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Blogs by Vena McGrath
Thursday 22 February 2007 = 9,07 pm 2/22/2007 1:52:41 AM
Another month rolls on by with the end of summer 6 days away. Autumn is just around the corner and yet, as we all know in Australia, Autumn is mainly an extension of summer. The days can be hot and humid and often the trees are unsure of when their leaves should turn to Autumn shades and then fall around them in beautiful piles of colour.
Because of the extensive drought in Australia, the gum trees have been losing their leaves non-stop throughout all seasons. In summer they drop their leaves in an effort to protect the dry ground around them and to keep in any moisture that may be around. We fight a constant battle where I live with three gum trees in the immediate area, one in our backyard and two next door.
Because a lot of the winds blow from the south and west, most of the leaves blow into our yard and onto the roof and into the pool. Our gutters are constantly full of leaves and it's important to keep them cleared out often in case of heavy rain and fires. The downpipes fill with remnants of leaves that build up and become hard like dirt. Then you have real problems with rain because the gutters overflow and can cause damage to the roof and ceilings inside.
We had a plumber in a few weeks ago because our sewer was blocked and he found tree roots had grown into the pipes where the storm water and sewer mains meet and so it all banked up back to the house. There was no using toilets or water anywhere in the house until the blockage was cleared. $380 thanks.
Our home has been a worry to us for the 16 years since we had it built and moved in. We live on a slab of concrete so there is no access to pipes under the house. For some reason the gutters are not adequate for heavy rain and we have waterfalls all around the house. We also have damage inside from the water running backwards into the roof. We are going to have the downpipes replaced with larger round pipes to see if that will solve the problem.
Australia used to be a country where everyone had water tanks because of the very dry arid conditions and low rainfall. However, with the advent of dams and the growth of the housing industry and populations being housed close together, water tanks were outlawed and home owners were forced to remove them or risk fines by Councils. It seems inconceivable when you consider the climate and the fact that in Sydney, as an example, there are no more dams now than there were when I was a child. And yet there are a few more million people living in and around Sydney than there were then.
So what is happening now with a drought that sees our major water supply (Warragamba Dam) at around 34% capacity? We are being offered subsidies to put in rainwater tanks and if you are building a new home, then it is mandatory to have some kind of water harvesting system on your property. Being cynical, I see that now they have created a whole new surge of millionaires coming up through the water tank fiasco. Some people I know ordered tanks last year and are still waiting for them to be delivered and installed. There isn't only a shortage of water, there is a shortage of water tanks!
A builder friend advised me to be very careful about the person/company that I might decide to have instal a water tank as the sharks are out in abundance, making a killing off people because of sheer need, or what they perceive as being a need to have a water tank. Our government meanwhile argues back and forth about the pros and cons of desalination plants, of recycled sewer for drinking water, of reclaiming water from underneath Sydney that apparently lies there in abundance. What they have done so far is pipe deeper down into Warragamba to bring up that water, or so I hear. Where you could once go out to Warragamba and walk around the dam, I have been told it's not allowed now. Wonder what they are hiding?
I remember a time when there was so much water in the dam they had to let mega water go over the spillway because of the fear that the dam wall would crack from the pressure. Goes to show that those with the power to do things don't really know what they are doing or have any conception of forward planning for an explosion of growth.
And yet still there are new pockets of land being opened up for thousands of new homes. All of these homes being built have at least two bathrooms, some have four. Then there is the laundry and the kitchen. I read yesterday where people building a pool from now on have to instal some kind of water harvesting system that will be used to keep the pool topped up. The Councils can't stop us from keeping our pools topped up because they charged us fees to have pools and approved them all. If they stop us using water and our filters blow up, just imagine the court cases and the millions it will cost them in compensation.
And so it goes on. The never ending chaos caused by people pulling the wrong strings at the wrong times. The greed of the few will cause the downfall of the many. Our gardens are dying through lack of water, our lawns have died and the ground become dirt. Fortunately we had some heavy rain a couple of weeks ago and everyone now has some grass growth. Mowing the dirt isn't much of an option.
People have spent years labouring in their gardens to make their homes as nice as they could and to enhance the areas they lived in, and now they have to watch their plants struggle to survive and often, give up and die. We can water two days a week, Wednesday and Sunday, before 10 am and after 4 pm. Wonderful watering times for winter and winters are dry here too, not just summer, spring and autumn.
Some years ago an Australian came up with the idea of watering Australia by putting in a pipeline from way up North right down through the dry arid desert areas and to the cities. He was rubbished by a government that could see no further than the next cocktail party and of course, the pipeline never happened. There would have been so many jobs for so many people to get that job done and yet they waste millions on tunnels and roads in the cities that are bombs that no one will use and pay the toll for. You just wonder about the capabilities of those that run our states and our country.
The skies over Sydney and out to the west darkened today very early in the afternoon. We all became excited at the prospect of a big storm with lots of rain. Not so. There was a shower, just enough to wet the roads and make the dusty cars dirty with big blobs of mud all over them. Can't go home and wash the car either unless it's with a bucket! Have you ever tried to wash your car using buckets of water to wash the soap off with? Better wear your swimmers if you do and I wonder if, like me, you are sure that you use much more water with buckets than you do with a quick hose down after the suds bit.
Ah well, mine is not to wonder why, just do it~
Perhaps the fact that I have been suffering a bad attack of ulcerative keratitis has soured my mood somewhat. I've been going to work with my eye covered by a patch and trying to work with half an eye. When I get home after my 9.5 hour day away, it's a case of having to lie down and try to sleep through the pain barrier.
I had two ulcers a fortnight ago that healed but in a couple of days I was suffering again every day. A visit to the eye specialist showed another ulcer and this one had eaten a hole in my eye. So there was only one way to hasten recovery and reduce the pain - put the eye to sleep and take the skin off so my eyelid can't keep catching on the broken skin ripping it off my eye. Sounds sore? It's more than that, it's driven me to the point of wanting to rip my eye out of my head.
And to top it off, Tuesday night while I was in disaster mode with the pain, I went off to bed with pain killers to soothe me. Around 2.30 am Shaye woke me barking and I got up to let him outside. I realised that I was wet through! I wondered what I had done .. gulp! Didn't take too much investigation to find the problem. My waterbed had sprung a leak and I had been asleep not on a waterbed but actually lying in water. Change of nightwear, hastily threw a sheet over the spare bed that is as hard as a rock, and I crawled in to lick my wounds and wonder ... why me? I'm still sleeping in the spare room waiting for a new bladder to arrive tomorrow. And tomorrow night brings visitors for the weekend and I'm down a bed. Perhaps I should sleep in my car :)
Such has been my week. $269 for a new bladder, $293 for my visit to the eye specialist and another $92 minimum for another visit tomorrow. Plus the cost of the anti biotic drops and ointment and the patches. Not much left out of this week's pay :(
Take care until next blog, hope it's a bit more positive.
