Visit to Marysville

We finally had a clear cool day to visit Marysville (the weather had thwarted a couple of previous attempts).  It is now nearly two years after the devastating fires that destroyed the town and it is only just starting to reconstruct.  There are new houses but there are many vacant lots and the impact of the fires is seen everywhere.

The Cafe seemed to be one of the few buildings still standing in the Centre of the town. Some of the trees are recovering, many are dead.  One of the stranger sights was a front gate to a Patisserie that had been completely burned out.

The forests surrounding the town have a long way to go for full recovery

But there are many areas of regeneration.  The forest floor is covered with new plants that are able to grow as a result of the recent heavy rain and the the amount of light that is now reaching ground level.

The Cora Lynne Falls were in full flow when we visited.

The Woods Point Road showed what is must have been like during the fires with large trees crashing onto the road.  This monster had come down and punched a drainage gully into the road where it had fallen.

Activities for a wet Saturday

While James attended a friend's birthday party, Patrick and Sophie came to visit Granny and Pa. Pat conducted a short Graphics Workshop for Sophie while the adults pondered the mysteries of the coffee bean.

This is getting boring!

I emptied the rain gauge yesterday morning and it rained all day. It varied between light showers and persistent heavy rain. It seemed to rain and hail all night as well.  So the gauge this morning showed.


In the last 2 days we have had well over 50 mm of rain (2 inches in the old money). This is more than enough to water the garden. Now a bit of dry would be good. Unfortunately, the forecast is for more rain.
The poor old Bird's Nest fern spent a cold night collecting hail.

Is this really Melbourne?

Well we have had an unusually wet winter and now it looks like we are trying to set records for Spring. It has been pouring down today. For the past few years we have had downpours but today it has been consistently solid rain. The tanks are overflowing and the roof has sprung a leak! Is there anything worse than trying to track down a small leak in the roof? The wise words of Helmut come to mind yet again - "Ian - you have a house, you have a hobby!"

Carri Visits Grandma

Carri came down from Strathmerton to visit Grandma today. She is only 2 weeks away from providing Greg with another grandchild so she did well getting down using public transport. Claire picked her up at the station and took her out to Baradine then returned her to the station to make her way home.


We trust all will go well for the birth. Shane and Marlene are also expecting their second in about 2 weeks.

Another Wet Wednesday

The plan was to get up to Marysville and have a look around now that the town is getting back on its feet after the fires.  The day did not start well.  It had been raining overnight and the rain started again during the morning.  We got as far as Healesville (in the rain) and cloud was closing in over the surrounding hills.

So it was lunch at Wattleseed.

And then a visit to the Rochford Winery on the way home.

Marysville is still on the agenda.  We hope for a better day next time.

Tatty Teddy Comes to Dinner

Tatty Teddy came home for the weekend with Patrick.  He had visited previously with James and he is definitely looking older.  Despite that he assisted in the construction of an aeroplane and seemed to enjoy his dinner.  He returned to school on Monday.

Cooper at 2.5 years

Cooper reached the trigger point for another addition to Granny and Pa's gallery.  There have been a number of attempts to come up with an appropriate photo.  It must be something about the age but all the grandchildren have tended to decline the offer of a photo when they reach two and a half.

The current nominee is

We have yet to move through the approvals process but this is the best so far.

Ringwood Reno

The changes are just about complete at Ringwood.  They have changed the way the house works and the homeowners appear very happy with the results.

Grandma Back at Baradine

Grandma is back home as of yesterday.  During her stay in hospital, a number of tests were conducted and she was given antibiotics for an infection.  The infection cleared and the tests did not show any indicators for cancer so we have no idea why she is unable to eat much.

She is happy to be back in familiar surroundings (even though she is also aggravated by all the fuss)