What a little bit of rain can do...

Before November is done, I wanted to show you what 35mm of rain can accomplish.

An unseasonally dry winter resulted in a dam
level well below it's normal winter level.
But, peeking under the jetty in the top right
corner you can see there was still enough for
the ducks to splash about in :)

The above pic of the dam was taken in October.  As you can see there is at least 3 - 4 feet of waterproofed gum pole showing above the water line.

A dry and crumbling entrance gully...

The entrance gully was all dried and cracked.

Welcome water gushing down the gully into
the dam

And then on the 3rd and 4th of November 49mm of manna fell from the heavens in 24 hours.

The water deepened the gully, but wasn't
ferocious enough to widen it.RMan is planning to strengthen the entrance
gully to prevent it from getting out of control.

The gully into the dam is dramatically deeper...

That's better.  What's the point of a dam if
it isn't holding much water?

... and the water level in the dam has risen by at least 2 - 2.5 feet :)  

So, not only did the rain fill the rain tanks, but it also rejuvenated the water in the dam too :)

The predicted rainfall for next week

The weather forecast that I follow shows that we can, hopefully, expect, a further 20mm of welcome water falling from the heavens over three days next week.  I hope that they don't adjust that down as is their wont... 

The scars recede

I have always felt guilty about the scars we have caused on our land.  Scars from earth moving, creating our dam, planting our trees and, most of all, the scars caused during our building process.

Google Earth has finally updated the images they capture in our part of this planet.  Being out in the sticks (and therefore unimportant) they only do so every three years, but - it was worth waiting for :)

This is what our piece of land looked like when we purchased it back in March 2008:

Our plot of land in March 2008 when
we purchased it.
The path that crosses it is the footpath
caused by our one neighbour - a shortcut
across the field to shorten the trip to the
main road 4.5 kms away.
Also interesting is the plough line
which transgresses both our plot
and the neighbouring one.  I can tell
you that the fence that divides the two
plots is old and rusty - so the
scars of that plough have lingered...

It was completely overgrazed by the locals cows and sheep.  And full of renosterbos - all those little individual dots are visible on the Google Earth screen print. Signs of ploughing from yonks ago - and who knows when that last happened. Certainly long before 1996 when the smallholdings first started being sold off and inhabited by "newcomers" because the oldest resident has no memory of that fence not being in place.

Our plot of land with phase 1
of our build - one large room
(consisting of the lounge / dining /
kitchen) and the white shiny IBR roofed
bathroom to the right side - Aug 2010

Then, we got involved and scarred the land with our personal requirements. The driveway round the (dryer side of the) perimeter,  The dam.  The grape vine area.  The vegetable patch and the underground cellar which we never completed / built.  And the house build.

Ugly, nasty scars.

Our plot - October 2013

But, this is what our smallholding looks like from "space" in October 2013.

Our plot with markers.
You can even see the solar
panels n the garage roof :)
(Still enough space to
triple up on that if we had to
/ wanted to)

To give you some idea of what lies where, I have labelled the various area's I mention in this blog.

Our home November 2014 :)

I am strangely comforted by the latest Google Earth images (even if they are over a year old), because I finally realise that no matter how we bend our smallholding to our requirements, if we were to leave it, permanently, and no one was to occupy it ever again, all the buildings would collapse, the rubble would become overgrown, and it would revert back to what it was originally.  It would no longer be scarred by the mark of man.

In the meantime though, we are trying to treat it gently.  We are trying to be good custodians.  And we are aware of our impact - even if it is only on 2.2hA of land.

An unexpected discovery

When we left the Barrydale Hand Weavers last Saturday, I ask RMan if we could stop at an "antique" shop which I had spotted on our way in.  I am trying to find an old fashioned pottery butter dish, which is glazed on the inner butter tray surface, but unglazed everywhere else.  It would be perfect for keeping our butter cool during summer, as I could just soak the unglazed pottery and the process of evapouration will assist in preventing the butter turning rancid, and / or melting in the heat of summer instead if it having to take up RMan's precious beer space in the fridge.  Sadly, again, I was not in luck...

RMan is a real people's person, and can strike up a conversation with almost anyone, anywhere, anytime.  He gets so involved that the only way to tear him away from his new found friends is for me to wander off - he misses me after a while ;)

I had to use this ruse last Saturday:)

And ended up educating myself a little.

Pretty messy - I don't know if I'd want my
neighbour's property to look have this "curb appeal"
but it certainly grabs your attention.

Across the adjoining road from the antique shop there was this house which had a whole bunch of decrepit enamelled items hanging on the boundary fence. That is guaranteed to appeal to the curious in me.

Why would they want to show off their clutter publically?

I couldn't resist...

A cute continuation of the theme, whilst
doubling up as an advertisment support

On approaching the property this "mug" grabbed my attention.  Not only because it appeared to be some kind of "windmill", which was quite cute and, in it's design, a clever way of continuing the theme of enamelled plates and mugs, but also because of the sign "FOR SALE - COAL STOVES".  Ah, I had heard that there was someone in Barrydale who was repairing Dover stoves (not quite coal stoves as per the sign) so this must be the place.

Ha!  What is that coming from
within the repurposed metal drum?

On closer inspection I saw something that made me pause.  And think.

Eminating from the enlarged "mug" was a pretty substantial piece of copper wire.  This copper was "insulated" at it's source, but then stretched, unprotected, along both sides of the boundary fence.

Copper wires protruding from the "mug"

 Ha!!

The owner must be storing a battery (or two) in the "mug which is powering a homemade electric fence.  The "windmill", as it is rotated by the wind, will obviously provide a charge for the battery which is stored within it's depths.

A real jumble of old enamelled plates and mugs are
suspended from this boundary fence

But, I know the law regarding electric fences (don't ask me how I know, I have no idea - it's just a scrap of information that resides, along with a whole bunch of otherwise useless information within my head) that there must be some sort of visible warning to prevent accidental electrocution.

I couldn't see one.

Could I?

Well, blow me down if I didn't (eventually) spot it.

The warning is there - if you are observant enough

In the middle of that jumbled collection of mugs and plates was a plate with a warning arrow inside a yellow triangle.

Clearly marked if you're observant.  I must've polished my glasses that morning LOL

My eyes wandered.  And then I saw what was behind the warning sign.

A wonderful, large cement dam - filled to the
brim with precious water

A beautiful cement dam - full of water.  And a small, old-fashioned, homemade windmill on the far side.  The windmill does not seem to be large enough to be operational and is merely there for historical / decorative purposes.  So, I have a feeling that this clever person has linked a small water pump to that same battery and is therefore utilizing that source of power to not only deter unwanted intruders, but to also simultaneously top up his dam when necessary.

I like that :)

His services are advertised

Looking down the road towards his house I spotted a sign on a tree next to the entrance gate.  It details what the gentleman who resides within is offering and his contact number.

All time top entry pages on my blog

Seeing as two of the top five all time entry pages / searches which resulted in someone landing on my blog involve "Dover / woodburning stoves", and in keeping with my "sharing is caring" motto, I guess if anyone is looking for a Dover stove, the repair thereof, or some spare parts, this might be a good number to call ;)

Take that!

Mice - you all know that the ruddy field mice were my nemesis last summer. They're still around, but another rodent has invaded my veggie garden.  And, I fear, not even a cat will help thwart these pests.

As winter turned to spring we discovered mounds appearing in the back garden - moles!

At first I reasoned, ah, well, we have plenty of land - they're not harming anything important.

Until they migrated to my shadecloth veggie patch, that is. I went to harvest some carrots, and found this...

Sneaky moles - munching the base of the
carrots and leaving the topmost section
and the leaves there to fool this human...

 ... the shell of a carrot, obviously eaten just the night before, as the leaves were still perky and there was no sign from "up above" at ground level that anything was wrong.

A close-up of the mole inflicted
damage to the carrot

I know that moles are not keen on hearing footfalls on the ground above them. But I can't patrol the patch 24 / 7...

So, whipping out a couple of plastic milk bottles which I was going to recycle as plant cloches, I placed them on top of metal stakes and shoved them into the ground inside my veggie patch.  I figured with the (constant) wind moving and shaking the bottles on the stakes, the clonking noise, would, hopefully, encourage the moles to move on.

Plastic bottles on top of metal stakes - to
deter their habitation of my veggie patch

It seems to be working - the mounds are decreasing and the trail is now leading out of the shadecloth structure :)  Another eco-friendly solution which works :)

But - and this is a big but - have some recently uninvited, but very welcome, guests had anything to do with it too?

About 3 weeks ago RMan and I woke to find that we had inquisitive creatures inspecting the alpaca's in their paddocks - much to the alpaca's consternation. Having finally satisfied their curiosity, they proceeded to thoroughly search the ground in the back garden - where the lemon trees and veggie patch are located.

Yum, yum - they found plenty to eat it seems, because they have stayed!

What are they?

Ducks.  Three wadding, quacking white ducks :)

Three ducks - appeared from nowhere, and,
seemingly, not in a rush to return to their
owner

By the third day when I figured that they were not in a rush to return from whence they came, so I provided them with the wherewithal to perform their daily ablutions...

A duck in a bucket of water is almost
as rewarding to watch as a small
child in a paddling pool

 ... a wash bucket LOL

They loved it.

But - there was something that they seemed to have difficulty finding and which is far better suited to their requirements.

Our dam.

We tried "herding" them there - they scattered in three different directions.

Then I had the bright idea of trying to bribe them.

They have developed - seemingly overnight - a preference for the alpaca's 12% protein feed - so severe is this preference that they are spending more time "waiting" for their next handout than they are foraging for nasty, unwanted garden pests... <sigh - RMan and I are compete suckers for hungry animals - which don't even belong to us LOL>

But, I digress.  Getting back to their undiscovered source of pleasure, ablution, and natural habitat.  A dose of the alpaca feed needs to show them what they are missing.

"Quack, quaaaaack, quack"
(translation: Here ducky, ducky - follow me)

With enough in the scoop to entice them, I proceeded to walk backwards towards the dam, rattling the food enticingly in the scoop as I did so.  They couldn't resist!


It worked a treat.  It took me exactly 2½ minutes to get them to walk the 65 - 70-odd metres to the dam. 

After the most recent rain, the dam is
overflowing again.  They obviously approved as
they took to the water like...
a duck to water LOL (sorry, couldn't resist the pun)

Once there, and small handful of the alpaca feed tossed right next to the waters edge - voila!, they discovered our dam :)

Oh, that's land again.  Hang on...

They had a good swim round, head-down and tail-up sessions, and then made for the far corner and walked out, before promptly turning round and heading straight back into the water.

Ah, that's better.
This is FUN!

After half- an-hour's frolic, they waddled their way back towards the house - they had probably just remembered what they had been bribed with, and of which they had not yet had an elegant sufficiency...

Waddle, waddle - after ½ hour they're finished,
and now they want the food that was "promised"
to them...

And...

... we are about to take possession of the goslings we have ordered.  They should be arriving in the next week or so.

Our menagerie increases :)

Damn dam

We experienced some very hot days on the farm in December.  Very hot days. Strangely enough though the evening were deliciously cool and comfortable.

But, a couple of the days were just too hot for dogs and MKid, so they did the sensible thing.

They went "swimming" in our dam.

We were told that it would take 3-odd years for the sand (clay) to settle and whoever told us that was 100% correct.  This summer it has finally managed to hold water beyond winter, and with the roughly 1/2 mtr that remained, MKid figured that that was plenty to start the cooling-off process.

But a kid can't go swimming on his own, and if there are 1, or 2, or, even better, 3 dogs to leap into the water with - well that constitutes a pool party :)

All four in the dam - muddy, wet, sticky, wet,
cool, wet :)  And, best of all, great fun!

The screams of delight / yelps of excitement were a treat.  Until MKid said, "Hey, what just bit my leg?"

A water scorpion?

Closer inspection revealed what looked like a scorpion (thus a water scorpion?) swimming nearby.

Rush, rush, rush!  "Everyone / thing / animal - OUT now!  NOW!!"  Thankfully, we couldn't see any mark on MKids leg, so we can only presume it was a branch or something that touched his leg.

But the scare was huge.  And a good lesson.  Be careful!  Be aware!  Be vigilant!

With all the frolicking the clay surface of the dam, naturally, got disturbed.  To the extent that the water level dropped - rapidly.

Day 2 after the swim: Ill-fated tadpoles...

Day 2: Just a tiny puddle of water left 2 days later...

I felt sad for the tadpoles which got marooned in the ever diminishing dam.  They didn't stand a chance.

Day 3: Dried out water, clay and tadpoles

Yes, that is a completely dry dam.  A pity, but it was worth the fun to see MKid and the dogs enjoying themselves, albeit briefly.


I know that the clay seal is there on the bottom of the dam, and I'm sure that this winter the dam will hold water again.  And, it won't be disturbed this time...


As for the frogs / toads - we have thousands hopping round / hiding under weedguard / woodpiles / rocks / waiting for me to stand on one barefoot - again...!  But I'm grateful for our frog / toad population, as we have a huge problem... (more on that later)  So losing this batch of tadpoles, although sad, is not a major train smash.  Next Spring there will be another mating / breeding season... :)