Too Wet

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Posted on February 23, 2022

I have been working on a few small projects over the past few days but did not have a full story or photos to share.

All of that has come to a grinding halt as we retreat indoors as the predicted wet weather has struck. There was light rain during most of the day yesterday but it really began in earnest about 6pm. In the next 12 hours we recorded 176mm (7 inches) of rain.

This is what our backyard looked like when I awoke this morning. We have had intense and/or prolonged rain in the past which has resulted in a view like this but is has not happened for several years.

These are a series of photos of the lowest section of our back yard. The water is over a metre deep in some parts. The cause is two-fold. The driveway of the property next to us acts like a dam which causes the water to back up. We live on a mountain and the water from the steeper land above us finds its way to this area which would have been a natural watercourse in times past.

While the bottom of the garden floods, there is no risk of any inundation of the main part of the garden or the house due to the slope of the land.

This might look and sound quite dramatic, it is not a major problem as we have chosen to leave these areas of our garden as open grass so it suffers no real ill-effects as the water usually drains relatively quickly through the porous, volcanic soil.

It is not actually raining at present, however, the forecast is for continuing heavy rain for the next 48 hours.

We will not be venturing out as we have everything we need here and there is bound to be some localised flooding as well as potential landslips and and fallen trees.

Are you sufficiently prepared to manage if you need to stay at home for a number of days or longer? Please share your tips and ideas.

Loads of Laundry

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Posted on February 6, 2016

We live in a relatively high rainfall area and I have written before about the challenges of getting the washing done, and more importantly, getting it dry. I do have a clothes dryer but choose to use it as little as possible. Apart from the power required to run it, the wear and tear on your clothes is significant and can result in substantially shortening their lifespan.

Despite the high humidity and showery weather, I needed to do the washing today. Much like women of previous generations, I spent the day doing the washing. However, I was not slaving over a scrubbing board and copper. I was kept busy trying to make the most of the intermittent breeze and small snatches of sunshine.

I hung some of the smaller items on the airer.

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I had to race out and move it under the verandah every time a shower of rain started but I did manage to get it dry.

The rest of the clothes were hung on the line under the verandah.

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I also did the ironing from the washing I did last weekend. When the atmosphere is so damp, I do not like to put them away in the cupboard until they are absolutely dry.

I use the portable dehumidifier in the bathroom and close the door. Within a couple of hours the room and the clothes are warm and dry.

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I also have a portable rotary clothesline and in the cooler months I hang washing on it and the airer and set them up in the lounge room in front of the fireplace.

There are many options for drying clothes. What are your creative solutions?

Salvaged and Spread

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Posted on April 18, 2015

Now that the weather has finally moderated it is a great time to be out in the garden.

We took the ute up to the neighbour’s place to collect the first of 2 loads of mulch that they had kindly offered to us. This was from when they had some trees trimmed and mulched about a month ago. Although we have had some light rain in the past day or two the ground was not too wet and GMan was able to bring the ute close to where we wanted to use the mulch.

The newspaper collection has been replenished somewhat, thanks to the generosity of friends and also some that GMan collected from his office.

Once again, the newspaper and mulch covered pretty much the same area. We now have more than half of the front garden deeply mulched.

Here are the first of the sweet pea seedling peeking their heads through the soil. There are also some almost microscopic seedlings which I suspect are the snapdragon or heartsease that I sprinkled in front of the sweet peas. I am very excited at the prospect of growing some old-fashioned flowers.

These are some of the flowers on one of the hibiscus shrubs in the front garden. It is in the part that is yet to be mulched.

It was 4.30pm and I had just finished photographing the garden handiwork when I noticed that this sunshower. It is the regular rain and relatively warm climate that we enjoy which keeps everything lush and green. Of course, the rich, volanic soil helps, too.

Use It, Don’t Store It

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Posted on February 26, 2013

The rain continues to pour down here with more flooding predicted. This is our third round in less than 4 weeks so I think the only ones enjoying the weather are the ducks. Extreme weather events make life a bit more challenging so we just manage the bare basics. The systems and organisation that I have in place make it reasonably easy to get by but there is no denying that I do long for a bit of fine weather.

Our lake

In the meantime, I wanted to share something small with you. We do not have a toothbrush holder as a permanent fixture. At one stage we would put them on a shallow tray in the cupboard but I decided that it would be easier to have them accessible on the bench so I cast around for a suitable container. I wanted something stylish but did not see the need to rush out and buy one so I re-purposed this vase.

It is the right size and shape as well as being stable and quite heavy so is unlikely to be knocked over.

I was involved in an online discussion recently regarding how many vases people had and where they stored them. I found that I had 5, including this re-purposed one. None of them are stored as such.

This one which came from my mother is a piece which I love and it is the centrepiece on my dining table.

Two of the others live on the sideboard and are essentially decorative, although they can be used for holding flowers as required.

The final tiny vase which I was given for my 21st birthday is an ornament on my dressing table.

Do you have vases and how do you store them?

What A Difference……..

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Posted on January 25, 2013

…….a week makes!!

We have had a very dry few months and some extremely hot weather .

In fact, last Friday night I was contemplating how The Duke and my brother-in-law would manage doing some fencing in the predicted hot weather last weekend. Tonight it is raining steadily and the rain is predicted to increase in intensity over the next 48 hours as the tropical low moves further south towards us. We have already received about 150mm (6 inches) of rain in just over 36 hours.

The second stage of the fence building may be delayed.

The humidity is off the scale, everything is wet to touch, I have washing on the airer indoors and we are running the dehumidifier in the bedroom. But……the life-giving rain is back to replenish the tanks and gardens and I am so happy.

This weekend might be an indoor one but I have plenty to do. I have more things to unpick for patchwork fabric. If I can get this done and the fabric sorted and put away ready for use I will be pleased.