During the summer, work needed to be done to strengthen the causeway at Red Dam, so a neighbour, Greg Mader,  was called in to use his heavy machinery to do the job properly. As always, the small job grew into a bigger job & we now have a much better, larger dam from where  the vegetable garden is reticulated.

The next job was some drainage work in “Central Park”, another big excavation project.

This water comes from one of the many springs on the property. The drain is stage 1 of a long term strategy to improve the overall drainage & so make better use of the paddock. It has been making water since its inception, with the water flowing through to the main dam. This extra water in the main dam has compensated for the evaporation rate & the water taken out via the reticulation system around the house. However, to keep pumping water all summer, the main dam needed a little deepening where the suction hose sits.

With all the water that we have, the bird life can be fascinating to watch & sometimes quite noisy. Large flocks of wood ducks visit to bathe & graze the paddocks, sometimes 50 or 60 birds at a time. Not only do they make a lot of noise when the flock lands on the water, but also their “chatter” as they graze, court their partners & see off rival suitors.

There are more earthworks planned. The next project is to repair the causeway at the main dam to hopefully contain the overflow when the dam next fills to capacity. Rainfall this year has been light & the paddocks desperately need a good soaking to keep the feed up to the many mouths we have to feed so it may be a while before that happens.