Commonwealth Games

And you can't have enough sheds

March 28, 2018

The Commonwealth Games baton came to town a few days ago. Actually, it came to Anakie, the town on the other side of the Capricorn Highway to us (about 15km from our house). We'd heard there was going to be a free sausage sizzle, so of course we decided to show some civic something and head over. The bonus was free barista coffee and a small milkshake made by the kids of the primary school hosting the event. It was all a bit of fun and we chatted to friends for a while once the baton had done a few laps around the paddock the kids play in.

The weather has been a much more bearable mid-30s since our return and we've been expecting the tourists to start showing up. So far, though, they haven't. Although most spend a while here (searching for sapphires is a much healthier form of gambling than the pokies) it's generally part of a longer journey - up to Cairns or out to Longreach or over the Darwin. The endless flooding rains on the northern coast, and the lingering floods out west seem to be deterring them this year.

The sad part is that all that rain is falling and we've barely seen a drop. None fell while we were away and since our return we've had a measly 2.5mm. Our dam is starting to look depleted again. This time last year it was over its banks and in good shape for the normally dry winter. It's been a bit depressing to see rain on the radar passing us by just 20km away or, worse, drying up as it gets to us.

Following the maxim of "you can't have enough sheds", we're building a new double garage sized shed in the back corner of our property. There was only a tiny garden shed with a carport (both of which we're keeping for the moment) so this will be a welcome place for power tools - and their operation - and general garden storage.

The other work we've had done is a laserlite roof down the southern side of the house from the bedroom to Anthony's workroom. This allows us to keep the lounge room windows open during rain and keeps sun off the lounge (and pantry) wall during summer. Every little bit of cooling helps!