It is with great sadness in my heart that I sit to write today's entry. As I type this we now know that 84 of our fellow Australians have lost their lives in the terrible bushfires that have ravaged numerous parts of Victoria. Many are still missing and countless others injured and homeless.
Meanwhile at the other end of the country, in north Queensland, floods are inundating homes and causing untold grief. Our land has always been one of "droughts and flooding rains" and this weekend has clearly painted the stark contrasts of extreme weather patterns that we are experiencing.
Therefore it is in our best interests to be prepared for whatever may befall us. It may be Mother Nature with flood, fire, earthquake, cyclone etc; ill-health or injury to the family breadwinner or a more generalised health issue like a bird-flu outbreak; unemployment or a breakdown in services such as power for reasons as diverse as industrial action or the weather.
Whatever the cause our supply lines are remarkably fragile and we all simply tend to take them for granted.
Today has not only been a No Spend Sunday but we have also made more progress in our quest to use what we have. I have spent a large portion of the day preparing, cooking and freezing meals. This means that it is a relatively quick and easy task to serve up a healthy meal when we both get home after a long day of work and commuting. This combined with the stock up of groceries (non-perishable) done on Friday makes me confident that we have enough supplies for us for almost any eventuality.
G has done a lot in the yard but most specifically sorting and cutting up wood from a very large secondary trunk of a eucalypt tree which we had removed during the week. Once this is all dried and seasoned it will add enough firewood for a couple of years to our already extensive pile. The wood we have stored is enough for quite a long time if just used for occasional heating as we normally do but could also be a source of heat for cooking if necessary.
The sewing I planned to do will have to wait until another day.
Meanwhile at the other end of the country, in north Queensland, floods are inundating homes and causing untold grief. Our land has always been one of "droughts and flooding rains" and this weekend has clearly painted the stark contrasts of extreme weather patterns that we are experiencing.
Therefore it is in our best interests to be prepared for whatever may befall us. It may be Mother Nature with flood, fire, earthquake, cyclone etc; ill-health or injury to the family breadwinner or a more generalised health issue like a bird-flu outbreak; unemployment or a breakdown in services such as power for reasons as diverse as industrial action or the weather.
Whatever the cause our supply lines are remarkably fragile and we all simply tend to take them for granted.
Today has not only been a No Spend Sunday but we have also made more progress in our quest to use what we have. I have spent a large portion of the day preparing, cooking and freezing meals. This means that it is a relatively quick and easy task to serve up a healthy meal when we both get home after a long day of work and commuting. This combined with the stock up of groceries (non-perishable) done on Friday makes me confident that we have enough supplies for us for almost any eventuality.
G has done a lot in the yard but most specifically sorting and cutting up wood from a very large secondary trunk of a eucalypt tree which we had removed during the week. Once this is all dried and seasoned it will add enough firewood for a couple of years to our already extensive pile. The wood we have stored is enough for quite a long time if just used for occasional heating as we normally do but could also be a source of heat for cooking if necessary.
The sewing I planned to do will have to wait until another day.
2 comments:
Anonymous said...
Lurk,
Possum.
Anonymous said...
Such a terrible time for both ends of our magnificent country. 108 people this morning...
Sharyn
xxx