Waiting for Christmas

The girls and I have had a wonderful time last week over the two days they came to mine. We decorated my little tree, wrapped presents and made cards. It was so hot we could not go outside. It got to nearly 40C at my place.

Underhill is crispy dry and we can't get down to pick the apricots and "blackberries" so at least the birds won't starve this Christmas. The roads keep getting closed with fires all around Sydney so no moving anywhere at the moment. But no fires at Bungonia yet. Even if we go down we can't boil a kettle so we'd have to call into Cal's on the corner to beg a coffee and he does not get up early.

Special Friends at Underhill

Last weekend Rauri and Janice came down to Underhill for the first time in about 15 years. They arrived in their new converted ambulance.

Elaine came down with me and we three ladies went into Bungonia for Happy Hour at the Hall. This is now on every Friday night while the weather is warm.

After dinner we had some great games of Take Two using two sets of tiles.

Elaine and I took the opportunity before Geoff, Jen and the girls arrived to clean up a bit and sort the scullery. Stella (black dog) just supervised.

Rauri spent lots of time basking in the sun.

and Janice brought various bits of sewing along for the ambulance.

Ivy and Heather just loved playing in the ambulance and finding Hugh and Cameron's special cupboard full of things they are allowed to play with.

Of course there was lots of chat time...

and we picked one nearly ripe loquat to try it. I hope we get more as the years go on because I would like to do a bit of experimenting with them. It tasted sort of lemony.

The drought continues at Underhill

Last weekend I drove my car down to Underhill for the first time in ages. Elaine came with me and put up with all my practice music on the way there and back.

We arrived to find the wreckage of both the snow event about a month ago and the strong winds last week. Geoff had reported about this damage when he went down over the October long weekend but it still surprised us.

The dams are still very low, evidence that the drought is still in full swing even though there has been a little rain.

The pot with waterplants in a semi sunk polystyrene box is doing well and the hope is that the plants will seed and spread to the dam margins.

The two oaks next to the top dam are also doing fine with new spring leaves showing on both.

Terry and Ellie arrived to stay with their van (very comfortable).  So the stay was a mix of lots of chat and then hard work.

The hard work was mostly clearing the drive of fallen twigs and branches then removing the old grey lounge from the shelter, straightening wind-blown carpet and rearranging chairs.

This old lounge was a roadside pick up back in 2005. It was used by the Tyrls for their 6 month stay in Sydney then well used at Underhill where it became a great home for spiders as it fell apart.

Adult's morning sun lounge

Kids cubby house corner

We also spent some time identifying birds. Ellie is quite good at this so it was great to have her help. While it was very difficult to find the birds making the calls we could hear I was able to get a few rather blurry ones that assisted us in identification.

Buff-rumped Thornbill

Rufous Whistler

 We also heard Kookaburras, Yellow Robin and Grey Shrike Thrush. I found a little dragon when I was moving some fallen timber and he stayed still long enough to get a great shot except for the shadow.

Climate Change and Global Warming

This great article by Tim Flannery came through on The Conversation today. It has a little video embedded in it that is really worth looking at.

My recent addition of a new solar power system is an attempt to future proof my home and reduce my use of fossil fuels. When batteries become better I'll even consider getting one. Meanwhile I've got myself to Air Con 101 level and am able to program my air cons to come on in the middle of the day and store some of the excess energy I am producing in the infrastructure of my building so that life is more comfortable.

And there are more consequences of the use of fossil fuels (or any fuels unnecessarily) as outlined in another article in The Conversation today about the plight of Pigmy Possums in our alpine regions. That is presumably not the only wildlife to be affected by excess light at night so turn off unnecessary lights at night and save on power and maybe save some wildlife too.

Of course my water tanks store water for me. And today they are being filled by this lovely rain. Hooray!

A short trip to Underhill

Last Saturday Geoff, Ivy, Heather and Ponyo took me down to Underhill for the day. There we met Nathan, Karita and their 9 week old Acacia. Karita's mum Connie was also out from the USA so was down with them.

We had a few chores to complete, the first of which was planting two clumping bamboos that should grow tall and strong enough to use as construction material.

It is a worry planting bamboo but as we are having trouble getting anything to grow Geoff has decided to give it a try. If it gets eaten out then so be it. If it becomes a weed then we will remove it.

A simple lunch of instant sandwiches from our fuel stop was enjoyed by all.

Another chore was to scatter some green manure seeds and cover them with mushroom compost and/or chicken manure. We can buy the chook poo from a local who obviously must have a lot of chooks. He also sells beautiful veges when he has them on his honesty stand.

Geoff is also covering some of the seeds with some fibrous underfelt that we have scrounged in the hopes that it will keep the soil moist enough for the seeds to germinate but is also open enough for the seedlings to grow through.

We are due for rain this week so it will be interesting to see if there is any growth next time we go down.

At last I also got the photos I had meant to take previously of the quilts I had made for Geoff's family from Surrey's shirts. For photos of these take a look at the tab My Quilts 2019.

A great weight was lifted from Geoff's shoulders when he and Nathan were able to fell the last of the Callitris that Surrey and I had planted as Christmas trees for home. The last one had grown enormous and had become quite a fire hazard close to the sheds.

An August day trip to Underhill

Last Saturday Geoff, Ivy, Heather, Ponyo and I drove down to Underhill for the day.

It was fine and dry and we spent some time watering all the fruit trees in the centre orchard.

Of course Ponyo decided it was a good day for a swim and got absolutely filthy rolling in the dirt.

The highlight of the day was that Geoff saw a Wombat in the Sanctuary. The girls and I walked in to try to see it but it had disappeared down one of the many wombat holes. At least they now know what a wombat hole is.

Geoff dug a hole near the bottom dam ready to plant a giant clumping bamboo when he finally gets one.

One issue we are having at the moment is that our dams are quite devoid of edge vege and we would love to source some plants to try to grow.

New Trees for Underhill

Last Saturday Evelyn, Greg and I drove down to Underhill to meet up with Geoff and family to plant lots of fruit trees that had been on agistment at mine for a number of years and were well beyond their pot sizes.

When Geoff arrived his car thermometer said it was 5C at around 10am and it did not get much warmer.

Our first job was to boil the kettle for a cuppa and have our morning tea.

Geoff had arranged a delivery of straw bales to add to the fence line in the centre orchard both to deter rabbits and wombats and to catch water and hold it from disappearing down the hill.

Once the straw bales were in place we got to and planted 6 trees.

Each tree had to be surrounded by a mesh guard. It was a two person job to create these with weldmesh.

The girls had a lovely time painting their tea set and also some leaves they had found.

Of course Ponyo knew she had missed out on the scraps from the table.

In the afternoon Ivy and Heather were guided through the damper making activity by Geoff. I don't know how it turned out because Ev, Greg and I had to leave in the early afternoon to get home before dark.

Geoff and family stayed the night and from all reports were snug and warm in the shed which had been heated with the pot-belly. Ivy slept on the top bunk which had been Geoff's bed from about the same age.

In all a very cold weekend with a gusty wind. The girls learned that when you heard the wind coming through the trees you held onto your hats or hoods and closed your eyes to keep the dust out.

Underhill is dry and warm

Although we have had a little rain over the last few weeks the ground is still dry and the weather last Friday and Saturday were pleasantly warm during the day and quite cool at night (2C).

Evelyn, Greg and I went down after going out to breakfast with Anne. We stopped at Marulan for a light lunch and had a call from Anne to say she had decided to come down and join us.

By the time we were enjoying Greg and Ev's chocolate cake, Anne had arrived.

There is a little bit of grass poking through the concrete we have for soil and some of the trees are colouring well for autumn.

Our new oaks and macadamia are still surviving.

Anne took this lovely photo of our "new" roof from the top dam wall.

In the evening a flock of about 20 Gang Gang came over. We started a burning off fire and enjoyed watching the nearly full moon rising above the trees. Thanks for the great photo Anne.

The next day was spent tidying up a few of the trees, a joint job, and continuing the burn off before Geoff, Jen, Ivy, Heather and Ponyo arrived soon after 10am. Greg and Ev went for a walk around the dams reporting low water levels in them all.

Ivy was keen to help Greg take down his tent, such a helper!

We left soon after lunch leaving Geoff and Jen to lock up and leave soon after us. The traffic back was solid but a smooth drive.