First Trip Out Since The Floods

There was "Road Closed" sign and a barricade across Pit Road ...the dirt road leading to my Gum Tree Garden Studio.  Car tracks made by the locals could be seen skirting around the barricade.  Oh well here goes ....I had been assured that the road would fine in the stretch to my place if I drove with care.    A piece of cake...I just followed the tracks.  The flood way crossing had been repaired very well and wasn't  a problem.

view of my creek boundary in the distance (right bank) and the repaired flood way crossing

Next could I get in my gate.  The Green Panic was thick...so ..I pulled out the pieces of carpet, laid them over the top and did a little dance to flatten it all.

Green Panic in the drive way

 Well how Swish is that .....a carpeted drive way.  The old timers will be scratching their heads at such frivolity.   I felt a lot safer as I had seen a very large brown snake amongst this grass last visit.   All my stomping would have sent him on his way well before I opened the gate.

I had hoped to cut back some of this Green Panic before going into the block.
I spent ages trying to get the brush cutter to start, but it wasn't going to co-operate.   I then looked at  the very long African Love grass inside the gate and felt a little uneasy about trekking through the numerous long tufts.  I had mentioned that I would have some board walks in my bush garden some time.  What better time than now.  So I grabbed the old wooden lids and pushed them into the spaces between the Love grass tufts.   Now I could travel freely to the more open soft grass areas.

Meandering down toward the soft grass areas and onto the creek

Looking back up to the drive way and the temporary out house

There seemed  to be so much life around me.  Butterflies were every where.  This little fellow sat on my hand for sometime before I was able to get him to let go and perch on the stump for a photo session.

  I found these new residents (below) in the pile of wooden lids.

The pretty spider is smaller than the resident spider featured in a previous post.  He is also missing a couple of legs, perhaps a run in with a bird.

 The frog was a very dark green ...nearly brown with white spots.  I couldn't positively identify him, but he could be a variety of the common green frog. All  were happy to just sit and get their 15 minutes of fame in a photo shoot.

  A bunch of noisy birds objected to my presence (above) and this little rabbit (or perhaps it's a hare) didn't even notice me (below).

The creek had gone way down and there was the lovely sound of running water.   It was crystal clear and sooooo inviting on such a hot day.  Apart from the flattened fences, every thing looked wonderful and my spirits lifted.

Fences down..might be able to salvage a post or two.

Standing on my boundary looking back to the crossing

Since the floods the neighbours cattle had been relocated so they had not been there to eat down the softer grasses and which were certainly in need of a mowing. There wasn't much I could do with out the brush cutter/snipper so I decided to take shots of the debris left in the trees by the flood waters. I found this gave me an idea of how high the floods would come in the future and help me in choosing the best place to build....either a shed/studio or a granny unit for retirement.

It was easy to see that the higher ground on the block was well clear of the flood waters.

Floods Have Taken out the Fences

All the fences are down after the floods.  Well that's not as bad as others I know but it has put a lot of plans on hold....not good when one is on the sunny side of 70 on an aged pension and time is running out.  I must admit that feelings of despair do sneak in every now and again as I wonder how I can do all this on my own.  The dream of leaving rental accommodation and retiring out at the Gum Tree Garden Studio seems very distant at times. 

The good news is the waters did not come up to the section where I wanted to build....which means I will probably get council approval.

I checked with the neighbours and was told, that I will be able get into the block now as the council have done a quick repair job on the flood way crossing by dumping a load of rubble...... and if I drive with care I can get through the washed out areas of the dirt road leading to the block.

Large areas of farm land behind the Crow Nest Grounds and beyond became lakes during the deluge.  Many of the farmers out at Pinelands/Crows Nest area are still unable to work on their properties as the soil is so saturated their tractors are getting bogged.  So many have been affected by the floods and the ripple effect continues.

Trees and large branches have also come down and my friend Ailsa (sunny side of 80) said she removed one from my driveway in case I didn't see it in the 6 foot high Green Panic covering my driveway and damaged my car.  I must learn how to use that brush cutter I have sitting in the shed, we can't have this dear elderly lady moving trees out of my driveway.  The old carpet is loaded in the trailer ready to act as a weed mat in my driveway.   Hopefully it will help prevent the car from getting bogged as well.

Well back to baby steps........Champions win one step at a time.