We had been back from Tasmania for a few days, had Melbourne Cup at home, and so I decided to go to Inglewood on Wednesday - as I hadn't been there for a few weeks.
Our friend Rachel from Dunolly had been flooded on the inside - from her cellar - so I needed to see if there was any equivalent at our place
I left Melbourne around 10am, and went and had a look in the cellar as soon as I arrived
And yes, there was water - quite a lot - maybe 50cm deep or so - but luckily not into the house. It had come in through the floor - as the ground had been saturated
Unfortunately had the old portacot and 2 x electric panel heaters in there. Not sure if they will survive.
Luckily, the wine was fine - and the water didn't smell
I called Justin to ask about the pump, and he thought I should get some assistance with it (probably a good idea)
Anyway, left it for a bit (it wasn't going to get any worse), and I went and inspected the garden. With all of the rain, the plants were looking lush - ie kiwi fruits, grape vines (might even get some grapes), yucca, and beautiful white iris
The weeds were also lush....
So, I put on my overalls and got weeding - out the front
Listened to the Dressmakers of Yarrandarah Prison as a talking book while I weeded, was great
I called up Terry on Thursday morning, and asked if he could assist with the pump. And of course he did.
He identified the right bits - ie box and hose, connected them, and then we sat in the kitchen, had a cup of coffee, and chatted, while the water pumped out into the scullery laundry sink
Was very effective
Greg the artist also dropped in to say hello and show me a new coloured print he'd made of the house - however he wasn't happy with the colours yet. Looked pretty good to me.
He left, and then Terry left when the pump stopped at about 10cm or so - we saw that the water had originally been up to the 2nd step. I considered getting an bowl or bucket and scooping out the rest, but I 'll be back soon, and I'm hoping that it will have seeped away by the time I return.
I then went back to weeding out the front - and I also planted the grape vine that I bought - which does have edible seedless grapes (I'm not sure what the other ones are - as I'd pinched some cuttings from the back lane)
And I also tried pulled the electric cords from the heaters out the the remaining water in the cellar
And put the portacot on the steps to try and dry out
Luckily I had gumboots to do all this
I also took a photo of the downstairs green room ceiling - as Ron had sent us photos of what he'd done - but it's different seeing it in person. Looked great, especially as he kept the gum leaf border. However the curve of the cornice now looks a bit shabby by comparison, and needs to be fixed up at some stage.
I started getting peckish around 1.30, so thought I'd try out the new takeaway (old GGs) - had a burger with the lot, and it was pretty good. Didn't take too long either
And then more weeding and more Dressmakers of Yarrandarah
Wanted to get the left hand side of the front of the fence done - nearly did so, however a bloke stopped in his car to say hello, and talk about the house. He's John from Wedderburn, - and has an old (collectors) renault. Didn't mean that much to me, but Justin was impressed when I told him. Anyway, we chatted for a while, which put me behind, and it was already after 5pm, so I stopped without having quite finished - oh well - more to do next time!
But I was pretty pleased with my efforts - and filled up Gordon's trailer
