As I’m writing this at 10am, it’s bucketing down, well, it’s still bucketing down – it’s been raining since about midnight. As a self-confessed and self-certified pulviophile – a lover of rain, that is – I couldn’t be happier, even if it puts a lot of projects temporarily on hold. (I was self-scheduled to work on no-dig beds today.)

It’s uncanny, just before I started writing, that little voice inside told me to check the rain gauge. It was just about to overflow. 25mm so far, and it’s still coming down – in fact, it’s scheduled to carry on all day. Yes, we only have a 25mm gauge – we’re in the You Yangs’ rain shadow, after all. Well, that’s what the local people always say. But I did some research (which is always a good thing, not so?) and this is what turned up: “Owing to the rain shadow created by the Otway Ranges to the south west, the You Yangs are in the driest part of Victoria south of the Great Dividing Range. Annual rainfall is as little as 450 millimetres (18 in), with the result that the vegetation is grassland or low woodland rather than forest.” () So, we, as well as the You Yangs, are actually in the rain shadow caused by the Otway Ranges. Good to get your geography right.

I know a lot of people have mentioned this already, but after the longest, driest, hottest summer since we’ve been here, this amount of rain is just so gloriously welcome! And the naysayers claim there is no climate change?

After nursing the tanks through this hot, dry, hot, dusty summer, eventually running of town water for the last month, it is just so welcome to see and hear the tanks slowly filling up. With 120kl in tanks, we need a bit more rain over winter, but this a great start.

So do I let the chooks out or not? I know the ducks would love the rain, but then the little pullets will get sopping wet? After some discourse on facebook, during a break in the rain, I quickly put my boots on, ran through the puddles and let the chooks and ducks out. And what did they do? The big ones ran to the little ones’ coop for shelter, and the little ones promptly ran to the big ones’ coop for shelter! Maybe the big ones just like their crowing echoing more in the smaller ones’ coop…

When I went to take some photos during a later break in the rain, they were all out and about. I guess they don’t want to be all cooped up the whole day! Gives new meaning to the word, doesn’t it?

The pond and the access way were all flooded. Good stuff we got two big trucks in yesterday (but more about that in the next post.)

We had a good bout of overnight rain about a week ago too. Not as much as this, but also a good 25mm. It was amazing, even the very next morning, everything looks greener and fresher. 

Everything looks fresh after the first rain!

As someone else also mentioned, the ground is still warm enough and the days still long enough to see a last spurt of autumn growth. Let’s hope we see some growth in the chicken greens and the citrus trees at Homeland, as well as some good recovery in the grass and clover paths planted at Dreamland.