We are well pleased, our water tank bed is ready. A couple of weeks ago we had 10 cubic metres of crushed blue metal delivered and Steve laboured tirelessly barrowing it all into the 10 metre diameter circle we needed for 100 000 Lt water tank we have ordered. Last weekend we put in a hard slog 6 hours together levelling it. Steve braced long pieces of wood together and attached the spirit level on top, and this was attached to a central pole so it rotated round. Lots of raking, shovelling, cursing and checking later, it is done. The tank is due to arrive in about 2 weeks which will be rather exciting, it's the tank for the house that will be built later in the year, but we plan to siphon the overflow from our shed tank into it over winter, so there will be water in it when we move into the house.
Time to pack up tools and head inside! The weather timed itself well, it was fine all day while we worked and then we had a ripper storm not long after we had finished. Ominous clouds eh!
Speaking of clouds, our downhill view faces WNW so our house will too. In a perfect world we know it's best to face north to avoid hot sun in windows in the afternoon, but we love the view and it would be silly to not face it. Instead we've extended the verandah roof outwards so it will protect us more in the late afternoon. But the thing we've realised by facing the setting afternoon sun and the direction that most of the weather comes from, are the beautiful, varied skies we see. We can see the fantastic cloud formations coming towards us, and in conjunction with the setting sun, it is very very beautiful.
We are happily cranking up a fire every late afternoon now the fire ban is over until October.
The only issue with this is that it makes our hair pong of smoke. I decided to put the fashion stakes aside and look like a total dag and wear a beanie. I was subjected to many rude comments and sniggers from my dear husband, but whose hair smelt lovely at the end of the night I ask you? :-)
You may well have guessed by now that Steve and I love the birdlife around here, there are so many little birds in this area, some with the most spectacular colours. Steve outdid himself by managing to capture a perfectly focused shot of a scarlet robin, so much so that when I cropped the photo down it is still in focus. Isn't this a beautiful bird, and they get even brighter than this in breeding season, hard to believe eh.
There have been a lot of birds very interested in the new vegie garden that Steve has been busy constructing. On this day we had a kookaburra being the sentinel. Which is fine as long as he only eats bugs and snakes, he is not allowed to catch birds! Actually the thing we often see the kookaburras eating are these gigantor lawn beetle thingies we have here. Like the black beetles you find in grass but these ones are about 3 times the size, brown and fly into your face at night if you are outside and the light is on....shudder.... They make lots of crunchy noise when kookaburras gobble them up! Their grubs underground are also massive too.
There are loads of little silvereyes around now. They are so sweet, although I have been told that I may not love them quite so much when they start scoffing our carefully grown berries! I was amused to see this lot early this morning, breakfasting in the pig poo/straw compost pile. I suppose if you don't mind getting dirty feet it would be a nice warm, steamy place to eat, with plenty of little bugs to fill tummies.
They are a real gang, doing everything in groups. Here is a heap of them having their morning bath, presumably washing the pig poo off their toes!
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