dams full, grounds wet and more

12:53 PM No Comments

the interminable rain let up for the morning, so we managed to get outside and catch up with a few chores.

Steps
I had started the new stone retaining wall and steps,

First rock in place

to replace the rotted old wooden ones and managed to get a lot more work done but then I ran out of rocks.  Need more rocks for the walls but also some smaller, odd shaped ones to chink up stones to get them to lay flat and to use in gaps, more rock hunting when it dries out a little so I don't get bogged!.  I would say 60% complete and i have started tamping sand into the cracks around the joins for the rocks used for the steps.

Steps part way through construction

Dam
If I turn around from the steps and look East, I can see how full the Dam is, the jetty (LHS) goes under if the inflow is faster then the outlflow, the outflow (far RHS) is still running in this pic

A full Dam

Mini Hydro Electric
The creek has been running for the best part of a month and has made me think about using a mini hydro that I can install in the creek itself, if we wanted more power, instead of Wind.  The wind here is very intermittent but the creek runs after heavy rain (no sun on the solar panels)

Garden
Toni has been busy in the garden trying to mitigate some of the damage from the rain Finding some aphids in the corn, she brewed some Lantana Spray to use against them. It works really well apparently! but most of the time is spent weeding !

Kitchen Window
The banksia outside the kitchen window is in flower, a few of the local honey eaters taking advantage

White Cheeked Honeyeater

Lewins Honeyeater

Kookaburras
We have a couple mousetraps around the place and every now and again a mouse gets caught, we promptly feed the mice to the local Kookaburra's

Kookaburra feeding on a mouse !

who really seem to enjoy them !  The willy wagtails however are nesting close by and take offence to any bird entering their territory, much to the other birds chagrin

Willy wagtail attacking the feeding Kookaburra