Welly Weather and Oswald the Uninvited

The rains have finally come and while cyclone Oswald hasn't been a pleasant experience for many people it has brought sweet relief to the parched lawn and increasingly spartan vegie patch.  I can sleep soundly now to the sound of water trickling slowly but steadily into the empty tank, echoing as it splashes into the shallow dregs two metres below.

On hearing the rain would continue for a few days I raced out one morning last week to plant a row of carrot seeds.  I tried this the last time we had a couple of showers but the minimal spatterings of rain preceded the horrid hot and dry spell that was the whole of December and most of January.  Needless to say the little seedlings tried their best and came up in a streak of green only to wither and fade away as the sun baked the soil.  Here's hoping this latest row will revel in the rain.

One high to the low pressure system is that I can wear in my Wellies in the wet.  I'm loathe to make purchases of any kind without due consideration and then some, so it took me until the end of last year's rainy season to decide that I really would have a use for a decent pair of gumboots.  Of course, by then I only had the opportunity (or rather excuse) to use them a couple of times before wet season was over.  Alas, they've since sat for many months waiting for a break in the sunshine.  Now their time has come and I can finally trudge around in them while the tell-tale tan line from my second-hand summer sandals fades away.

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I started this post when the rain had just begun.  Since then we've had over 250mm of rain on the weekend alone and the tank is now overflowing with Oswald.  We also lost internet for few days, hence my absence.  Now that I've returned from the dark and lonely world wide webless, I can recount the events of the last few days for you.

Sunday night was my sister's engagement party.  Somehow most of the guests still arrived but unfortunately so did an uninvited guest - ex-cyclone Oswald.  He must have found out he wasn't invited to this party and in true jealous ex style threw a massive tantrum outside the house, thrashing about, howling and hurling things at the windows, doing his best to ruin the fun.  Thankfully he did not succeed and it was only on the drive home that we felt his fury.

Later Sunday night through to the early hours of Monday morning was the worst of the wild weather - the winds were whirling and whipping around the house for the whole night, leaving us lacking in sleep.  Somehow in the midst of it all the cat decided he would catch a pigeon and bring it into the bedroom alive and flapping.  While this was the worst of our worries, the neighbours did not fare quite so well.  A large gum tree came crashing down onto their roof at 2.30am.  Fortunately no-one was hurt but three fences, a couple of water tanks, a washing line, fruit tree, vegie patch and parts of a roof were taken out by the tumbling tree.  Thankfully Monday was a public holiday so hubby was able to give them a hand to cut some branches off the tree and spread a tarp over the roof.

Our overflowing tank has already earnt its keep - one of the water processing plants for the south of Brisbane was damaged in the storm so we are on tight restrictions while it undergoes repairs.  Meanwhile I can still get on with the washing backlog using rainwater courtesy of Oswald himself.