The dry, dry earth

It's a scorching day out there. About 35 degrees and low humidity. After our cold and snowy winter, summer has been so warm and dry it's hard to believe this is Tasmania. Our neighbour's tanks are dry and they've been getting water delivered to fill them up. Some towns in Tasmania are now on stage one water restrictions. Pressure is mounting on the Tasmanian government to declare drought. It's often said that Hobart is Australia's second-driest capital city after Adelaide, but boy it sure is dry this year. Up here in the hills, we normally get plenty of rain in spring.

In October, a man with a digger came and leveled off the grass area at the back door, because in winter the water wasn't draining away and it was like a bog. I sowed grass seed afterwards, just as we hit an incredible dry spell, with winds that whisked away most of the top soil to who-knows-where. Unsurprisingly, the seed failed to germinate. I tried again a couple of weeks later, timing it the day before an expected downpour. This time, the grass did start growing but we've hardly had a drop of rain since. The earth is cracked, parched and dusty. As much as I hate the idea of wasting water on grass, I've been out there with the hose a couple of evenings. People often comment how lush and green the grass looks in my photos (like in the header above) but here's what it looks like now. Complete with Gretchen's favourite blue toy.