The rains are here

Last weekend we had a thunderstorm in Bendigo and we had over 5 inches of rain over the weekend. We have never had this much rain at once and as it was so dry the water soon ran across the paddock. The good news is the house stayed dry, the tank and the dams are full and now, one week later, the green grass is everywhere. It looks so green and fresh.  This picture is from my front verandah - this is where my front garden used to be!

This is the back of my house - don't need to water the lawn today!

This is across the back yard to the orchardThis is the water that is flowing out of the dam.

This is looking across the paddock and the neighbours paddock (out the front) - there is water as far as you can see.

Bushfire Mosaic in Kyneton

On Februrary 7th 2010, this mosaic was unveiled on the wall of the Kyneton Town Hall, to commemorate the first anniversary of the Black Saturday bushfires. This mural is an artistic expression  of the thoughts and memories of the people who were affected by these devastating bushfires. We visited the mural last weekend and it is  truly magnificent.  Each tile represents a fire affected sight, with black tiles signifying loss and grey tiles indicating a threatened home that was saved.  Every tile tells a story and many tiles are made up of treasured finds amongst the ashes.

If you find yourself in the area, it's worth calling in to Kyneton to check out the mosaic on the wall of the Town Hall.  I'd love to know what you think of it.

Wimmera Machinery Field Days

I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days at the Wimmera Field Days in Horsham, Victoria. It was a great experience to see that part of Victoria, and I really enjoyed the Field Days.  For those of you who haven't been to a Field Days before it's a bit like an agricultural show that features tractors and farming equipment, seeds, silos and anything and everything farming.  I don't know what you would even use some of these tractors for! 

It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed wandering through the exhibition sheds and exploring the demonstrations and produce.  There was interesting stuff that I just wished I had the money to buy - like this cool crock pot that cooks dinner by itself  - it sounds like such a great idea!

  

I was near an animal nursery and I enjoyed the cute little animals. The little pig was so cute, but made this horrendous squealing noise every time a poor little kid tried to pick him up. Check out the cool dude goat!

Geocaching Flashmob Event

We attended Bendigo's first flashmob event  held at the Bendigo Mall.  Don't know what a flashmob event is? - neither did we.    At exactly 1pm, a geocacher will appear at the specified co-ordinates with a geocaching container.   Geocachers will have exactly 15 mins to grab a piece of paper, sign their name, and place the sheet of paper back into the container.     Before 1pm, all Geocachers must act like normal shoppers, looking in shop windows and walking around the mall. After the 15 minutes the cache owner  will leave and people must then depart and return to the activities they were doing before.

It was so funny to watch the other people in the mall who were wondering what the crowd had gathered for.  Was there free stuff?  is someone injured?  what are you protesting about? I had to giggle at the number of people who were drawn to join the crowd without really knowing why.  And by the time people in the Mall worked out something was going on, the crowd started wandering away. 

The Bendigo Advertiser took a couple of photos and the geocachers met up later at a local hotel for a cool refreshment!

Bushfire Anniversary

 It is hard to believe that it has been a year since the devastating Black Saturday bushfires.  We are remembering the day at a memorial service in Bendigo and catching up with people again.  It was nice to catch up with Mel, my friend who came from Brisbane for the memorial service - she stayed with us and it was fantastic to chat about how much things have changed over the past year.

Happy Australia Day

Happy Australia Day - what did you do for Australia Day 2010?

We had a day of geocaching - we walked around Bendigo with our GPS and solved puzzles to search for hidden treasures.  We discovered some interesting places that we didn't know existed and we have been living here for 20 years!   Then, when we were exhausted,  we came home to some traditional Aussie burgers on the barbie.  How about you - do you celebrate Australia Day?

Heidenreich Family reunion at Salt Creek, SA

We travelled to Salt Creek, in the Coorong, SA for a Heidenreich Family reunion.   It was great to catch up with my Dad and my sister, as we didn't get to see them for Christmas.  It was also nice to catch up with my Mum's family - there was a  huge gathering of cousins and aunties and uncles .... 65 of us in total.  We booked out the Salt Creek caravan park and it was a great location.  Days were spent on the beach,  4WD driving on  sand, fishing and climbing the sand dunes.  The nights were spent sharing stories  and memories.

What do you think of Jim's Mulloway??  And yes it is true that we got bogged in the sand.  Twice.    But we managed to get out by ourselves with only a little bit of pushing by Carol and Helen, and letting the air out of the tyres.  I think Jim gets bogged on purpose because he enjoys the adventure.

If you have never been to the Coorong, it's definately a place to put on your bucket list.  It is an amazing place, unlike anywhere else that I have seen in the world.  The wind is ferocious, the shifting sands are soft and unpredictable and it's not a place to get lost.  But the colours and the scenery is spectacular.  Well worth a visit and only  10 minutes drive from Salt Creek.

Do you like Spiders

One hot  summers night, I happened to wander outside and I was amazed and startled to find the plethora of spiders that were busy doing what spiders do on a hot night - make webs and catch bugs.  We walked around the house with torches and my Dad was here too - he loved it.  I got a few photos of the spiders and the webs and I resisted the temptation to spray the fly spray around (except when it comes to the Redbacks - there's no mercy with Redbacks).  I think I can tolerate spiders outside the house, but not inside.  Apparently they have been identified as Garden weaving spiders - they are actually quite colourful up close  (on the computer that is - not in real life!), and they don't like coming inside anyway.  Perfect!

Do you have spiders like this at your place? What do you do about them - is it peace or perish?

Soar with the eagles

We had the pleasure of a visit from a pair of  Eagles.  Is there a collective name for a group of Eagles?  They are such graceful birds and they are amazing in size - they look like little dots in the sky, but when they are up close, they are quite intimidating.   We enjoyed watching them flying around, and they seem to have settled in a nearby tree as we have seen them several times since then.

Enjoying life at home

We had a quiet Christmas and New Year's Eve and it was nice.  We enjoyed the sunsets and had time to catch up with family and friends, and to contemplate the year ahead.  There is a lot to think about. And when you have spectacular sunsets like this one - right in your backyard - there is much to enjoy about contemplating.