Rain, Rain, Glorious Rain!

ClissAT

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70mls! :yahoo:

Dam collected about 30cm or a bit more. It was beginning to drop noticeably.
General ground dirt wet through to the subsoil which of course is only 10cm down but it does take a lot to wet it.

I'm so glad I got most of the fertilizing done during the week. A few fruit trees around the granny flat & the pineapples have missed out but will get done tomorrow probably so should still benefit from the rain.

Unfortunately all my hard work to clear out the 9 spoon drains down the driveway turned out to be completely wasted effort. When I drove the rubbish down to the front gate the bad news was staring me in the face every several meters as it was apparent every drain was again full to overflowing with gravel off the driveway.
It's bloody amazing how quartz gravel & sand can be washed away so easily. So again the need to do several early mornings of very hard work to clean out each drain by shovelling the gravel into the barrow then push it uphill to the previous berm & dump it into thin grass. Hopefully now with some rain the grass will grow again to hold the gravel for the rest of the wet season. It's the extra long dry year that really did the damage this year, killing the thin couch grass that holds the quartz sand on the slope.

I cant wait to have the wherewithal to build a permanent driveway.
road worker sign 50x45.jpg
Hard Work Ahead 50x70.jpg
 

ClissAT

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Thanks for thinking of a solution Stevo.
It's just a thin covering over the natural ground which is yellow schist otherwise known as yellow road base.
It gets greasy in the wet weather so the previous owners put around 5cm of quartz gravel over it & rolled it in.
That was fine while the seasons always kept the driveway damp & the couch grass growing on it.
But with continuous drought since mid 2013, with intermittent downpours, the quartz sand & gravel separated & the grass has died.
It's mostly the sand that washes downhill to the next spoon drain now that most of the gravel has gone or been rolled in by tyre use.
The sand seems to be hydrophobic so it tends to float when rain causes runnels on the driveway. I use dead palm fronds as small berms to hold the sand & gravel in place which works remarkably well. It seems their bent shape is just right to cause the runnels to break up.
But that is only a temporary solution at best.
It's mostly due to the driveway having never been constructed correctly.
For the 9.5 yrs I've been here I always thought I would by some miracle, find the wherewithal to rebuild the drive properly.
Well maybe that will happen around mid year when I get a small inheritance from my Mother's estate. I intend to buy a tractor with several implements.
As well I will pay to have a completely new driveway built with proper drains under the road & a different type of road base.
My neighbour has an excellent driveway & I intend to duplicate theirs.
He uses his small excavator to trim it up each year & I will be able to do similar with my tractor, blade & bucket. It wont come a moment too soon as my back & I are completely over it all!:mad:
 

ClissAT

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The transformation at my place is nothing short of miraculous.
It's amazing what a few inches of rain can do for struggling plants.
No amount of watering can produce the same results in the same time frame.
If its not too hot I might even take a few photos after brekkie.
Been bloody hot here last few days, up around high 30's.
Yesterday 38c outside & 32c inside!
Once this house heats up it holds that heat & radiates it inwards.
Only cool place is downstairs then.
Downside of a Queenslander!
 

Flatland

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Went to a native grass workshop and the guy there said no matter how much you water grasses/seeds they know the difference between watering and rainfall. And rainfall always has the better response.
 

ClissAT

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That's great Stevo.
I watched the radar at the BOM with much anticipation as the storms came across SE Qld.
But alas, they all went right around us here.
Same for the previous night.:cry2:
 

ClissAT

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I've taken more plants out of the ground & grouped them in huge containers of potting mix.
Yesterday I moved the foot valve in the dam so it now has 3ft of water under it.
Therefore 18inches of usable water before it is too turgid for the toilets valves to work.
So really important to not water even more of the garden.
 

ClissAT

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As I write this at almost midnight, the rain is coming down gently filling the tanks & hopefully the dam too.
I guess everyone in SE & central Qld along with many in NSW will have had rain by now.
Gympie Shire was drought declared yesterday so I hope that doesn't get overturned just because of this bit of rain.
It takes a lot of rain to undo the shortfalls.
In the morning I will be able to see if my container method has worked or whether I need to add more drain holes around the pots. Currently there is only one hold about 1cm across.
It's a very long time since there has been what could be termed 'general rain'.
Several little storm cells embedded in the wide bands of rain too which just keeps things interesting.
Earlier this afternoon we got a severe storm warning so I put cars away, made sure all the drains around the house area were clear, flushed the bypasses on the downpipes & several other preparations for a good drenching.
So now just sitting up taking in the sights & sounds of rain!:D
 

David - coona

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Looks like a bit more rain around today, patchy. Got to agree nothing like thunderstorm rain to green up the grass.
Wishing you all enough, bit not to much, rain.
 

ClissAT

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Storms every arvo bringing a nice amount of rain but still not even up to average for this month.
Most is soaking in now so the dam is not filling although tanks full which is nice & quite a relief.
My flower containers are looking a treat & I'm quite chuffed that I actually achieved it without loosing any plants considering how unceremoniously I ripped them out of the ground & jammed them into the potting mix.
The setup of the x-large containers with the cane mulch in the bottom & just one 1cm drain hole at the top of that mulch is working really well even in the heavy rain. I guess there is a lot of fertilizer running out with the excess water but it just goes into the bulb bed the chair & container are sitting in.

Right now there is quite a vicious little storm overhead or rather I am on the edge of it so there is lots of very close lightening & loud sizzling thunder & now thrashing rain.
What I really notice is how far 'out' the radar is these days. According to the BOM right now this storm is nowhere near my place. I am 250m to the south of the old Bruce Highway at a place where the road bends back to the NE. I know where my place is located & I can put the pointer on my coordinates on the map but the radar photo overlay is wrong.
Considering it is run off the same set of Japanese GPS satellites that are also supposed to run the rest of the world weather maps, something is not working right!
Now that the storm has passed (they are short & sharp these days) & the latest BOM overlay frame has arrived, I can see that they are too far to the east by about 5ks.
Sometimes the overlays are too far to the north or south........unless it's my house that gets up & walks around :D:p;)
 

David - coona

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Well I suppose a 2 storey Queenslander has 'legs'. I have noticed the namoi radar also does not match with actual storm cells. I don't think it is GPS I think it the position of the geographic overlay.
Glad you are getting some
 

ClissAT

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lots of rain now for pretty much everyone it seems.
Although my friend on Bribie says they have not had much there yet.

But be careful what you wish for!

what I wish for is a full dam..........
maybe I'll get a running creek too? :p
 

Flatland

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Down south we are still waiting for our autumn rains to start. really too early yet but it has been such a crazy summer, lots of cool days & lots of rain so who knows what will happen in autumn. but at the moment my paddocks are looking a bit tired & I recon I will run out of food in about 8 weeks so I am hoping for some rains before then
 
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