interesting gatherings lately?

Summer Storms Have Arrived

Yesterday we had the fist of our big summer storms.  I was in town at the time and Hubby called me to tell me to go to our friends place and wait it out as there were golf ball size hail stones falling from the sky.
Hubby forgot to take photos so this is what was left about an hour later.

We have lots of green tree frogs that live in our down pipes and the heavy rain that arrived before the hail washed them all out into the mesh inlets into the tanks.  Then it started hailing and they were apparently all getting battered by the hail before being buried in it.  Hubby donned his hard hat and climbed onto the tanks to rescue them, boy I wish I was there to see that.

We let them all go later that day and they all seemed to hop away ok so hopefully they will all survive.

I also discovered that one of our hens had gotten caught out in the storm.  I suspect it came in so quick she took refuge under a bush in their pen but it did not offer much cover from giant hail stones.  When I found her she was looking very bedraggled and a bit dopey like she had been hit on the head.  She was very cold and was standing there with her eyes closed.  So I took her inside and gave her a bit of a blow dry with my hair dryer.  Yes you heard right.
She did not seem to mind at all and just stood there while I fluffed her up again.  Had it been the morning I would have just let her dry out in the sun but it was 4.30 pm and I figured she was in shock (from the hail not the blow dry).  This morning she was back to her normal self so all is well.

Have you ever given your chickens a blow dry?

How Are You Keeping Warm?

All across Australia we are experiencing a cold snap with a blast of cold Antartic air pushing up from the south.

We have the fire going and even Jessie thinks in front of it is the best place to be.  

It is really windy too and in our old house the wind is finding ways inside making it's presence felt. Our property in New Zealand is in an exposed situation and this weather reminds me how important it will be for us to have lots of wind breaks.  We have planted out about 400 trees already but I expect that number to increase to about 4000 over then next 10 years.

How are you keeping warm at the moment?

A Wet Weekend

Like many people on Queensland we have just had a few very very wet days.

Over Friday and Saturday we had 280mm of rain due to Cyclone Marcia.  We went to bed on Friday night and woke up to find one of the trees in our paddock had fallen over.  It had been leaning for a while and at some stage in the past some one had lit a fire at the base of it, so it was never in the best of health, but it was still sad to see it go.

There was a poor snake living in the base of the tree and he did not escape in time when it fell over.

Thankfully it will be no work at all for Hubby who is an arborist and in 12 months or so it will be providing the new owners of this house with a supply of firewood (assuming we have sold by then of course).

We were flooded in most of Saturday which did not really matter since we had planned to have a day at home doing some bits and pieces in preparation for putting our house on the market.
One of the projects was to re hang all of the pictures on our walls.  But there were 2 walls where we really needed large pieces of art to fill and balance the space.  I did not want to spend lots of money on art and had originally planned to do a painting for one wall but I was not feeling inspired so I opted for a quick and simple fix.  Covering canvases in fabric.
Because I already had a canvas I just needed to buy one more and some fabric.  Then it was just a simple matter of using my staple gun to attache the fabric to the canvas wrapping it around tightly and stapling on the back.

I chose 1 fabric printed with birds and the second with words.  In total I spent just over $30 for these two large pieces of art and when I am done I can either change the fabric and use it for something else and use the canvas to paint on when inspiration finally hits.

Here are the finished products:

How did you spend your weekend?

Storm Season Begins With A Mini Tornado

Well storm season has kicked off with a bang with 3 very hot days (37 - 40 degrees Celsius) followed by storms in the evening.
On Saturday night there was lots of wind, thunder and lightning but very little rain.  Monday night there was lots of everything including rain which was such a blessing. But Sunday night we had a storm with lots of thunder and lightning and a burst of storm activity that I can only describe as a mini tornado.

We had all the doors and windows open and the cool breeze was cooling things down and the rain was pattering on the roof.  But then I heard the wind pick up and I could hear it roaring through the trees that line the creek nearby.  
I started rushing about shutting doors and windows and called for Hubby to come and help (he was already in bed) and within about 30 seconds it hit the house.  The wind was so strong that I could barely pull the door closed against it and as Hubby was closing  one of the windows the wind slammed it on his finger (enter a few choice four letter words at this stage).
The wind slammed against the house for about 3 minutes and then died back down again.  A little while later just as I was going to bed the rain stopped.

The next morning I was astonished to see that our garden shed has been demolished with a few panels in the neighbors place.

The roof off Jessie's kennel had been blown off (we had her inside with us because of the storm thankfully) and it takes the two of us to lift it as it weighs about 40kg.  The tree branches above her kennel had been torn off and flipped over the fence.

The tree at our neighbors gateway lost a huge branch and locked them in.

The main reason that I think it was a mini tornado and not just a wind gust is the randomness of the things that were affected and where some items ended up.
The roof on Jessie's kennel was only 6 meters from the front porch yet the cane furniture on the porch was still there the next day.
The peg bucket from the back yard was found around the corner of the house and almost in the front yard (so at 90 degrees from where it should have been) about 40 meters away.
One of the flower bushes was blown over but the tomatoes that were staked nearby were still standing.
Our shed was blown to bits but the lid on my worm farm right beside the she was still on the worm farm in the morning.
So many random occurrences.

We spent Monday morning gently removing items from what was left of the shed and having a good old throw out before dismantling the shed and taking it to the dump.  I was a good excuse for a clean out and we had it on the cards for the near future but now it has been done.  It was great to get rid of a whole lot of junk and I hope to get rid of a bit more in the weeks to come.

Hubby pulling the shed apart and loading the trailer

My next job is to deal with all the empty garden pots that were stored behind the shed.  We can't take them with us to NZ so I plan on washing them all and giving them away.

Te cleared shed slab

Today we headed out to buy a new shed but I am not sure when it will be assembled.  I know one thing for sure and than is that noting is going back into the shed without first being scrutinized.
Hopefully the heat wave is over for a bit as it is too early in the season to be getting 40 degree days, it's still supposed to be spring for heavens sake!

How's the weather been at your place? 

Rain Glorious Rain

Rain oh how we missed you.

We have had no rain to speak of for the last 4 - 5 months.  A few mls here or there but barely enough to reach the ground where there was mulch.  But oh how things can change.
We have now had nearly 250mls of rain in the last 3 days which is more than we have had in the last 8 months combined.
Much of the grass had died off and you can see some of the brown patches in the photo below.  These will take a while to recover but that green in the photo was not there a week ago, it was a field of brown.  Grass is amazing resilient stuff.

We know that for us the lack of grass is nothing compared to what our outback farmers have been going through and hope that many of them have also benefited from this rain.
All around our community bridges have flooded and are being cleared of debris and a few people are cut off until their bridges are cleared, but none the less we are grateful.

I hope that where ever you are the weather has been in your favour.

Wet Wet Wet

Well yet again we are flooded in.  We have had another 200mls of rain in the last 2 days and it is still raining. So at this stage I have no photos of our latest farming adventures.  But once I can get a break in the weather so I can get out there with the camera I will post about it.

 Jessie finds it very hard to stay out of the rain as she still has bundles of energy to burn.  Which means that we also spend time in the rain with her.  Thankfully a hot bath full to the brim is not an issue.

Hope you are high and dry where you are.

Flooded In

All of that lovely rain we have been getting has now fully saturated the ground, and has been running off for the last 24 hours.  We have had now had over 150 mls of rain in the last 48 hours and it is possible that we will get up to another 200 mls before the weather front moves away.  There is also the chance of tornadoes as other parts of Queensland have experienced them as part of this weather system.

It appears that the last tank is full

The below photo was taken 2 hours ago and in the distance you can see the line of trees that mark the creek.  And on this side of them is where the creek has burst its bank.

This was an hour later:

And now this is the same view.

Within the hour I expect the water will be creeping closer to our house but it is very doubtful we would flood.

Across the road it looked like this 2 hours ago:

And now it looks like this:

We are creeping close to the level of flooding that we personally saw in the 2011 Queensland floods and at the rate we are going we might even pass them.

At least we still have power, phone and internet (for now) which we lost for a number of days last time.

From our house to the creek which is the tree line in the distance it is about 700m so as you can see there is a lot of water out there.  You will also note in the below photos we have diverted the water from our tanks to the street as the overflow will otherwise make our lawn a bigger soggy mess.

I hope where ever you are you are safe and dry and having a lovely weekend.

Friday Night Home Alone

Hubby has been away working for a few days and I have been holding down the fort at home.

It is finally raining here and so far we have had over 30 mls of rain in 2 days.  The plants and animals are loving it and you can almost heat the ground sighing with relief.  We still had plenty of water left in our tanks, as there is just the two of us and we have bore water for the toilet and laundry, but a few of our neighbours have run out and had to buy water.

The beautiful rainy weather, I am sure the paddocks will green up nicely after this .

Our sad brown lawn.  It is green along the front as we have been watering the hedge.
But if we had not gotten this rain we would have been  walking on dirt.

So on this rainy Friday night at home on my own what will I be doing?

I will be curled up on the couch with a cup of Chai tea and reading the latest edition of Grass Roots Magazine that arrive in my mailbox today.  Then I will be getting some sour dough on the go for the weekend.

Home alone really is a bit of a luxury and not looking too bad at all?

Job Done and Just In Time

I had last week off work and after a weekend away camping with Hubby and Jessie the dog I had a plan to paint the ceiling in the lounge.
Our house is old and the ceiling is made up of panels which created a lot of extra cutting in.  But before I even got to the painting we had to move all the furniture out onto the veranda, then there was the washing with sugar soap and taping up around the edges.

It is not till you get up close and personal with your ceiling that you realise exactly how grubby it is.  I think for us not having fly screens makes a big difference and it is something that we will make sure we have in NZ when we build.
Hubby was working all week so it was up to me to do all the painting and I tell you one thing, it is a pain in the butt not having a second person to help you move ladders and a painters trestle around.

It has been so dry here lately it was the ideal time to paint.  But on Friday morning the weather report was for afternoon storms and I knew I had to hustle. I knew I was not going to be able to move the furniture back inside by myself even if had the finished the painting so I covered everything with a tarp.
And just as well I did as a storm rolled in and we got 35 mls of rain in the first hour.  Oh how we needed that rain.  It has been so dry (only 15 mls since the start of June) and everything was dry and crunchy.

We received over 70 mls of rain in the end and my garden was breathing a sigh of relief.
But the painting was finished and the garden watered, what more could you want on a Friday afternoon.

Hot Hot Hot

It has been getting very hot here lately and yesterday was no exception.
It has also been extremely dry.  The last time it rained was mid July.  I have raised a lot of seeds and have potted them on into indervidual pots but all this hot dry weather is making it hard to keep them from suffering.
Yesterday we had a scorcher of a day with the below temperature of 37 degrees registering at 2 pm.  It was one of those days that you pray for rain.  People often talk about the heat being oppressive and the air feeling heavy.   Today I knew exactly what they mean.

The dry heat has been a bonus in drying my Pak Choy seed pods and all going well I will have plenty to give away soon so stay tuned.

And it turns out my prayers for rain were to be answered.  A storm rolled in late afternoon, and although there was not a lot of rain(only 4 mls), it was enough to cool everything down and water the garden and paddocks.

A few weeks ago one of our neighbours kindly came and slashed our back paddock to get rid of all the dead grass and thatch.  Since then we have watering it from our bore and it has been greening up nicely.  So this rain just topped it up.

Sprinkler watering the paddock (A bit hard to see but look for the jet of water)

The paddock starting to green up

Weather reports suggest that we are in for a long hot summer so I am sure we can expect plenty more days like this to come.

Wet, Wet, Wet

It has again been very wet in our part of the world with over 150ml in 48 hours at our place and much more up in the ranges above us.
On Saturday morning we woke to find ourselves again cut off with torrents of water crossing roads and creeks in flood.
For us this is not uncommon and generally the waters have receded within a few hours or a few days.
I wanted to go to craft classes on Saturday afternoon (these things are important you know) so Hubby and I took a bit of a drive to see what conditions were like.

There were intersections with minor flooding...

 Roads with major flooding...

And paddocks turned into inland seas...

Then we came across signs of just how high the water had been, and a very helpful farmer clearing the road so residents could get out.

In the end the water dropped off in time for me to go to craft and I spent a rainy afternoon chilling out doing some scrap booking with good company and a few cups of tea.  A perfect wet afternoon.