more floods and a mystery

 24.10.2022.

 

There was no time for the blog last week because finally the skies cleared and the temperature rose slowly to 25 degrees. What bliss!  It did mean that we could get outside and put in a frantic effort to get things under control as fast as possible. The ride on mower is a god send. I spent three days slashing through cape weed and other undesirables until our place began to look civilised again. Everyone else was busy doing exactly the same so there was no socialising time.

 

Soon the weather broke again with more rain and floods. One evening we were completely cut off when the bridges between us and everywhere else went under water. Luckily by morning that road was passible again, but many other roads remained closed. Fortunately, Friday was dry and I spent five hours walking round the Healesville sanctuary with Al’s two youngest sons, whilst he worked.  I haven’t been there for years and found the changes were amazing. There were several play grounds and cafes, and lots of interesting art works and interactive stuff for the kids as well as all the native fauna to spot. Even so it was a long day for the youngest and we did not have a stroller so he did hours of walking. 

 

This week the forecast is for more rain. The rivers north of us are in spate and town dwellers have been struggling to get sand bags and levies in appropriate places.  The floods have not yet peaked so a slow disaster has been unfolding all the way down from Qld.  The big drama here was when Josh came home one night, he found the road blocked by a tractor that was on fire. The police and fire brigade tried to put things right but the equipment was totally destroyed. We have been told that it belonged to a contractor who cleared tree branches along the roads. Someone took it late at night drove round a friend’s property and smashed into things and then drove it up to Steels Creek and torched it!  Who, or why has not yet come to light.

 

Today I am sorting out cauliflowers. They are all ready on the same day so I am preparing them before freezing.  The first task was to evacuate all the slugs that are breeding prolifically in this weather. Strangely enough cauliflowers freeze a lot better than one would expect.