Flooding Hits Taranaki

24 hours of torrential rain caused some pretty dramatic flooding across Taranaki, including our small rural community.

Our road was impassable for several hours, our property however was relatively unscathed.   Here is a link to a post from the property owner of Jury Gardens (2 kms down the road), with pictures of the flooding on their Tikorangi property and the road to our property.

http://jury.co.nz/tag/flooding/

I'd say we made the right call to wait a few hours till the water had receded to make the crossing!

A torrent of rain water cut through our pig pen (you can see the channel it carved through the dirt in the pic below) but otherwise this didn't cause any inconvenience to the pigs.

The rest of the region was not so fortunate. Waitara only 10 kms inland from our property experienced flooding through the west side of the town as drains and sewerage systems struggled to cope with the deluge.

Fortunately the Waitara river flood protection held up and saved a major catastrophe.

http://i.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/69564880/wild-weather-and-floods-in-waitara-as-taranaki-hit-by-downpourshttp://i.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/69564880/wild-weather-and-floods-in-waitara-as-taranaki-hit-by-downpours

I don't envy the clean up that some people have on their hands at the moment, but on a whole I think we were very lucky the flooding was not more severe.

Shades of Winter

It is officially winter and the leaves have left many of our deciduous trees.

This ornamental cherry tree in Rosemary's Garden has not yet succumbed to the cold and wind. It is still shades of red, yellow and burnt orange - just beautiful.

There are some truly lovely plants putting on a display at the moment. 

This hebe 'Beverley Hills' with vivid variegated leaves and mauve flowers is stunning.  It's bigger brothers in the garden are also looking the part.

I'm happy with the progress being made on my new garden out the front. I've added a bowl shaped pot of violas set on a plinth made from an upturned pot and some painted mushrooms for colour and fun.

This playful little jester sculpture made by a local potter is another new addition to the garden

 We have even constructed a wood mountain sculpture for the front lawn made from eucalyptus branches.  The plan is to grow some climbers up the main supports and over the top.

My potted colour near the front of the house is doing its job.

So is a sculpture I constructed out of old glass light fixtures I have picked up from local opp shops. They add colour and interest in an otherwise dull corner.

There is always an endless list of to-do's for the garden, areas that need attention, mulching, pruning and planting. It does feel like is is starting to come together at last. I love seeing the garden grow :-)