Our great southern migration

  Didn't actually see the spider but the web was gorgeous! We stopped by a national forest on the way to a doctor appointment in Moruya. By the time we got there, we had 15 minutes and it deserved longer. We didn't spend much time looking for fungi or birds but the web caught my attention.  We have had some great views lately. Most Australian trees don't change color but this orange/red one is doing very pretty changes. It lives in what we refer to as the "formal" garden.  With an easterly facing view, I expected, and we do get, some very nice sunrise The morning mist can also make the other spider webs very visible Unexpectedly, the sunsets can be even more gorgeous Maybe because they often bring an end to a hard days' work but mostly they are just amazing to watch. It is moving into winter here, so they do come earlier and earlier.  The doctor visit was to get a Q-fever test done. I am not sick but my doc recommended the vaccine. Q fever is much more prevale...

  Our broccoli plants are apparently the favorite meal of the local caterpillars. The white cabbage moths (on wire screen below) are prevalent and have voracious young. The caterpillars are great at hiding on the stems and undersides of leaves. But the plants are still growing so fingers crossed.  Scott caught them around the radishes the other day. The radishes and turnips are producing way more than we can eat so hoping they stay over there and away from the slower producers.  Scott's bean crop is coming in now, as well, but those seem to have no natural predators.  We have been working on moving the potable water from one of the older plastic tanks into the other older tank, using a transport tank we rented from the Triangle Tool Library. Unlike the tandem trailer, this tank has seen limited use in the past few years.  Here it is getting gravity fed from the tan tank: and then emptying the water into the black tank: [These plastic tanks were displaced by the ...

  Actually we are hoping for real rain but only after we get a spigot on the tank, connect it to the rain gutter and find a way to close off some of the openings. Meatballs might knock it off its current lovely bed. Before putting in the new concrete tank (see the blog about "to fetch a pail of water" ), we moved this tank from in front of the house to just behind the chicken shed. Due to the rocky and uneven ground, placing the tank required making it a sand bed. To keep the sand in its bed, we had to place the frame on the ground and make it level. Since Scott is still on restricted arm-waving (and hammering and lifting), I provided the brawn while Scott provided the brains and running commentary.  Note the water tank behind the frame in the picture below. That also got moved from the lower orchard. Also note the steep red clay behind that tank. That was similarly under a layer of rocks, tenacious grass and hard dirt. Some parts were harder than others! But we got the frame...