Well, 2 hours later, we've reached 105mm.

This is what it looks like outside at the moment.
{{gwi:2116181}}

Good to see Spatz! Hopefully that rain will make its way to Melbourne in the next day or so. I think the sheep will need to be moved to a higher paddock shortly.

Pepino, they got a hill, a few more paddocks, quite a few trees for shelter, and all kinds of lovely places to be during a rain - all accessible at any time. But I guess they wanted to be in the picture.

Will send on some rain to you. Hope you get heaps, too, to fill up those reservoirs, water tanks, give the ground a real soaking....

Absolutely love the photo- great shot! What a brilliant outlook you have!

up here in um sunny qld we have had about our wettest june for well i dunno how long. last june gave us a whopping 4mm hey mmmm? can't look at the tube (could be up to 20mm in it) rite now too dark but we got 40mm for the 24 hours up to yesterday morning that gives us about 65mm for the month. we are currently running around 610mm down on the summer just past than the previuos summer so a lot or rain to make up.

len

Down here in sunny Ballarat... we finally got rain after a 3 month dry. The water tank was down to its last 50 cm, so we were greatly relieved. After a week or so the tank is now full. Now we can flush the toilet every time we go!

Robyn

Let's hope it does not all runoff on your dry soil...we have been lucky here too, in NE Tas where we have had only an inch or so over the last week but it has soaked right in with little runoff...I'm happy
Peter

That's the beaut thing about this rain. It soaked right in. No runoff. It had started gently 10 days or so, then worked itself up to yesterday's deluge. 170mm in the last 24 hours. Our rainwater tank is now full. :)

Lucky for you. Unfortunately, Sydney is a disaster. I sniff a scant few drops perhaps from the leftovers of that low-pressure system, which is now heading our way. However, the earth is bone dry, rock hard, if not concreted over. At best ther rain will head down the stormwater drains and wash the empty chip packets and foam coffee cups out to sea. And a million noxious weeds will germinate in the burbs.

Just look at those wet woolly jumpers. Good news Spatz.
Rose

Grub, are you goin' ok? I have been feelin' a little pessimistic myself lately, but your missive seems to be coming from someplace even darker - may I suggest finding a little piece of bushland, placing yourself in the middle of it and inhaling deeply - this will of course be better if you can do it post-rainfall, so I hope some finds its way to your part of the world soon.

love, mudlark

PS: Spatz - Blimey! I'm glad I did't let you steal my friends lambs when you visited the other day, poor things would have drowned!

We had about half an inch in a torrential downpour the other morning after a massive electrical storm. Cleared to a beautiful warm day.

You're right, Mudlark. I need a holiday in the country.

Spatz,
Do you kill the lambs, the two tooth andd hoggart for tucker, flog them off, or keep them as pets? Lamb sure is fetching a king's ransom at the moment. I could do with some fresh backstraps.

Oh Grub! Just down the end of our driveway and across the road is a lovely little paddock stocked with fat little lambs... Every day they stomp about (can't frollick - too fat) and I imagine them on the webber. We used to kill our own on the farm - best lamb I ever tasted.

I agree, Robyn. When I see lambs I think cuddly tale-wagging critter sucking my finger for the briefest of moments before the image of glowing coals, a whirring rotisserie and the heady smell of sizzling fat and rosemary takes over. But what does one do with a tough old sheep, I wonder? Send them on a one-way cruise to Qatar? Get Mantis in to shear Âem and Patrina to knit a pullover? Wombats, on the other hand, make great pets.

Old sheep are great pets. They keep the weeds down, no problem with any invasive trees, shrubs, grasses, etc. They like their pats, they are friendly, they look pretty in the green paddock. Their wool keeps you warm in winter. They are maintenance-free lawn mowers.

Lambs are cuddly, cute, adorable little play things. They are NOT for the barbie or frying pan.

So, Grub, we do NOT eat our lambs or sheep. As Adamus would say, I do not have friends for dinner. Or something like that.

Speaking of Adam, has anyone heard from him? And/or Ray? I haven't seen either on the board for a while.

I bet they are terrorising Armidale as we speak. Or type. :)

They are old half-witted sheep that bleat articulate monotony. Replace them with roos and you'll have your lawnmowers and woolly jumpers.

BTW: Nigh a drop... of rain... in sight. We only have the cold.

Finbar,
Haven't heard a word from them either. Not a peep or a whisper about a parsnip  they're in season  Â nor a South China Quandong.

This place has gone very quiet since the infamous tomato attack.

Good to see your pic Spatz, I think I've forgotten what a wet sheep looks like!
The advice I received for old sheep was sausages, apparently the older they are the more flavour there is :-)
Last I heard from Ray & Adam, Adam had moved to Armidale & Ray was to follow soon after, I shall endeavour to make contact!

Re Adam and Ray: I sent Ray an email last week and I'm yet to hear. I assume they're moving or getting settled in. I'm sure they'll get connected soon and post pics of their new place and the designated "acres" for tomatoes.

It's just 11.2C at 3pm here; gloomy, but no rain yet. Not even a shower or a spit, though rain is 4cast 2nite. I think I might be listening to it dump while making tonight's green fish curry and enjoying a comforting red. Wouldn't that be noice, different, unusual.

Good news on the chicken front: the old girl sporting bare patches, looking somewhat worse for wear, has a wonderful new coat of feathers. With her nice red comb she looks a million bucks and would definitely win over a rooster if I let her have a night on the chook town.

BTW: I'm glad someone is looking after those old ewes and rams. Otherwise, I reckon they would end-up in my Footy Franks.

We have some action. BOM calls it  rain at times.

35C and a scorcher here. Nowhere near the humidity of Sinny, thank goodness. Now I know why Italians build houses with shutters on all the windows. Air conditioning is pretty much unknown in this country. Mornings, you open the windows and shutters to let in the cool air and air the place. You shut the windows and shutters when the sun reaches them. You have a big lunch and nap in the cool darkness inside in the middle of the day. After the sun has moved over, you open the windows and shutters again and go about your business. Very sensible.

That does make perfect sense. My green curry and wine went according to plan. So what did you have for dinner and what's on the menu for tonight, Finbar?

Last night Mrs finbar had chargrilled marinated boned - by my own hand - chicken thighs, and I had chargrilled wee veal cutlets. Delicious with a squeeze of lemon over the top. Mixed salad and a heap of potatoes roasted with sage. These potatoes are quite amazing. They're just called new potatoes, but they're so buttery. Roasted, they're crisp on the outside and melting on the inside. I must find out the variety.

Tonight? Not sure yet. There's a wonderful range of eggplants available here. Might do an eggplant parmigiana. Eggplant sliced thinly, breadcrumbed and shallow fried. Popped into a baking dish, topped with buffalo mozarella and a tomato sauce and baked for 15 minutes. Oh, and buffalo mozarella lines the supermarket shelves here. About $4 for a lump the size of an orange.

For a nibbling cheese, we've settled on Provolene Piccante, very pleasant with enough tang to it.

Well the rain didn't come to much did it Grub?
A bit more here today but nowhere near enough.
Two of my hens are now laying an egg every second day, not bad for mid winter. I have a very nice young black rooster looking for a good home, I'm sure your girls would love him Grub, just drop me a line if you (or they) are interested!

Spatz, good to see that rain :), weve even had some up our way..Not a lot but good just the same ..
Nice Pics, remind me of the little spread i had over in WA...
Grub its on its way ...
Peter

Errrrr, Hello. We haven't gone yet. Ray doesn't have e mail at the moment, mine is stopping in two days. I finally got a place in Armidale , and I move on the twelfth of July. Ray is still in Hospital, and getting out , hopefully , at the end of the week.
The new place is a quarter acre of shale(compacted clay), but on a good block with the right aspect.
Freezing my wigglers off at the moment up there. It snowed last thursday. But, we've got a brick house with a good heater.
Same weather as Ballarat, just a bit higher up. Stunningly beautiful Gorge Country, and Big Wild Rivers.
You can smell life. Very dry until last week, when it hasn't stopped raining yet. 400 mls, and no sign of let up. Can you hear me dancing. ?.
Ray says Hi. Looking forward to his Kale and beans and pumpkins and tomatoes. Oh, and Chilies.
My back yard at the old place has gone into overdrive . PARSNIPS, potatoes carrots etc, all spontaneously sprouting. Whoever moves in will be eating for months.
We'll have a spare room, so you're all welcome to come and visit.

Hi Adam
It's good to hear from you and I hope Ray is up and about by the end of the week too. The fresh, crisp air of Armidale will do both of you a world of good. I heard it snowed up there. Shame about the shale, however with your collective knowledge I'm sure it will become a very productive garden. Good luck with this new venture and be sure to keep us posted once you get settled and connected!
Ciao
Jason

Ciao Adam. Got your email. Envy you your space and even your shale. I'll have room for four or five tommys in containers in the courtyard at most, with a couple of them suspended from huge hooks in the garden wall. I've got Kellogg's Breakfast, Marianna's Peace, Anna Russian and Pink Gaetano about three weeks away from putting into their containers. Love and best wishes to Ray.

Thanx Jason and Finbar and all. Seems wierd to be talking about 5 degrees as cold. Most of Europe would be happy with 5 degree winters. Very spoilt in Australia, food wise. Ray says hi to all,. I rang him today.
Oh finbar, seems your garden on the North shore was practice for this. Oh well, you can jam some chilies in , and some small eggplants at a pinch.
I forgot how big a quarter acre is!!. I think I'll have too much produce. There are a dedicated bunch of organic gardeners up in Armidale. I've got my hippy alert turned up to ten, so it should be allright. Truth be known, I'm a died in the wool hippy myself, and it only took five years of therapy to admit it. We're going to be making our own tempeh and tofu. It's so good being on the forum again, I really missed it. I got really scared for Ray, I just didn't know what was happening, but it seems to be going fine now.
Jason, did you have the baby. ?.
Anyhoo, must go, Ciao Mi Amici. Chi Vediamo.

I hope all you folks further up are okay. You did want some rain, but I am sure it was a bit much for some. Hope the damage isn't too bad.

We've had a little break where the rain is concerned, but the fog and frost and icy wind moved in. Today they stopped and the rain is back. Well, it is winter, so no complaints from my side.