we grieve for japan

113.2011

We watch the news in horror. The scenes after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan are worse than most of the stuff Hollywood dreams up. Last week I was worried about the people here but this puts it into perspective. We are told that now 90 percent of Queensland has been given disaster area status and there are many farmers in Victoria who have to wait weeks or months to get back to work on their land but I realise it will be much worse in areas of Japan.

It was pointless to sit in front of the news channel on TV waiting to see if Japan’s nuclear power plants melt down and the morning weather was perfect so we headed up to Sugar loaf dam for sailing. The conditions there were the best we have had so far and for the first time Edd and I got our access dingy to go where we wanted it to go. It even went quite fast! Bo came up with her kids and we all had water fun followed by lunch at her place.

Back home we had time to get the washing in and clean up the building site before the rain struck again. It took about ten minutes to hydrate the ground around the house site and turn it back to a sticky, slimy, hazard. Edd is in despair because he did not have time to clear a site for the next block delivery. I find it hard to get upset about our minor problems when I see on TV how much worse it is for others.

Last week was exhausting with the builders starting early and needing so much done and sorted. We have reduced our evening workload by weaning the little goats and only milking in the mornings. It is much easier just to bring the goats in for a feed at night and the little goats are also getting used to this routine. They all jump up on the bale by them selves but I need to be fairly firm or have dog support to get them back into the yard.

Getting the mass of milk in the mornings means that this is the time to preserve it as cheese. Today I made feta and tomorrow I have a starter ready to do cherve. (Or is it Chevre?). Mostly I can make cheese in between other jobs as it takes all day.
I am more worried about winter vegetables. The rabbits are making life impossible. Yesterday Edd and I fetched some planks from Yarra Glen to try and defeat them by making a raised bed. The planks are treated pine but I have black plastic left from covering up building stuff and I can staple it on to the planks to stop any chemicals leaching from them into the soil.