Week 40

Today I begun clearing up after the big storm in March. At the time of the storm I cleared away all the tree branches that had fallen and were blocking the driveway. But there were still lots of smaller branches littering the paddocks. Cleaning it up has been pretty low on the priority list though. However the neighbour's stock have been through all our paddocks now and the grass is pretty short, meaning all the branches are now visible again (after having been buried under so much long grass) so it finally moved to the top of the priority list.

I don't know how important it is to clear away all the fallen branches. To me it looks unsightly, but more than that I figure it is a tripping hazard to the stock. I began in one of the two paddocks at the bottom of the driveway as it is more visible than some of the other paddocks. I only spent an hour or two there as it started raining quite a lot. This is one of the two paddocks which has been quite waterlogged (the other being the one on the opposite side of the driveway). There is a large pipe which runs under the driveway that drains the water from paddock 1 (where I was) to paddock 2. As I was clearing away branches I discovered the pipe was slightly out of alignment, and partly blocked by branches, long grass and mud. I cleared some of it away and watched the water start draining away.

However it's a bit of a hollow victory because now paddock 2 is even more waterlogged. Next week's chore will be to get into there and clear things out. I don't know exactly where the water goes from there, but I do know a few hundred meters away there's a culvert. Maybe it flows underground to there? I hope so because I don't really want to just shift the water into the neighbours field next.


It's only a week since we mowed the lawn and already it is looking like it could do with a cut again. It's not long exactly but it is starting to look untidy.

Have noticed an increase in bird noises and a gathering of stray pieces of grass on the deck. Suspect the birds may be trying to nest in the guttering again.

-M