2.9.2009
Spring has arrived bitter sweet this year. There are wattles in flower but usually at this time we have clouds of golden flowers. This year these yellow covered trees are few and far between. The plums are blooming. White blossom covers the trees before even leaves arrive. About half our plums have survived and there are still plum trees down the steels creek road but sadly so few. When my children were young we sent them out with the horse and cart to pick the small wild plums that lined the road. We used the abundant free fruit for jam before our own trees were old enough to produce enough.

But amid all the new blossom the silent bud less trees stand out. The oak by the house shows no sign of life now. The honey loquat trees we took thirty years to grow remain leafless skeletons. There is a terrible sadness in having to walk past these trees each day but we leave them just hoping a miracle might happen. Of the goats , only Dot is pregnant to give us young kids to join the three lambs. I am usually so busy at this time with the weakest babies in the house for extra care and so many births to supervise. This year we avoided pregnancies knowing that the conditions would be so tough .

Looking out over the surrounding hills the damage is all apparent. In some areas the gum trees have a green coating of leaves all over their trunks but in many places there are just bare blackened sticks. They stand out even more now all the dead leaves have blown away. Moss has colonized the ground beneath them and stands out as patches of vivid creamy green.
We are having problems with the vegetables. Hungry cockatoos have destroyed lots of young plants so Edd has tied red and white tape over head to try and frighten them away. The potatoes and even one tomato plant have survived the winter . Usually the winter frost has killed off all their leaves by now. It has definitely been a very different winter to the winters we have had for the last thirty years.

Not all is gloom. The Steel for the sheds was delivered today and we can now use the road past the dongas in all weathers since Mike put down the stone on it. The chooks have recovered from the flying shed episode and are laying more eggs than before. Josh has started working night shifts installing smart card machines in buses. At least he doesn’t have to get up before six and drive to Dandedong every day.Unfortunately , Edd hurt his leg unloading the shed steel and is finding walking hard now.

I have finally thought up a plan for a house we would like to live in. We have decided it is probably best to build our own home first and the guest accommodation afterwards when we see how much money we have left. We are really worried that we might start a project that goes over budget and be left in a situation we can’t get out of. We have an official appointment to talk to our eldest son, Al, in his new role as our architect.

28.8.2009
There were horrific winds yesterday. They blew right through our donga walls and took every bit of warmth the heaters could generate with them. I went to bed early to keep warm but as soon as I fell asleep I dreampt the donga had blown off its mountings and woke yelling for Edd to check he was OK! Actually the donga swayed a bit but stayed in place. The chook shed was less lucky and blew right over killing one poor chook. We struggled in the wet and dark to get it back upright and lashed it in place as best we could with ropes.

Things are not working well. For unknown reasons we are unable to get onto the internet. Even are supplier can’t get on! Also the computer key board has stopped working. This I could fix. In fact with the cold winds still blowing I was glad to drive into Melbourne and get a new one. Edd got some help from our neighbour , Brian , and worked on the fence lines. Brian has machinery that makes putting in the fence post a possible job.

It is hard to stay positive in these conditions but last week we had some wonderful sunny days and I was able to continue the work of clearing up in the garden. I am laying the broken bricks as paths around the flower beds. I am a bit disheartened about the vegetables. The cockatoos arrived one day and wrecked most of the work we have done so far. They don’t even eat the vegetables , they just break them off and leave them lying on the ground. I suppose they are hungry enough to try anything.

Edd went off on Sunday to visit his friend up at Dookie. A very generous farmer up there gave us a ton of oats so Edd had to collect them. He was also able to see the man who is making the iron frames for the sheds. It will be good when we can start to rebuild something here. There is now one, new, house being built in Steels Creek but the rest of us are still struggling to put up sheds and fences and clear up fallen trees.

The best news is that Simon is brewing beer again in his new brewery in Lilydale. There were a few teething problems but now the new equipment seems to be working well. Brewing has moved up to a bigger scale now and the large stainless steel vats look very impressive. Bo has struggled to keep her restaurant going. She has been trying all sorts of ideas. On Monday we went to her ‘industry night’. Beni and Graeme did a talk about their new wines and all the group shared a meal afterwards. It was great fun .