The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring

Everyday new flowers pop up. Mary was a great gardener and the flowers have survived neglect and garden rearrangements and chickens - and they still peep out of odd corners - one has even invaded the bathroom.

Winter Solstice 2012

Raining, cold - hey it's winter! The chooks were let out to run around and enjoy themselves but they weren't interested - back to bed they reckon.

The sky is grey and the moon is new - ready for an awakening  - but ready doesn't mean leaping to it!

But in the front the camellias are in full flower - and I need to get out and sweep some leaves. It's wonderful - there's one tree with two colours of flower - I'm not sure how it does it.

The New Home

The new home is wonderful - Mary, the previous owner, is a great gardener and this spring every day brings new flowers. What with the water shortage there is a heavy investment in plastic pipes to take the water from the washing machine to the garden.
The next step is building a studio to work in. Not so easy if you need a planning permit.. but such is life - I have a home and the ideas keep flowing. It will all go on.

I wonder

what would it cost per household for council to harvest rainwater and to sewer mine and to provide a reticulated system of rescued water for toilet flushing and garden watering? Currently grey water diverting and treatment (if you want to store it for more than 24 hours) would cost around $10,000 per household - not a very attractive proposition. Individual pumps would be less economical in initial purchase and in running costs (on green power of course) than neighbourhood or municipality wide methods of providing sufficient pressure.

Private gardens represent a valuable resource for the community: they sequester carbon, they provide a creative outlet for gardeners, they provide visual delight for all who see them, a harbour for birds, and a cultural resource.. can we afford not to have a community based water source to maintain them?

Well here it is: CSIRO is working on the integrated management of urban water http://www.csiro.au/science/ps3k3.html bring it on!