I've been tonight to the Friend's of Gembrook Park AGM. I have been Treasurer for some years so I needed to report on the year's expenses and income. There's not much to the job as we have only half a dozen on the committee and only a couple of dozen transactions so the paperwork is minimal. It's an incorporated committee of Cardinia Council and we receive a five hundred dollar annual grant for expenses. We only have one or two meetings a year and most of the committee's work in the park is in the form of weekly working bees for a couple of hours on Thursdays, which I don't attend. I do a bit down there now and again in my own time, and I assist secretary Merle here and there conferring with discussion should she contact me. Merle is the driver of the group.
I am happy tonight following the meeting as our council liaison man showed us before, after and in progress slides of the erosion control works in the gully which commenced in April and were recently completed. Gembrook Bushland Park is a 29 hectare remnant of native vegetation that has never been cleared. Bushfires burnt much of it in the 1920's but is has escaped burning since then. It suffered from run off and silt from farmland to it's north, and storm water from the town introducing weeds for many decades prior to 2000 but erosion of the gully cranked up with the development of the farmland between the reserve and the main road, which came after the land was rezoned from agricultural to residential. The increase in storm water was multiplied something like four times, being channeled into the same gully with appalling result. We as a Friend's group expressed concern over about a ten year period, and after much public anger and frustration at meetings where consultant's recommendations were tabled, and dispute and indecision and argument over various options presented, at last when council managed to get a some state government financial assistance, the project commenced.
Works of about $80,000 were done last year on the water retarding basin above the park, and about $120,000 this year on piping the outfall from the basin about 80 metres down the gully and past the erosion head to a point that has been stabilized by rock, concrete, soil and revegetation. The gully back up from the erosion head has been replanted with thousands of plants through 'geo matting' and the job has been done with minimal disruption to tree ferns and other vegetation. Furthermore, a very old and huge mountain ash tree that was likely to soon fall over because of the erosion has most probably been saved (touch wood).
The pipes are designed to take all the water, that is in less than in a one in five year rain storm, underground to the point below the head where the gully levels and spreads out and a small creek begins from a spring. In a one in five year event the water will cascade over the top of the ground as it always has. Everyone is hoping a one in five doesn't happen in the near future so that the vegetation establishes well enough not to be washed out. A few years would be good but the longer the better.
We are all so pleased that the work has been done so well and indications are that it'll work, provided we don't get a huge storm any time soon. The contractor is engaged to come back every month for twelve months to keep the plantings weed free and spray deterrent on the plants to repel wallabies from eating them out. After years of watching the damage happening and lobbying as a group, it does restore some confidence in local government engineers and environmentalists to see such good positive work done. Even if it never probably should have been necessary, had appropriate planning and initial safeguards happened.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Every Day is a New Day
The world will not be the same tomorrow as it is today. Everyday is a new day.
Don Smedley rang me the week before last to tell me his brother Len had died. I last saw Len some months ago when Gord and I visited him in a care facility in Pakenham where he had been in ill health for some time. I became friends with Len's dad Lionel in the 1990's and regularly visited him at his Mt. Burnett garden where I picked foliage and blossom. I became good friends with Lionel's sons Don and Bob and their wives who lived either side of Lionel and Len moved in with his dad, and stayed after Lionel died in 2002. Len had allergies if I recall and was on cortisone for a long time. This resulted in osteoporosis and ultimately blindness which was when he left the old family home to go into care. When I saw him he was wheel chair bound and on his way outside for a smoke. He had three cigarettes a day, one of his few pleasures he said, along with listening to the radio. I'll not forget him or his friendship. There's a wake for him at the Gembrook sports ground next Sunday which I'm hoping I can attend.
Meredith told me last week that Ian Lucas died. Despite Ian being 96 it was a surprise as he was always so fit and drove his car still. I picked foliage and flowers in Ian and his wife Frieda's garden for many years where they lived in Benson St Emerald. They were wonderful gardeners with a farming background on the Mornington Peninsula. About 5 years ago or so they sold up as Frieda, who was a couple of years older than Ian, was deteriorating with Alzheimer's. They moved into Emerald Glades care facility when Frieda's care became too much for Ian. Frieda died not long after. I visited Ian now and again but Meredith was a regular visitor and Ian visited her at the farm alternately. He had a problem with circulation in his toes and had one amputated a a couple of years ago. He went into hospital to have another one off about a month ago and had a slight stroke while waiting for his op. He was still in hospital when he died peacefully one night. It could be said that he probably wished it so as he would not have liked losing his mobility if the toe thing continued and he couldn't walk or drive. Ian was a tough old bloke but a complete gentleman. He drove a tank in WW2 and had strong conservative views of his time but he was an old softie when it came to animals. I wrote a Signpost article on him a couple of years ago.
The worlds changes, every day, one way or another.
I had the weekend off with no work. It was cold and miserable. On Saturday I went to a Landcare function in Upper Pakenham where the guest speaker was a Dr. Mary Cole who talked about fungi. It was a brilliant talk. I learned so much and came away uplifted by a feeling of greater connection with this earth that supports us all. on Sunday Lib and I went to Casey Fields to watch the Essendon Bombers VFL team play Casey Scorpions which is Melbourne's VFL affiliate for the benefit of 'foreign' readers. This we did at the invite of old friends Gerard and Megan O'Brien from Wangaratta whose son Zac was playing for Essendon. He did alright too and I noticed he was listed in the best players in the Sun. But there was a freezing gale blowing that made the game unattractive from a spectator viewpoint. Lib and I came home so glad that we went. We feel a Wangaratta connection still after 32 years away and were glad Gerard rang us with the suggestion.
On Monday I made two soups, a bean soup using our beans from the freezer and a pumpkin soup, both in crockpots that chugged away all day. Tomorrow night my computer class resumes, I want to learn how to do power point presentation among other things.
Don Smedley rang me the week before last to tell me his brother Len had died. I last saw Len some months ago when Gord and I visited him in a care facility in Pakenham where he had been in ill health for some time. I became friends with Len's dad Lionel in the 1990's and regularly visited him at his Mt. Burnett garden where I picked foliage and blossom. I became good friends with Lionel's sons Don and Bob and their wives who lived either side of Lionel and Len moved in with his dad, and stayed after Lionel died in 2002. Len had allergies if I recall and was on cortisone for a long time. This resulted in osteoporosis and ultimately blindness which was when he left the old family home to go into care. When I saw him he was wheel chair bound and on his way outside for a smoke. He had three cigarettes a day, one of his few pleasures he said, along with listening to the radio. I'll not forget him or his friendship. There's a wake for him at the Gembrook sports ground next Sunday which I'm hoping I can attend.
Meredith told me last week that Ian Lucas died. Despite Ian being 96 it was a surprise as he was always so fit and drove his car still. I picked foliage and flowers in Ian and his wife Frieda's garden for many years where they lived in Benson St Emerald. They were wonderful gardeners with a farming background on the Mornington Peninsula. About 5 years ago or so they sold up as Frieda, who was a couple of years older than Ian, was deteriorating with Alzheimer's. They moved into Emerald Glades care facility when Frieda's care became too much for Ian. Frieda died not long after. I visited Ian now and again but Meredith was a regular visitor and Ian visited her at the farm alternately. He had a problem with circulation in his toes and had one amputated a a couple of years ago. He went into hospital to have another one off about a month ago and had a slight stroke while waiting for his op. He was still in hospital when he died peacefully one night. It could be said that he probably wished it so as he would not have liked losing his mobility if the toe thing continued and he couldn't walk or drive. Ian was a tough old bloke but a complete gentleman. He drove a tank in WW2 and had strong conservative views of his time but he was an old softie when it came to animals. I wrote a Signpost article on him a couple of years ago.
The worlds changes, every day, one way or another.
I had the weekend off with no work. It was cold and miserable. On Saturday I went to a Landcare function in Upper Pakenham where the guest speaker was a Dr. Mary Cole who talked about fungi. It was a brilliant talk. I learned so much and came away uplifted by a feeling of greater connection with this earth that supports us all. on Sunday Lib and I went to Casey Fields to watch the Essendon Bombers VFL team play Casey Scorpions which is Melbourne's VFL affiliate for the benefit of 'foreign' readers. This we did at the invite of old friends Gerard and Megan O'Brien from Wangaratta whose son Zac was playing for Essendon. He did alright too and I noticed he was listed in the best players in the Sun. But there was a freezing gale blowing that made the game unattractive from a spectator viewpoint. Lib and I came home so glad that we went. We feel a Wangaratta connection still after 32 years away and were glad Gerard rang us with the suggestion.
On Monday I made two soups, a bean soup using our beans from the freezer and a pumpkin soup, both in crockpots that chugged away all day. Tomorrow night my computer class resumes, I want to learn how to do power point presentation among other things.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Can You Believe It?
There's a blowfly buzzing around me. I can't stand them in the house. A goodly number came down the chimney today. It was so warm for July.
I watched a bit of cricket and fell asleep. It's now 2.14am. Past bedtime. Poms are 4/234. First day Lords second test. In the first test last week I found myself barracking for Australia. Fist time in about 15 years. More. Because of Ashley Agar. That was ......fantastic.
Gotta go to bed. Just had to post. All's well sort of.
I watched a bit of cricket and fell asleep. It's now 2.14am. Past bedtime. Poms are 4/234. First day Lords second test. In the first test last week I found myself barracking for Australia. Fist time in about 15 years. More. Because of Ashley Agar. That was ......fantastic.
Gotta go to bed. Just had to post. All's well sort of.
Friday, July 05, 2013
Winter Wind
It blew strong most of today and the warning this evening was for gales during the night. Strangely it's deathly quiet outside now, not hardly a movement on the trees when I went out to wee and let Pip do same before we retire. Pip sleeps inside while Snow prefers out.
This is my first post for 3 weeks. I have thought of many things to write about in that time but at night after I have taken care of other things I can't remember what they were. I am after all getting on a bit and I think the brain is shrinking quicker than I'd like.
I have been busy at every turn. My friend Ian and his son Jethro arrived from Canada on June 19 and stayed till the 26th when they left towards Queensland in Lib's old Subaru which Ian bought in 2011 when he was last here but left with us when he went home. We have registered and insured it in the meantime and used it which was handy when Robbie was going up and down to Uni. Since then Gord gives it a run to Pakenham now and again or to the big malls so his car doesn't get dented and scratched in the car park battlefield. ( As it did when he went to the movies costing him $900 a while ago) Ian will be back some time in August before returning to Canada and I don't know if he will keep the Subie, or if we'll bother keeping it reged and insured if he does.
Earlier in June I had Museum and Park meetings to attend and report on and a project at the farm has been a priority. The first half of June was wet wet wet. I told Ian to bring some sunshine which he did, the second half of June was dry and sunny. The pattern now is for change with strong wind all day today, lulling this evening and just picking up again now as I can hear.
Lib has had a serious cold and bad cough for a couple of weeks. I have come down with the nasal extravaganza this last few days which is just now getting into my chest with serious irritation and hacking.
Our museum and park has its Biennial General Meeting next week. I have a President's report to prepare. I have said I'll stand for Pres again as no one else has indicated to putting their hand up. I have put in too much time there to walk away and leave my colleagues in the lurch They are a good crew and we have seen off the wolves. The new councillors are supporting and I have recently learned our special request for $30,000 for a paid part time museum curator for one year in this year's council budget has been granted and our app for a CWG for solar panel energy system also successful. The new mayor and councillors are a breath of fresh air into the district and I will stand by my "yours in commitment to achievement" sign off by accepting nomination for the next term, as much as I'd like to reduce my load. I have Signpost interviews and articles to do by next week also. There always seems to be deadlines for me to meet.
Winter has its downside but I love it. Even the wind is cleansing and fresh.
This is my first post for 3 weeks. I have thought of many things to write about in that time but at night after I have taken care of other things I can't remember what they were. I am after all getting on a bit and I think the brain is shrinking quicker than I'd like.
I have been busy at every turn. My friend Ian and his son Jethro arrived from Canada on June 19 and stayed till the 26th when they left towards Queensland in Lib's old Subaru which Ian bought in 2011 when he was last here but left with us when he went home. We have registered and insured it in the meantime and used it which was handy when Robbie was going up and down to Uni. Since then Gord gives it a run to Pakenham now and again or to the big malls so his car doesn't get dented and scratched in the car park battlefield. ( As it did when he went to the movies costing him $900 a while ago) Ian will be back some time in August before returning to Canada and I don't know if he will keep the Subie, or if we'll bother keeping it reged and insured if he does.
Earlier in June I had Museum and Park meetings to attend and report on and a project at the farm has been a priority. The first half of June was wet wet wet. I told Ian to bring some sunshine which he did, the second half of June was dry and sunny. The pattern now is for change with strong wind all day today, lulling this evening and just picking up again now as I can hear.
Lib has had a serious cold and bad cough for a couple of weeks. I have come down with the nasal extravaganza this last few days which is just now getting into my chest with serious irritation and hacking.
Our museum and park has its Biennial General Meeting next week. I have a President's report to prepare. I have said I'll stand for Pres again as no one else has indicated to putting their hand up. I have put in too much time there to walk away and leave my colleagues in the lurch They are a good crew and we have seen off the wolves. The new councillors are supporting and I have recently learned our special request for $30,000 for a paid part time museum curator for one year in this year's council budget has been granted and our app for a CWG for solar panel energy system also successful. The new mayor and councillors are a breath of fresh air into the district and I will stand by my "yours in commitment to achievement" sign off by accepting nomination for the next term, as much as I'd like to reduce my load. I have Signpost interviews and articles to do by next week also. There always seems to be deadlines for me to meet.
Winter has its downside but I love it. Even the wind is cleansing and fresh.
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