Rain, rain go away and goodbye to piglets and chooks too

Well we have had a very eventful week!

We began the week with a weather warning. This resulted in us having over 390mm of rain over 2 days.

Thursday saw localised flooding; however no one and little property/infrastructure was affected... nothing beyond the expected for this tropical climate. I guess a wet season is a given here and having experienced record flooding in 2008, I was confident our property would with stand that quantity and consistent rainfall.

The rain that had been predicted to hit here though passed quicker than anticipated and later dumped almost a meter of water on Bundaberg. The effects being televised the world over, and is still causing havoc throughout the South East and New South Wales.

Fortunately for us the worst affects we felt were a few days without any Telstra services- phone line), no internet and probably the most disruptive was the lack of Eftpos facilities. Our mobiles are not with Telstra, so we still had them. And then Monday evening we lost power for a few hours; so the generators had a good run. Nothing devastating, just challenging to our now ‘civilised’ society. This was no consolation however for my family back in Wales, seeing images of “Queensland” under water. And not being able to make contact. I have since reassured them that we are in fact safe and well.  I fear our greatest challenge is yet to come, as the main highways have been compromised further south; so I foresee supplies being scarce in the coming days. Which on reflection is a minor inconvenience compared the devastating images of the areas affected by the deluge, we were predicted to receive.

With rain comes a flourish in the garden. Unfortunately weeds appear benefit ten fold! SO I did manage to make a dent in jungle that was once my veggie patch. Something that intend to attend to later this week. Hopefully this year will be more successful and productive than last.

The weekend was more eventful in livestock terms. We said good by to our first litter of piglets, as they were collected one by one, to live out their lives in their new homes... some destined to be longer than others.

"Berky" with the white face, we are keeping

Sunday was also collection day for 5 (4 hens and a rooster)of our first Indian game hatchlings, now 5 months old.  Leaving us with 2 hens to replenish our own stocks and 2 roosters to try for the table. And whilst we said goodbye to some poultry, we welcomed others. As we gained 3 turkeys; 2, 6 month old females and a 1 year old male from another location- so separate blood lines. Which is good, as I think I collected our first egg yesterday morning. I was definitely the wrong shape and texture for a chicken or duck egg, but I think goose eggs are much bigger.

Now don't get me wrong, we don't do this to make money. But the excess stock we sell assists in the costs of raising our own livestock. Therefore making this lifestyle more sustainable... and possible

New Year, new wet season

We are now more than 3 weeks into the new year and I am yet to post. I can’t even blame my visitors, as they have been home for almost 2 weeks now. Even the piglets are 6 weeks tomorrow! 2 should be leaving us this weekend (though I have a feeling the weather may delay that some how).

At the moment we are on severe rain warnings. They are predicting ‘several hundred’ millimetres over the next week. Due to ex- tropical cyclone Oswald, which is currently making its way down the Queensland coast.... Just in time for Australia day!  

So far this week we have had about 12.5mm and the tanks are already over flowing. So am not really looking forward to the down pour. In previous weeks we have had very large tides- 6meters + and have welcomed the fresh water, as it helps flush out the crabs in the local creek. Something we have benefitted from. But think the tides are much lower this week, which given the rain would be a blessing.

So will keep you posted and keep the snorkel handy.

3 weeks til Christmas, 3 days til family arrives

OK so it has been pretty hectic here, though we haven’t got around to half of the things I had hoped to blog about! We have had a ‘heat wave’ it officially reached 34 degrees (here on the coast, it was higher inland). Which doesn’t sound that hot, but when you consider the humidity is about 90%... it hot! So many of the jobs I had intended to get done are less than appealing during the day. And morning and evenings are very short. And as for rain, we had a thunder storm Tuesday, that was more of a light show than anything- 1mm of rain!

I have begun weeding, I at least have the path done and looking neat, just the herb garden, landscape gardens and veggie patch to do (probably early tomorrow). I did however start some seedlings, and they are doing quite well in the shed. I just hope I have more success when transferring them, than I have in the past.

Today is actually my last day at work for 2012, though Matt doesn’t break up for a few weeks. I must admit it feels weird, but as my family arrive in 3 days, I will be grateful for the extra time to get all the things done that I had hoped to in the past few weeks- nothing like organisation! I haven’t even posted my cards and gifts for those who are not coming... just hope the make it in time!

My family actually leave their homes tomorrow, even though they arrive here Sunday. I admit it’s a long trip- not something I look forward to. But I am looking forward to seeing them!

For those who have been following, we have been counting down to another arrival, due shortly. So penning off the pregnant sow, was not a job we could put off any further. So last night we built  a pen around their main shed.  I am just wondering how much trouble she will be, as she has never been an easy animal. And pigs are social, we wouldn’t have done it unless we felt it was necessary- we penned her off for her own health and that of her impending litter. We had hoped she would have started farrowing and we would have just built the pen around her chosen nest. But as with everything else since we have had this one, nothing come naturally. So we have used the main shed, and she has her own water tank... but she was not happy. See whether it is all still standing by the time I get home from work! 

Another issue we had prior to my family’s arrival, was our ever increasing flock. We did process our roosters and a few ducks last weekend, so our freezer is looking rather full now; in preparation for the extra mouths. Although we also acquired 2 more Rhode Island crosses from a friend of a friend. They were from the batch we hatched for the initial friend.

Unfortunately we have also ‘lost’ a few others. I found one duckling tangled in some of the fencing- as they wander where veer they feel. It couldn’t have been there long, but apparently it was long enough for it to die- think it broke its neck. Another just vanished last week, so we are now down to 8.  I know we had intension of reducing our numbers, but this was not what we had in mind.

On the opposite vein, we had limited success with crossing our Indian Game rooster without laying stock. After a week we candled the eggs in the incubator all of the other rooster over the few hens appear fertile; whereas Ronnie only appears to have had success with one. I just don’t think he has the dominance or the speed and agility. So we have put in another batch from Rocky (our Sussex rooster), now he is back with his girls. Mainly as I wanted chicks whilst my nephew was here, we also had a few duck eggs, so they went in too... so we will check them this weekend. 

I thought Brits were obsessed with the weather-Then there's Queensland

When I learned French at school (as with probably any other language) we are taught how to discuss the weather… yet this conversation never really tranlated to everday use. This I have always accepted as a truely “British” conversation.  

Rain gauge

Now, not often you will hear me refer to us as British, however this is a subject and culture that is common throughout the UK. I mean in pretty much the whole of the UK you could experience all four seasons in one day. Or you  would be able to strike up a conversation with almost any stranger with the following sentence, “What about this weather?” Something that many other nationalities fail to understand... And then we moved to Queensland.

I mean Australia as a continent experiences 4 different climates. Tropical (such as in Nth Qld- where we are), Sub-tropical, Moderate and Cool. This continent has arid desserts, flooded communities and even snow- not just snow, ski resorts. Snow would not being likely here in the Tropics (but we can wish).   

2 of our 3 tanks

The first year at my job, I felt quite left out of the daily morning conversation; as we did not have a rain gauge.  Not only do they discuss the weather, they measure it and compare notes! And it was not just my colleagues, the weather reports repeatedly reiterated how many days it had been since certain places had seen rainfall and they report on dam levels. Now this was something of a foreign concept. But having spent 6 years living in this climate and experiencing weather that I find difficult to explain, I understand and even participate in the daily data collection. And intend to document it though this blog, as it does affect our daily lives. Since we are now solely reliant upon sourcing our own water; as we do not have a mains supply. So our water either comes from  rainfall or bore water .

Bore water is water pumped from the ground through a drilled source- much like a well. Many locals have a preference to either rain water or bore water, some refusing to use either/ or, for their own various reasons. Bore water can be ‘hard’ or have other traits dependent upon the ground from which it’s sourced. Here we are fortunate that our ground has high clay content, therefore the water in soft and well filtered. But as rainfall is a naturally available source, you can understand why we aim to collect it when its available.

Rainfall in the tropics is minimal during the “dry season” maybe 10-20mm each month. Which would equate to 400-800 litres in our tanks. And then there is the “wet season”.  In the UK we experience 4 seasons; Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, in the tropics these are merely a formality, as they have a  have a wet season potentially runs from November til May. Involving high average day (and night time) temperatures, high humidity (sometimes even 100%) and RAIN. The dry season falls over winter, with cooler day (and night) temperatures (that we in the UK would think were summer) and dry, sunny days… and a lot of brown vegetation.



In need to rain- dry season



I do find it strange that most Australians think of the UK as wet, dark and grey. Not understanding that we do (occasionally) have a summer, with nice weather. And that they have more annual rain than we could even comprehend.

Christmas/New Year 2011

Growing up in Wales (one of the wettest parts of the UK) I thought I understood rainfall. However I tried to prepare my family for the rains, prior to their first visit. They came over Christmas (as they are again this year), which is typically the beginning of the wet season. Although it officially begins in November, since  we have been here the rain has begun around Christmas to New year.

These early rainfalls can appear as quickly as they go. One minute there will be clear blue skies, the next can only be compared to having a bucket thrown over your head.  Now many would consider this idea pleasant (ourselves included), at least it was still sunny… how naive.  The rain merely increases the humidity levels, offering no relief from the heat- Ask my mother! And they left before the real wet hit.

February, we have seen constant monsoon rains that last a few weeks straight. Regularly resulting in roads and communities being cut off for days or even weeks. Luckily being on the coast, we generally only see certain routes cut off for short periods (hours rather than days). But the results can still be devastating. 2008 we witnessed an historic flood, that saw many lower lying areas flood (many that had been there for decades and have never been wet). Locals reported rainfall of up to 850mm (that’s almost 3 feet) in 6 hours- from their rain gauges (mine only goes up to 150mm).

More concerning is that this warm, wet weather also bring with it cyclones. So far we have seen 5, of varying strengths. Well there has been far more than that each year, most do not see land fall, or many have crossed along various other parts of the coast. But we have been on alert and seen 5 come and go. Last year being the worst with Ului crossing us directly and Yasi (the biggest storm ever seen- a category 5!) crossing North of us.

These cyclones are systems that build in the warmer waters (feeding off its energy) and a few each year (Australia wide), cross land. Bringing with it high winds, rain and a lot of damage. I believe they are similar to that of the hurricanes experienced in the Northern hemisphere- as with those that cross USA, but cyclones rotate the opposite direction… much like that water going down the drain ;)

So I guess when I say we had rain last night and the gauge read 1mm, this appears insignificant. But I already mentioned that I intend to blog the weather patterns, as this now forms part of our lives and affect how we operate. I’ll try to report on any weekly rainfall or significant events, as I’ll try not to bore you with this information. Such as this week it is predicted that we will have rain until Wednesday. I highly doubt that this will be significant enough to prevent us having to top up the tanks with the bore. So I wouldn’t warrant a daily update, but at this time of year ever little counts and hopefully the garden will look greener for it.