Where I live

MotherofMercies · 02-20-2007, 03:06 PM

Where I live is pretty shit. I live just up the road from the ghetto, ok so this does not really concern me. Actually I don't give a shit. The occasional beer bottle thrown through the window can become amusing when one is bored. What concerns me is the lack of water in rural New South Wales. If you do not realise Australia is in a severe drought. A town just up the road from where I live ran out a month back, they are now on level 7 restrictions. Currently where I live we’re on level 4 (I think) all external use of water is banned. If the dam levels keep dropping, as they will, the council will ban the use of air coolers. Does anyone have a clue how hot it gets here? What of the schools? The class rooms here get around 50 degrees and above. Bleh Australia is a hole. Though I can think worse places to live. And I don’t fancy drinking treated sewage water…

My whine for the day...

Magpie_Tendencies · 02-20-2007, 08:42 PM

I know what you mean. I went up to my great aunt's house not long ago and she had the most gorgeous garden. She would go out and work on it every other day with a cute garden path, a large old tree and various bright and pretty flowers.

It's all dead, except the tree. And that's not looking too healthy either.

My uncles and cousins have sold all their sheep. We just can't feed them anymore. The crops are going to hell. The little grey water used on the garden won't soak in as the soil is just way too compacted.

It's breaking my heart.

Temptation · 02-20-2007, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magpie_Tendencies

I know what you mean. I went up to my great aunt's house not long ago and she had the most gorgeous garden. She would go out and work on it every other day with a cute garden path, a large old tree and various bright and pretty flowers.

It's all dead, except the tree. And that's not looking too healthy either.

My uncles and cousins have sold all their sheep. We just can't feed them anymore. The crops are going to hell. The little grey water used on the garden won't soak in as the soil is just way too compacted.

It's breaking my heart.

Oh, thats sad. Such beauty,rotten, and those poor sheep. Is it always that bad their?

PersephoneX · 02-20-2007, 09:03 PM

We had water restrictions for most of last year. As soon as our dams were back up to 75%. Our wonderful government took away the water restrictions...
We're in crisis too, but people are still filling their pools and washing their cars with hoses. And the people that have the power to do something about it, arent.

Magpie_Tendencies · 02-20-2007, 10:11 PM

I know. They should have put water restrictions in place long before they did.

PersephoneX · 02-20-2007, 10:14 PM

You'd swear they didnt see it coming. And its not like they give people tips to save water either!

My mom had my brother and i using our bath water to water the garden when we were little, cos the town we lived in before had water restriction for like ten years! And as long as i can remember we've had a brick in the cistern of our loo...
People never think that the little things matter...but they do...

Magpie_Tendencies · 02-20-2007, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Temptation

Oh, thats sad. Such beauty,rotten, and those poor sheep. Is it always that bad their?

No. Well, we've been indrought for the last ten years but not very bad. They didn't even bring in decent water restrictions til this year.
As for the sheep, the last time it got bad enough for the farmers to want to get rid of their sheep was in the '80's. About '82, I think. My Grandpa had to shoot all of his sheep then because there was nothing left to feed them and no one wanted a half dead sheep that they couldn't feed either. The farm took a pretty heavy loss with that and this time when the signs started appearing everyone got in ahead. Again, a few monetary losses but better than having a thousand dying sheep on your hands.

PersephoneX · 02-20-2007, 10:17 PM

God, its so sad!

Magpie_Tendencies · 02-20-2007, 10:19 PM

PersephoneX: We're still using bath water on our garden out the back but it's not working very well. Recently we've been trying to revive Dad's lawn. I went out with a pitchfork last night and poked holes in the ground to try and get some of the water to soak in.

PersephoneX · 02-20-2007, 10:51 PM

My dad put a hose on the washing machine's outflow pipe so that it would flow into the back yard. We also use the bath water in the garden and the dish water too.
I found that putting tons and tons of small stones in the flower beds helped retain some moisture, but the heat doesnt help much. We also water later in the evenings, when its cooler.

Anyone else noticed that set seasons are disappearing?

Magpie_Tendencies · 02-21-2007, 01:57 AM

We put a hose in the washing machine too but it leads into a bin we've converted into a bucket. We recycle that water for another load of clothes before putting it out on the garden.

We used to lug that wheelie bin ouside full of water and bucket it onto the garden but we finally got a water pump. Slower but not as hard on the back and shoulders.

We've got little pebbles all over our potted plants and hay is spread all over our garden beds.

I first noticed the set seasons disappearing a couple of years ago when Mum's roses all flowered about 2 months early. That's when I realised that her whole garden was so confused by the weather that it didn't know what season it was. It was a little bizarre.

Vako · 02-21-2007, 03:00 AM

I might not have reason in this thread, but I live in Southern California, which is mostly desert environment. It hasn't happened in a decade or so, but once in a while we have a drought, and water use becomes regulated. The water utilities and government borage us with propaganda about everything we are expected to do to conserve water. They purchase yet more water rights from Northern California, and neighboring states. Then of course, our water bills go sky-high. And with the ever growing population of Socal, it causes me to wonder what inpact it is having, or will have on the ecology.

MotherofMercies · 02-21-2007, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magpie_Tendencies

We put a hose in the washing machine too but it leads into a bin we've converted into a bucket. We recycle that water for another load of clothes before putting it out on the garden.

We used to lug that wheelie bin ouside full of water and bucket it onto the garden but we finally got a water pump. Slower but not as hard on the back and shoulders.

We've got little pebbles all over our potted plants and hay is spread all over our garden beds.

I first noticed the set seasons disappearing a couple of years ago when Mum's roses all flowered about 2 months early. That's when I realised that her whole garden was so confused by the weather that it didn't know what season it was. It was a little bizarre.

That sounds like our roses. They flower when ever they want, very odd.

Lucretia_my_Reflection · 02-22-2007, 01:44 AM

isn't there a gold mine there that is taking all the water ?

Magpie_Tendencies · 02-22-2007, 02:54 AM

A gold mine where?

PersephoneX · 02-22-2007, 03:53 AM

How bad do you think it'll get?

Magpie_Tendencies · 02-22-2007, 03:59 AM

Where I am? I think it'll get worse before it gets better. I'm not too worried about where I am. The city will be fairly well looked after.

It's my cousins and other country family that I'm worried about. Living 4hrs out of the city and basically in the middle of nowhere, I'm not really sure how well things are going to go for them. I know that they're already on much tougher restrictions than us.

PersephoneX · 02-22-2007, 04:22 AM

Its harsh...
Desolation in right on our doorsteps...