October 2016

As the rain clouds head south, so we start making a little more progress.

The tables for the shadehouse are complete and full of plants now. Marty and I are getting a little better at welding - less burning holes through the metal! We got to try our cheap metal saw (chop saw) with this project. I got it for about $25 at a clearing sale, probably because it was covered in bird poo and needed a new blade. Thankfully blades were cheaper than the saw, and it cleaned up almost like new, so we got quite lucky with that.

With the dam full, Marty set sail.. well, set paddle.. to find out just how deep our dam goes. We blew up the little boat and tied something heavy to some builders twine. Dropping it down to the bottom, we got 5 metres deep (16.4 foot). Oh well, we're just happy that it doesn't seem to dry up completely over summer.

It's been beautiful weather, and the hayfever is pretty powerful. The bugs are loving the long grass and flowers everywhere (the flies are back with a vengeance), and the birds are making little birds anywhere they can. We've been fixing up the Kubota, changing oils and filters, etc, ready to try her out for the first time making a flat spot for the water tank next to "the structure". We're hoping that it's an easy project for tractor and for beginner operators like ourselves. There are lots of projects after that, but we'll see how she goes. Someone seems to have removed the part that makes the Kubota a 4WD, so we'll soon find out..

Wet day timetable

Every time I think about sharing pictures and words about the dam being full, it rains again and the dam is higher! It really feels like we have the last dam in the southern states to fill up all the way to the brim, and perhaps, over. All around us, dams have been full for a month, overflowing onto roads, and it's only now that we can say yes, our dam is full too. It is a conversation topic here. :)

So, we have water views from the kitchen window.

The earth is completely saturated, any depression is a puddle, the cottage is moving and the walls are cracking. We watch and wait for dry weather before we can fix anything.

The raised garden beds are fantastic, though, and the silverbeet is delicious. I'm quietly thrilled, because I had a goal to grow at least some of our greens this year, and it's happening! We have our own spring onion and eggs too, which together, makes a great omelette.

Marty had the idea to increase the size of the shadehouse, and reconfigure the inside in preparation for summer. During a sunny break in the weather, we extended it out and began working on tables for the seedlings. I was using the wool table, but it wasn't economical with space, so we got some offcuts of 25mm RHS and tried the metal cut off saw, before welding it together to create the tables. Well, nearly, because of, you guessed it, more rain. :)

So, perhaps we'll get some tractor maintenance done, if we can. The little Kubota will be getting a workout once it dries up enough. I'm very much looking forward to it. I've never used a front end loader or a backhoe before!

We have big plans, and more motivation than ever before. We've seriously considered moving, working in town, all kinds of options, but what we want can't simply be moved to. We have to create it. We want to create it.