Much ado about nothing!

[Robin4]

Monty Python's John Cleese once said  "And now for something completely different"!

We have been seeing footage on news services of many places on earth that have been subject to flooding over the past 5 months.

I feel sorry for those affected,  but here in my part of the world which is supposed to have a Mediterranean climate we have not had enough rain to wet the pavement since 8th December 2018! Trees are dying, our lovely countryside is brown and lifeless. Our poor garden has taken a massive hit.

We have had promise after promise of soaking rains but....until now, nothing has come.

Here is our current forecast......looks like, here in the hills,  we might get 50mls (2 inches) over the next couple of days.....Yeah!!

The radar says we are in for a pasting tonight and as I type this, I head something I have not heard for almost half a year.....rain on the roof

I guess we should be careful what we wish for but, there is considerable jubilation in our community tonight as it looks like the heavens are about to open!

Thank God I won't have to hold that garden sprinkler tomorrow....;-))

Cheers......Rob

[Kimberly54]

Hi @Robin4, is this kind of cycle normal for you?  San Diego (California) is like this... either green or brown, but drought (we are also supposed to be "Mediterranian") is something we just have to deal with.  Some years/seasons are wetter than others.  Here, we're out of "drought" mode (you could get fined for washing your driveway/only water the yard on odd or even days).  The winter/spring has been pretty wet this season, but in the back yard I ALWAYS supplement with plenty of water.  The farm can not go dry.  Got lots of little life forms to feed.

An expression we have in California is, "If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down."  Yes, we have potty etiquette.  Quite noble in our water conservation efforts.

Best,

[Beth80]

@Robin4  We're also awaiting some rain. We get a few clouds and get our hopes up then maybe a drop of two. 😞  Doesn't even get wet under the trees.  We haven't reached official drought yet but we're certainly getting close. We watch the news about the flooding and feel bad and really wish they could share.  

Hope your night is a very wet one! 

[Lizzie]

Oh @Robin4, this is good news....it's always good to look on the bright side of life! (Sorry couldn't resist).

Since my visit only a few weeks ago, I have caught myself thinking several times about the lack of rain you had in your part of the world. I really hope the trees and surrounding area get a nice refresh tonight, not to mention your garden (although, it still looked nice). 

I'll have my fingers and toes are crossed for you. 

[Lawrene0]

We are supersaturated here, @Robin4 , with another 50 mm forecast in the next few days, which will make a proper flood. I have had to reschedule/refund several sets of guests. But it is nothing like the awful flooding that is happening to the east of us. 

Wishing you well! 

(@Lizzie, it does mean I have had to canoe in to rescue things. So it's not so bad

!

[Robin4]

@Lawrene0 @Lizzie  @Beth80 

Well it looked promising Lawrene but when the line of showers hit the Adelaide Hills we barely got enough to wet the ground overnight. They are saying there is a 90% chance of rain today but, the skies are blue at the moment.

I am begining to think where the daily forecasts and imagery is concerned the Bureau of Meteorology consult a 'chocolate wheel' they have out in the canteen and simply pick a number.

Silly little thing to worry about Lawrene but...... with this all encompassing forecast and radar imagery we hurriedly 'blood & boned' all the garden last evening thinking we were going to get a bit of soaking rain to wash it into the soil. We have a guest arriving in a few hours and the whole place smells like a recently abandoned slaughterhouse!!

The other silly little thing is parts of northern Australia have been experiencing what you are Lawrene! Up in the channel country in Queensland they have lost an estimated 500,000 head of cattle!

Here is an image of a dead calf stuck 6 meters up in a tree......

I am sorry for us but I am sorry for you too Lawrene.

I guess somewhere on earth someone is getting a perfect 'C'!!

Ah well, back on the hose....we do still live in hope that something accurate will eventually fall off the BOM's  chocolate wheel!

Cheers ......Rob

edit typos!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

OMG @Robin4  how this cow ended up on the tree???

[Robin4]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

That's how high the floodwaters were Branka, the calf got washed into the tree!

You have to understand something of the nature of the land. Most of the trees out in grazing country grow in the dry creekbeds where they will get the advantage of good watering each time the river flows through thunderstorms. Many stock end up like this, they got washed along with the water torrent and ended up getting wedged high up in trees like this. I personally have seen object 10 metres up in the fork of a treetrunk where it has been deposited by flash flooding that may have originated 80 Kms away.

This picture illustrates what I mean and is quite typical of the smaller outback rivers that sometimes only flow once or twice a year.

So, that Branka, is how dead cows end up in trees!

I can assure you, it's altogether different to 'Pigs might fly'!!

Cheers.......Rob

[Kimberly54]

Hi @Robin4 , the only thing you can do when something THIS BIG, THIS BAD, happens THIS FAST, is RUN FOR THE HILLS.

It's like Tsunamis. (Nature can be as violent as we can!) At some point, you just have to run, or it's your time to pass.  Help those who you can, and say a prayer for all.

Super sad.  I hope you're safe.

Love,

[Susie111]

@Robin4 

I have never thought I would miss rain so much, beacause I was raised in Sweden.

And it rains in Sweden so much! So I was sick and tired of it!

But now after more then a decade in this amazingly beautiful country of down under.

Every time I can smell the beginning of the coming of rain it's a happy feeling.

I so welcome my favourite season the autumn, so happy it's here.

Even if it's slow down big time my occupancy for my tiny-house 😉

I just wish it could rain more, as it's so dry here as well.

[Stephanie]

@Robin4  - stay safe and don a silly walk in your wellies!

Thanks

[Robin4]

@Stephanie 

Oh, the wellies are not tall enough Steph, the back yard is flooding, Betts has run away and all my hard work has been washed down the street into Stephenson Park! The guest woke up in the cottage last night with water flowing past the bed!!!!

Ha ha ha, what are you talking about Steph, I don't possess a set of 'wellies' ....or if I did I am sure there would be a spider or two resident in them!!!

And now for somethi.... oh no, we have already done that!

We missed the bulk of the rain here, but most of the farming part of the state got a reasonable drenching, some parts have had up to 30mm ( an inch and a bit)  We probably got 6-8 mm last night which at least meant I didn't have to water today, but I notice there are a few more 23-25c days to come in the next week so, the season ain't broke yet!

If I get to 'don a silly walk in my wellies' Steph, you will be the first to see photographic evidence of it!

Cheers.....Rob

[Stephanie]

@Robin4 If I ship some over, I'm expecting a fully fledged video of the silly walk. 

Thanks,

Steph

[Paul584]

OMG, we [here in Ireland] can get 'dampness' (12.54 mill) in our wellies every night from leaving them outside. It never ceases to amaze me why people leave my wellies standing up....put them downwards please :).   Sorry for the POO that you are going through, I do seriously hope it gets better soon.

[Robin4]

@Paul584 

If we have 'wellies' here Paul, we jam one inside the other. Actually forms a nice seal and it keeps the spiders and other crawley critters from making them home....baring in mind they might get used twice a year!! I don't even know where mine are!

Look, we can't complain Paul, we live in a great part of the world here. No cyclones, no earthquakes, not a volcano within 5,000 Kms, never gets cold enough to snow, we are situated in a gulf so have lovely beaches, we have easy access to the major oceans but they never threaten us! We have a stable political system, great social security network and as an entire  country, we take wealth for granted, being a millionaire is no status here any more!

I think Paul, at times we grizzle simply because we can. I always remember my mother saying how hard the great depression of the 20's was..."We had to put the gardeners off"!! 

We here don't know what hardship is ....so we get to make a song and dance when it doesn't rain for a few months!

At this time of year our area should look like County Cork....instead of that it looks more like Zaragoza in Spain! 

So Paul, don't feel sorry for us, we aren't really going through POO down here...I am just grizzling because I can!

Cheers......Rob