Shadow

There was a bright sparkling morning, A welcome surprise after the days of gloom. In two and a half days we had 84mm (3.3in) of rain. This is a lot for us, but hardly a splash compared to places north, south and east of here, where there was serious flooding and landslips. Now snow is threatening for later in the week.

The rain came from an unexpected direction and wet half of my ready to use firewood. I spent hours sawing and chopping wood and now have a good supply on the veranda, along with plenty of kindling.

Then, when I was about to close up and light the fire I realised that snow on my vegetables in containers would be ruinous. I had not yet cleared the greenhouse, so there was nothing for it but to get stuck in. All the tomato plants had to be cut into small pieces to go in the plastic rubbish bag. I don't compost them to keep the diseases at bay.

Carrying the buckets of vegetables into the greenhouse was hard work. The potting mix in them is sodden with rain. The crates containing pak choi, leeks and spinach were beyond me. I rigged hoops over them so that they can be covered. Darkness was falling as I tied them into place.

Fortunately I paused for a few minutes to take this shot of a Pittosporum branch shadow. I saw it as I was wheeling one of the many barrow loads of wood. Now I'm exhausted and I still have to cook my meal. There's a 108 km round trip to the nearest fastfood outlet.