On Our Walks
Comments
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My poor dam is nearly dry. What a difference from the first pic. The other two have been dry for months. The sky is full of red haze from the fires burning everywhere. Kind of an eerie feeling.
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Stay safe, @kezmusc - we had a big scare on Thurs .... and currently have towns around us on fire.
We had 3 fires within 1.5k of us.
This fire was a few streets behind our place on Thurs - far enough not to impact us, but we have a big native reserve between the fire & us (right on our fenceline) that hasn't had backburning/slashing in the 20 years we've been here. So we were really concerned & had bags packed, just in case.
This one was in the National Park in front & across from us - it was bombed with fire retardent and then water
This one to the left of us ....
We played a gig here on Mon - my car was parked where these cars are. A Nursing home. They were OK and weren't evacuated. The actual fire was about 2 blocks away - but still VERY scary.
This photo deserves an award, I reckon, taken by a local.
A uke buddy has gone up to the Nymboida today where their holiday shack it (lucky to get thru with the Highway closures) - luckily it is OK but the bush burnt up to their fenceline.
Take care everyone xx If in doubt - get out!1 -
Take care everyone in the fire areas - Victoria knows all too well what it’s like. Take no risks.1
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Certainly a worry for all!
Take care1 -
@kezmusc
I feel for you with your nearly dry dam. We are 10 kms out of town and not on reticulated town water.
Our bore is suffering from our dry 'wet' last season (it's "tasty"). We are nursing it along until the rains start.
We had a teaser three days ago, but only 2.5ml in the rain guage (and a dead beetle!)
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I went to the Wanderlust festival today and amongst many enjoyable and interesting events there was a 5km walk round Alexandra Gardens. Unlike most of the rest of Australia, it is green here in Melbourne due to the regular rainfall we've had all winter and spring.
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Goodness @Arpie, that last photo is pretty scary (great pic though). So far the closest fires to us are about 15kms away this time but there are a lot of them. 3 local small towns evacuated yesterday.
@Annie C It's just awful isn't? I've got snakes that you never see (bandy bandy's) drowned in the pool all the time trying to get water. Mind you the pool is kind of a lovely shade of green as the water is too low to run the filter. Every bloody other bit of livestock is trying to get into my house. We've got a cockatoo that has taken up residence on the front verandah, magpies that now follow me into the house, possums that are living permanently in the stables along with a carpet python (this is not a bad thing as all mice seem to be gone) and all sorts of critters drinking out of the dog water and eastern browns all over the place. Luckily they are easy to spot these days as there's no bloody grass for them to hide in!
A few of the local water suppliers are that over run people are waiting weeks to get water delivered.
Take care everybody. Fingers crossed for some rain, if not for us then for some of the poor farmers doing it really tough.
xoxo
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@kezmusc
When I lived in the city down south, far too many years ago to count, I took water for granted. Taps were simply turned on. Then I moved rurally, not just rural but remote rural. I was introduced to a whole new world of bore pumps, pressure pumps and reticulation pumps.
Pumps that can sense when the pump knowlegeable man of the block has gone away to "play boys in the bush" camping and fishing and so decide to have a "I am not going to work" event.
Over the last 25 years I have learnt how to pull a bore pump from a bore, how to detect subtle changes in sound of a pressure pump that indicates it is about to give up the ghost, the quickest way of getting a new pump from your nearest pump supplier some 200 kms away (and on a Sunday!) and how to shove a spanner in the works to over ride the automatic tank filler.
Our bore will only really be in strife if we get a wet season like last years - a non event. Given the activity of the birds (gone down to nest), animals
(appear to be procreating with no thought of tomorrow) and plants that have not flowered for a couple of wet seasons are now in full bloom, it is likely that we will receive a good drenching shower or three.
However I am playing it safe by calling the rainmaking coven together for our next 'cut the clouds' dance. I just have to work out when the next full moon is, and I will send some your way.
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Your comments resonate with me. We are not on town water! House tank for us and dam water for animals. During our time here we had 12 years of below average rainfall and a green drought.
I have a city friend who thinks it's okay to spend 25 minutes in the shower! No comprehension of how precious water is!
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Only my eldest remembers the big 15 year drought here. I remember when he was seven years old we had a rare torrential downpour and he knelt on the windowseat for a long time just staring at it. He'd simply never seen anything like it.
As a result, the younger kids are all appalling with shower times. So I bought shower timers. Seems to be working.
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@iserbrown
Our answer to city friends who spend too long in the shower is to turn the pressure pump off. Shower water is reduced to a dribble.
Not very hospitable but very necessary.
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I remember visiting a friend in the bush during a drought in the 60s when aged about 14 ..... they brought a kettle of hot water into the bathroom & poured it into the bath ..... and that was it!! I added enough cold water to it to cool it down a tad & I bathed in the 'puddle' (after sitting there for a while, hoping for a 2nd kettle full to come along - which didn't!) We DO take our access water a tad for granted.2
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@arpie
We do. I will always readily admit that I never gave water a thought when living down south. I was so green / naive that I did not know that people drank bore water until we moved to our bush block.
I thought that water was supplied by pipes to houses. Well yes water is supplied by pipes to houses but the work of laying pipes and supplying the water is done by us! And what's more pumps are required.
What an education!3
