Grampians / Gariwerd Fires December 2024

Himself was on a strike team today into Moyston and up into the Mafeking region in the Gariwerd / Grampians fires that are burning in December 2024. These are some images from the fireground where they were doing containment line monitoring.

Meanwhile, at home an hour away, the smoke rolled in this afternoon when the anticipated wind change arrived.

Firefighting Equipment (ie we're not here to copulate with spiders you know)

We've been accumulating fire fighting gear now for so many years. Every major fire that gets near, we reassess the gear, the plans, the age of us both, and we tweak and tweak and tweak. This year we're expanding the automatic sprinkler systems, with a view to eventually installing a full on roof version (finances are limiting what options we have at the moment - have you SEEN the cost of farm insurance recently!)

Right now the gear stands at:

PPE for us both - his is obviously CFA gear / mine's purchased.

Firefighting gear laid out on the back deck ready to grab and run

Then we've got three backpacks - two solid ones, and a softer, more pliable beastie that's a bit easier to get on. These are used to fighting ember attacks and small fires around the house and are kept full and ready to get on quickly.

We only aim to save the house and the immediate outbuildings. All the farm animals are moved into the house yard - nobody needs a garden, everybody needs a pet pig, alpacas, goats and sheep. 

The poultry tend to be mostly kept locked up on days that WE think are a bit dodgy. They have sprinkler systems through their yards / the walkways around them that are automatically temperature triggered.

Generator's are stored on pallet racks so we can pick them up and deploy as required.

We've got multiple generators, and the battery system that the house runs on - so the generators are deployed on pumps, power guzzlers like the cool room and anywhere else we think needs protecting on the mornings of any days that WE think are going to be bad so they are in place if we need them.

Pallet tank at the back of the house yard.

One of the pallet tanks sitting at the front of the house

Second pallet tank at the end of the house

Dotted around the house yard we've got various pallet tanks, with fittings that one of our fire pumps can connect straight up to. Worst comes to worst these can flood the area as well.

Old farm ute with a fire fighting unit including pump, extinguishers, hoses and water supply on board.

The firecart is forklifted onto the ute at the start of the season and we leave it parked in the shed most of the time - which makes the run to the local town to pick up feed a right pain in the rear, but at least we can roll that out quickly. On days where WE think the threat is bad we position the ute in relation to incoming wind.

Firefighting cart with its own pump, hoses and water supply sitting at one of the paddock entrances from the house yard.

The second fire cart sits at the front of the house / south-west sector of the property - it's a right pain to move in a panic and mostly goes behind the tractor (which is another story at the moment), so it sits in place. We can reach a fair distance with the gear on it.

Not pictured is the 22,500 litre tank around the back that's sequestered from all other use - just for firefighting or the firefighting pump on a standalone cart that we can move quickly as needed.

Everything's got CFA fittings on it, everything started regularly, maintained, checked.

Anything that's electric has some sort of backup and isn't part of the "core plan".

The house is protected from extended power loss by the battery bank. The air con's only turned on if a) we've got enough water and b) there's nothing flying about in the air.

We monitor the boundaries half hourly, checking for signs / smell of smoke / people behaving oddly / header's running / dust going up / wind directions / speed / temperature.

We don't leave the place on days where it's warm, windy, dodgy. Everything's also monitored by a network of cameras so we can see if something's amiss (and I don't just mean those blasted foxes - which are around in plague proportions at the moment).

Did the Weather Bureau really just mention Western Victoria and Drought in the same sentence....

Of course it was probably my imagination, I can't find the specific reference anywhere, but I'm sure I saw, in Ballarat's The Courier, a mention of Western Victoria and Drought.

Not "rainfall deficiency" / not "dry" but actual drought. They used the word. I was so shocked and surprised I forgot to bookmark the report. Not shocked about the drought bit - we're living it. Profoundly shocked that somebody in Melbourne had dragged out an atlas and a compass and figured out there was a "west" in Victoria. I guess it's possible somebody got lost on a driving holiday to Gippsland but even then, it's a big detour and it must have come as a hell of a surprise for most people to discover a) there is Western Victoria; and b) it's a bloody big area. Imagine how amazed they are going to be if they find out how much of their grain comes from out here. 

But looking at:

https://www.afac.com.au/docs/default-source/bushfire-seasonal-outlook/spring-2024/afac-seasonal-bushfire-outlook_spring-2024.pdf

The seasonal bushfire outlook is suggesting we're all gonna die.

No. Shit. Sherlock.

We're going into this summer with a yearly rainfall of 492.6mls (up to November). That's, what, slightly more than half of 2023 when we got 805.9mls. Which was around 2/3rds of 2022, which was around 2/3rds of 2021 and on it goes. The hassle with those last few years was also that what we got tended to come in massive downpours which caused flooding, washed out fences and chaos. And little of it into tanks or dams. 

So we find the idea of "average yearly rainfall figures" a great steaming pile of bullshit - unless they are spreading it over 50 years - in which case we might pay attention.

But we've been buying in water for animals now for so many years I can't remember when it started (and trust me - that's unbelievably expensive compared to what city people pay in water rates - it's eye-wateringly (if we had any) expensive). We've managed to avoid house water buy ins so far, mostly by not using water in the house. We have shower's that are < 1 minute (we use a watersaver on the shower that means we can turn the water on and off with a paddle attachment). This year we've done that all year round, normally we give ourselves a couple of minutes under the shower in winter but not this year. Which was interesting because when it's as dry as this its also frosty and bloody freezing. But combine that with minimal laundry (god I laughed at somebody on the radio a while ago suggesting it wasn't hygienic to not wash pillowslips every day... I mean ffs!), and minimal everything else and we sort of stagger through most years. Which is a hassle because the main aircon is evaporative so we cook frequently overnight because of the complicated use case required to justify turning it on. We've also had some help from the conditions and the gardens and orchards are pretty well gone now.

But this year you can really see the carnage. We've got dead gumtrees all around - not just in the bush but on the property and road verges. There was a tiny bit of grass growth when we had the single down pour we've had this year but that's dried off and we've been walking through crackling dry grass, dry gum leaves and dust for months now. And the dust is getting worse - even startled ourselves recently driving home - dust storm that looked for all the world like a smoke showing until we stopped worrying, and had a good look (could everyone driving down highways right now do the same thing - dust is brown / smoke is white or black, dust tends to move behind whatever is throwing it into the air / smoke doesn't do 100ks - immediately / granted it can if the wind is blowing). Which it's looking like it's going to do all summer - god we've had some wind and heat already, and today and this weekend we're nudging 40 already.

Wonderful.

Needless to say it's going to be a shit of a summer, after an absolute shit of a year. 

Pavarotti the Goat

About 4 years ago now, early one Sunday morning we went to take our dogs for their normal morning meander around the paddock, only to realise we were being watched by 3 faces from the verge on the side of the highway.

Three beautiful male goats, their ears still bleeding from where the tags had been removed had spent the night up against our fence, drawn we assume by the sounds of us feeding the alpacas, sheep and pigs the night before. Luckily they'd remained safe on the extremely busy highway, although how we've got no idea.

Then there was the problem (we thought) of how we were going to get them off the highway without incident, as my partner made it to the front gate only to find them standing in the middle of the road, at the bottom of the ridge that would mean any of the grain trucks that hurtle down the road wouldn't even see them until the very last minute.

But the boys took one look at him and ran towards him, following him straight down our drive to our house gate, following him and the cart of hay from there through to the paddock, and into the pigs holding yard.

Nobody claimed them. Some utter piece of shit had obviously just dumped them. They were tame, hand raised we'd guess, their dehorning had been botched and they were desperately thin with overgrown toenails and in need of some care.

They've been here ever since - last thing in the world we needed or wanted. They've been a joy and a source of constant amusement with only occasionally proving to be right pains in the arse. We named them the "Three Tenors" and now we've only got 2 of them.

Pav was always slightly different from the other two. He was quieter. More cuddly. More inclined to get himself into trouble. We've had to extract him from a few hazards, we've had problems with the botched horn, we've always had to trim his nails more than the other two, and he's always been a slightly different shape and perpetually hungry. Which made his sudden refusal to eat a couple of weeks ago a bit of a shock. After initially investigating if he might have urinary tract / stone problems, it then became apparent that his rumen had shut down. Long story short, we tried all the suggested methods of getting it to kick back into action, but there was something underlying going on, and within a week or so, he still couldn't eat and was starting to show signs of weakness. So we had to intervene and he's now buried with the elderly alpaca, Pascoe, and pig Billie, who we've also lost this year. 

It's going to be "one of those years" as everyone, including us, shows signs of age. It's been a hard hard year already and we're not looking forward to how it continues to play out, although, touch wood, so far, everyone else is upright and looking okay. And we're watching, oh boy are we watching.

Electricity Providers

We have a grid interactive system on the farm. Solar panels and a battery on the house and EV. Grid backup for that system in case of need (still got to work long hours in front of computer equipment), plus there are pumps, sheds and various setups around the place that are grid connected still. We have got standalone solar setups wherever possible, but with the lengths of electric fences and stuff that has to keep ticking over, the electricity bill is always there. And to get rid of bottled gas we've replaced the oven / cooktop with an electric / induction combo.

Mind you, the sheer gouge that has been the last couple of bills from a standard supplier were horrific. So we looked for alternatives.

Did all the comparison websites, nothing was looking at all interesting or providing that much in the way of opportunities to do something positive about the usage whilst not killing the world in the process.

Anyway, after a happenstance article came across this lot:

https://www.amber.com.au

Their claim to fame:

Save with Cheaper Wholesale Energy

Now I will admit there was a hell of a lot to like about this model.

1. It's disruptive technology. By knowing the wholesale price and being able to shapeshift your usage you can play the market at it's own game. Not for everyone (see below) but if there's something we love it's the possibility of screwing with "markets"
2. Full disclosure. You know the wholesale price in half-hourly increments - and you can see the predictions for 12 hours ahead.
3. Battery / usage optimisation. They work out the best times to pull energy in, to leave our solar generation alone, to use grid inputs when they are cheap, and to use the battery when it's not. They will also sell back to the grid at optimal rates. We can also do all that manually if we want to.
4. They tell you the "green" status of the grid along the way - but this game is mostly about the financials. Which works out to what we want anyway because RENEWABLES ARE CHEAPER (contrary to the utter lies and bullshit coming out of the LNP and their nuclear look at me look at me look at me game).

It's not for everyone. This system works for us because:

1. Grid interactive system
2. Own solar generation
3. A Battery (they support a range of different types)
4. The ability to timeshift actions (helps to work from home so you can be careful when you run dishwashers / washing machines / power hungry cooking devices etc)
5. We put in the effort to monitor, manage, if you don't do so you might find you'll have a higher bill than from a standard provider.
6. We know it's going to be seasonal, we're going to take a bit of a hit at some times of the year and win at others. (This sort of levelling up is part of what the traditional suppliers do when they come up with their prices plus their premiums). 
7. We're prepared to pay a monthly subscription

We've been running on this system for only a short time now. The first few days were a test of nerves, but it's starting to learn our behaviour patterns and we're seeing real adjustments in our usage levels.  We can see EXACTLY what the next bill is going to be, what our usage is, when and if the battery has been charged, used, sold back and at what prices everything happens. We're aware that this is the worst time of the year - lots of sun but it's low in the sky / our solar system isn't the greatest right now because of tree coverage (although if this sodding years long "rainfall deficiency" doesn't end soon they'll all die out and that's one problem solved...).

The phone app shows you the projected pricing / usage in a really clear, easy to understand way.

Their ongoing "info" emails have been informative, useful and the language is clear enough for somebody like me to follow (he's the grid / electric / whatever understanding person - I'm the one that has to figure out when best to run everything).

The downside - there's a bit of a tendency to doom scroll the upcoming pricing, mildly panic about the WHAT PRICE AT 7.00AM FFS that's ridiculous, what can we turn off, oh hang on the battery....

We've adjusted the EV charging schedule (bought a hub to help with that). And we've switched power boards around to get rid of the dreaded standby load. General tidy up in other words.

We're not getting rid of the industrial sized coolroom though. There's no way in hell we can afford to do little shopping runs for odds and ends - it's the big haul as much as possible home and use it / bulk buy model that means we're all still eating something... 

Billie

 Today we've said goodbye to our Billie

I remember the day we bought her home, 14 years ago, in one of the small cat carriers. Which she fitted in, with room to spare. Her sister, was a bit delayed, the other piglet originally put aside from us wasn't well and Lillie was being neutered and we'd go and get her a couple of weeks later.

In the meantime we got Billie home, and settled into her new home, layered in straw and made as comfortable as we could make it. She promptly laid down and went to sleep, but when I went back to check on her 15 minutes later I nearly had a fit - couldn't see her anywhere in the shed. Until she suddenly emerged from under the straw and bounced around at me - telegraphing the behaviour of a lifetime. The number of times in the intervening years where she's frightened the living daylights out of us by disappearing from sight, reappearing with no notice and frankly, you don't want to know the slight feeling of panic that comes from the sight of a piggie running straight at you.

Like the night they both went missing and we hunted the area looking for them for hours. Only to return home pigless and bereft - we thought they'd gone for good. Only there was a bag of manure that wasn't where it used to be, and then there was the snuffling noises coming down the drive half an hour later as they both trotted home - very proud of themselves. Which lead to the development of a huge moveable pen and the shenanigans involved in moving it, and them on a regular basis, until they aged and we all agreed they could free range. Which meant our back dam has been substantially altered, the shelter shed out in the paddock is now somewhat more "airy" than it used to be with the back wall obviously considered surplus to requirements, and on the never-ending saga of crazy went.

Until 8 months ago when we found Billie lying in a wallow, unable to get up. Long story short - torn cruciate liagment and not a lot of options. Our wonderful vets gave us pain relief, and then got in touch with the equally magnificent Pam Ahern at Edgar's Mission who provided some excellent suggestions for managing potential pain and building some strength so we've kept her limping along, happy, and eating well, confined to a largish pen though, until this weekend. When the other back leg gave out as well and she was unable to stand. Which meant unable to toilet properly and pigs (contrary to the bullshit myths) are incredibly fastidious and clean creatures. So she was okay with not being able to move much but keeping her clean wasn't possible. Plus it's no life if she can't move at all. So we booked the vets and the bloke with the excavator for this afternoon and steeled ourselves.

This weekend she's eaten all the fruit (she was not allowed fruit to keep her weight down), and himself developed a porridge cake with dried fruit which she bloody loved - and got a lot of over the last few days, until our kind and very compassionate vet came today to euthanase her and the equally wonderful, kind and very caring Jason came down from St Arnaud with his excavator to bury her beside Pascoe the alpaca who died earlier in the year.

She leaves behind a very big piggie shaped hole in our lives, but one that left us with lasting changes in how we see "farmed" animals.

That's her, buried in some straw with her sister.

And her on the left lying down - her favourite position.

And because there's nothing like a bit of embarrassment, she had to be knocked out sometimes so we could do a pedicure on her tootsies. She snored. A lot, when under the influence of anaesthetic.

Cassie, Laverne and the solution to a toppling by the bed issue

Because - here's one of Cassie, enjoying a cuddle, while himself watches his nightly array of YouTube videos or whatever it is that he does over there. She looks smug because she's pretty darn pleased with her nightly routine.

Contented Cassie sitting on himself's lap enjoying a snooze

And Laverne - who turned 14 on the weekend. How I'll never know. The list of health challenges we've had with this dog are longer than your arm, and part of the reason the bank accounts never quite seem to recover. She's been a joy and a worry since the day she arrived. (That's her at the bottom of the photo - enjoying a snooze with her life-long companion Shirley).

Shirley to the top of the photo, who incidentally will be 13 in a couple of weeks, and Laverne who turned 14 last Saturday

Finally - I've been dealing with a bit of a threat to life and limb for me and them for a while now. There's been this stack of books beside the bed, which is also next to their night beds, that teetered, rocked and threatened to tip over onto everyone in the vicinity all the time.

Bamboo spinning bookcase stuffed with books waiting to be read

Allowing for all the problems that go with getting stuff delivered when you live on a main highway in a regional area, this finally arrived last week - after a bit of a wait and a lot of "depot searches". 

Spins on top of a nice little storage cupboard which is now stuffed full of the bits and pieces that had nowhere to live. I can see the books, find them without having to constantly restack, and am now not constantly on wobble in the piles alert. 

(This is not the only MtTBR in the place mind you - this is just the lot that have shuffled beside the bed. Now you can see why I'm hoping to live another 60 or so years (and desperately wanting a few rainy days when I can stay inside and read) ...)