Will somebody please give me comfort and tell me when this summer will just
go away. It seems to have gone on for at least a year, and the Autumn Festival I
threw for myself on 1 March, involving much wild dancing and singing about rain,
winter and the like, never even got off the ground because I was too hot.
The lawn is so dry now that watering it really doesn’t make any difference
to the crunchiness as we walk over it. The paddocks are bleached white by the
never ending sun, and some of the bigger eucalypts are beginning to give up the
effort of looking for water. We planted them when we arrived here, saw them
through the 1981 drought on the bath water, but 4 years with no rain to speak of
has just been too much for them. It is so sad to see such lovely big trees
dying. And all this while Northern New South Wales and Queensland are under
water.
We have kept the lawn near the houses green by way of a fire break, and the
Old Man Kangaroo arrives every evening to have a long drink at the birdbath
where there is now a bucket of water for him, and then chomps away all night
around the house. He has flattened the fence in a couple of strategic places in
order to get his arthritic leg over it more easily!
One evening a couple of weeks ago I looked out at the birdbath on the stump
and there, silhouetted against the evening sky, was a wallaby! Up on the stump,
and drinking the birdbath dry if you don’t mind! There is now a bucket of
water at every birdbath, and every morning they need filling. On Saturday night
there were 6 wallabies on the back lawn eating the green grass where the washing
water goes, and along the soaks of the septic tank. We have decided that they
are a Scrum of Wallabies! We must be certain to keep the grass delicious for
them so that they don’t look over the tree nursery fence and find a
smorgasbord of mixed greens to tempt them there.The birdlife in the garden has exploded, and we feel that it must be that
there is ‘abundant’ water here. There was even a young brown snake outside
the back door last weekend – the first time we have seen a snake around the
house. It got as big a fright as I did, and thankfully I haven’t seen it
since!
We haven’t had to water the olives since Christmas because of the mulch we
put on them, but suddenly, with the jig-saw of soil types we have, some were
very thirsty while others were still fine. What to do? Eventually Simon decided
to try irrigating in shorter bursts, but more often. As usual when we haven’t
used the irrigation for a while, there are breaks and blockages in the line but
it all seems to be sorted out now, and the thirsty trees look better while the
others still look alright.
Another highlight of the summer has been having to fill the house tank with
dam water. The dam is lower than it has ever been before, and very salty. Put
the water in the tank and let it bubble for a couple of nice hot days, and you
get the rich aroma of alcoholic sulphur and assorted decaying corpses. It looks
quite clean, but there is a huge temptation to shower with a gasmask on! After
showering we have a thin film of salt on us. This, I would think, is not good
for us or the olive tree nursery; but, hey – it’s wet. The smell has
improved during the last week or so, and I keep assuring myself that the sun HAS
to go further north each day, so the heat will go. As for the rain? I am
beginning to think that it will never rain again here, but the old timers assure
me that it will – there is there is heavy blossom on the trees
.. the ants are busy ... the turtles have crossed the road in Donald .. the new
moon wouldn't hold water ... all SORTS of reasons to be positive!
