Water, water everywhere, and lots and lots to drink.

Well the drought has well and truly broken.  We've had three days of rain.  My 25 000 litre water tank is overflowing and our dam is finally filling.

Which brings us to an urgent problem.  The dam needs fencing.  I guess it's not really a dam as we haven't dammed anything except a swale.  It's more a waterhole.  But whatever it is, when it's full it will be well over my five-year-old's head and a perfect drowning hole, being only about 30 metres from the house.

November 2009 when the waterhole was dug and now, May 2010, it's finally filling.  I have lots of planting to do around it.

We knew we'd have to fence it, of course.  We just put it off until it's desperate!  The netting you can see in the photo is Electranet and I purchased it to make a movable run for my chooks in an effort to have them more confined but still ranging on fresh grass.  The chooks haven't got to use it yet, we had to put it straight around the waterhole.  Unfortunately, my two-year-old showed us how clever she was and demonstrated to her big brother how to turn it off.  We've NEVER showed her this - the little minx picked it up all on her own.  (Never underestimate those children - they're quick!)

So, Hubby and I decided to sit down and do a budget and priority list.  You either love budgets or hate them - I hate the stark reality of them, but I do appreciate their necessity.  We listed everything we want to do out here in the immediate future (bar building the house - we would have to borrow big time for that and so far we're enjoying the shed that much, who needs a house?!) and then an estimated cost next to each one. 

Gulp.  The grand total:  $100,000.

We have a little bit of money put aside in the bank from when I was working, we've committed ourselves to some projects already and some are must-do's and by the time we'd married all this together we knew exactly what we can afford to do over the few months.  And it certainly wasn't the whole list!

It looks like I won't be getting a milking shed or a movable pig house, or a deck or a new car.  But we will have the subdivision completed, safe children and lots of trees planted.

Feijoas.

I was meandering round the section today, admiring how damp everything seemed, (we had heaps of RAIN in the last 24 hours - exciting as we've had barely any for four months), when I came across these:


My very own, homegrown, perfectly formed, luscious green FEIJOAS! I was totally surprised and totally amazed and totally over the moon!

I had seen some little baby feijoas forming on our trees a while ago, but figured they would drop off in the drought. These trees have done it hard. They were one of the first species we planted out here about four years ago, we weren't even living here. Very neglected, left to rough it in the howling gales. This year they have reached the grand height of up-to-my-bum.


But they produced these for me! The little darlings! You don't pick feijoas or they are too hard and sour, best to gather them from the ground when they fall. There is still a handful on the trees, I'll be checking daily now in anticipation.

There's not enough of these to cook with, we'll be eating them by cutting them in half and scooping out with a spoon. But when I do cook with them I love them in a crumble, or stewed on breakfast or over icecream. They are also nice in an apple spice cake instead of, or combined with, the apple.

*sigh*. Is there anything as satisfying as your own homegrown fruit and veg?



Edited: Elaine's comment has made me realise that not everyone will know what that fruit is!



Feijoas are a subtropical fruit, preferring to grow somewhere a bit warmish (but still very hardy to wind - ours can testify). Glossy, dark green leaves and a smallish tree, they can make a nice hedge - productive in more than one way - excellent! The fruit range in size from golfball to duckegg size (I don't work in imperial so you get object approximations!) and taste? Well, quite aromatic, a cross between a pineapple and a .... I don't know, but they have a slightly grainy texture like a pear and I think they are a love or hate fruit. I love.




So I chopped one in half for you to see the inside and then I had to eat it, yum. Mine are small fruit (blame the drought), they usually have four seed divisions.

Hmm, I think I'll go have another.

Chaos at my house.

School holidays have been keeping me busy. How on earth home-schooling Mama's and Mama's who don't use daycare survive, I just don't know! Mind you, I haven't a husband presently. He's taken his testosterone and gone to shoot red deer somewhere (I'm not 100% sure where, and I'm not 100% sure when he'll be back either). I've also had a niece for two nights and then later the whole package of aunty and three nieces for another two nights.

The cheeky redhead is the niece who came to stay and is also turning seven very shortly. She gave me the ultimate compliment about my carrots, "They taste MUCH better than the supermarket ones!"

To cut a long story short - I'm apologising for my lack of blogging lately (I know you all wait with bated breath!).



But last night I had complete silence for a couple of hours after the children went to bed and today it's just me and my two, so I'm feeling a little less stressed and I'm actually accomplishing a few things.



We're baking a huge dairy-free chocolate cake for the birthday of one of the above nieces. If it turns out to be a good recipe I'll post it here. We're also hanging around waiting for the water truck to arrive (I said the morning - earlier the better - and it's now 1.30pm!). I've finally had to buy water, even though it's showering today, it's just not enough. I'm intermittently working on a few WIP's; my mother-in-law's batik quilt, and a pillowcase birthday present for that said niece again.


I'll be back again soon, I've got lots to blog about. See you later!

We are down to quarter of a tank of water again. And next week's rain forecast looks mostly like the picture above - squat didley. Maybe a few showers on Tuesday, but don't hold your breath.

We have been really lucky so far. Our first summer out here on tank water and we have a drought, but always, just as we are getting lower than quarter of a tank and starting to contemplate buying water, it rains just enough to give us a few more weeks.

The cows have finished their rotation on our paddocks and are back into the neighbours again, but his waterhole is looking precariously low, we may yet have to hose water to a trough for them.

I recycle my shower water into the washing machine and water my veges with grey water. The car hasn't been washed for months etc etc.

I know this is nothing like the droughts other parts of the world get, but for us, who aren't really prepared, it's hard work.

Do a little rain dance for us, will you?!