January is the hottest, driest month of the year, temperatures in this area are in the low to mid 30’s. But that can almost be considered mild compared to the searing mid 40’s around most of Australia with all time temperature records being broken daily. Torrential rain and flooding is pounding the northern areas and drought is still devastating out west. But with sea breezes keeping our temperature to that bearable mid 30’s, I think this is the best place to live. But with only 10mm of rain in the first week of January we do need rain and I am watering the garden daily.
Then the spear pump died. After 18 years of trouble-free, stellar service, with a gasp and a groan it just stopped. I was devastated, it has been a garden life saver and used almost daily.After 4 frantic phone calls trying to contact a repair man I finally found Paul, but he was very busy and couldn’t get here for 5 days. Unable to contact anyone else who could come, no hope of getting quotes, I just had to wait and use the expensive council water in the meantime. When Paul arrived he explained that during the 10 year drought, 2000 to 2010, with a high demand for spear pumps, many “cowboys” came out of the woodwork installing dodgy pumps, then disappeared when the drought broke. Consequently he has been kept busy repairing those pumps. We were lucky to have 18 years usage as the person that installed ours did a good job, but he has since retired, (I did try to phone him). So R.I.P. faithful, little pump.
We now have a shiny, brand new and far more powerful model. So the garden will live on…
Just to keep you up to date, here are a few photos of the garden today…
I’m very pleased with how the annuals are performing, filling all the gaps. The natives I planted a few months ago are powering ahead and I’m waiting, expectantly, to see them flower next spring. The new rain gauge sits forlorn and empty waiting to be tested. The Poinciana still has a few of the vibrant flowers on show.
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I have been recording the “changing seasons” for a full year. (Here is January 2018) What a great way to keep a record of the garden. Thank you Su for hosting this challenge. There are many bloggers from all round the world joining this challenge, here is the link to see what they are all doing.
Nice post Pauline, a word about he pump I will not dispose of it till I pull it to bits.
to see what went wrong,
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Oh…..🙄😱
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That would be the logical next step, but after eighteen years, it earned a proper burial.
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It certainly earns its keep, as to use council water would cost much more than it cost to install it.
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A man after the Big T’s heart. I think we still have our old pump (or its constituent parts) in the garage somewhere. 🙂
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Parts!!! What we call junk???
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Nah. Junk is just parts you haven’t found a use for (yet). 🙂 🙂
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Ha, I know Jack will agree with you…
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How funny; January is the coldest and wettest month for us. Now you know where your weather goes when it is not there.
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You know, that poinciana tree ‘can’ do quite well in the Los Angeles, but for some reason, never got popular.
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Very popular over here. They are everywhere.
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It’s such an enormous continent, Pauline! I suppose it’s no wonder that there are so many climates. But yes, you certainly seem to’ve got a good deal with your little patch of heaven. 🙂 🙂
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Being near the ocean helps keep us cool Jo
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A patch of heaven, indeed! You are in such a lovely spot in Oz. We left Melbourne last week when it was still in the high 30’s. Lucky!!
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It certainly has been hot down there
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Yes!
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I love your garden, Pauline. I’m a sucker for dahlias.
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Those are actually zinnias Tracy. I love dahlias too but they don’t like our humid weather so I can’t grow them here.
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As soon as I sent that post, I wondered whether they were zinnias! Thanks for clarifying, Pauline.
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Let’s hope you get plenty of years from the new pump!
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Hopefully it will last us out Sue…
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😊😊
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Your garden looks fabulous, Pauline, so I can appreciate your concern when the pump failed. Love those frilly zinnias.
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The pump is very necessary since I’ve changed the garden style to a cottage garden. I love it but certainly more work
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It’s a garden worth keeping alive and I’m glad you got so many faithful years from your pump. I’d happily send you some cooler temperatures if I could and we’d still be freezing, literally and figuratively, although you’d be more comfortable. 🙂
janet
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I see your terribly cold weather on our news. I don’t think I could survive in those temperatures, I would want to hibernate…
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🙂 I’ve lived in the Midwest US my entire life, so I’m not only used to winter, I enjoy it. I also enjoyed my time in Arizona, though. 🙂
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I guess we do get acclimatised to where we live.
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When my parents moved to Arizona from the Midwest about 35 years ago, Mom didn’t like the heat, but she’s gotten used to it. Arizona’s heat is dry, which really does make a difference, but 112F is still hot. 🙂
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Dry heat definitely easy to put up with than the humidity
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No one else has asked the question so I guess I’m the only one wondering what on earth a spear pump is? Does it bring water up from a bore hole? Does everyone have one? We of course have to use water pumped to us by the water companies and most people are on a water meter. Luckily we are not as the pipes are too entangled for them to work out which property they belong to, so we pay quite reasonable water rates.
Garden looking good PP! The staghorn fern (?) is huge!
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A spear pump brings water up from the underground water table. Not every one can have them , sometimes the water table is too far down, or the water maybe too salty. We were lucky and put one in back in the early 2000’s when the drought started. It was expensive but been worth its weight in gold to keep the garden alive. Especially when very strict regulations kicked in during the drought and if you used council water as the drought got worse and the dams started to dry up. No regulations on spear pump use. Water rates are quite high and most houses are metered.
Yes that is a stag horn I have quite a number of them
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OK. Thanks for the explanation. Like a bore hole then, which some properties have in South Africa. We had one on a smallholding we were living on, but it was a bit of a problem when there were power failures as then the pump didn’t work! And we had no mains water either.
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Yes that is another name for them. They need electricity to run and that would’ve been a disaster if it broke down with no mains water back up.
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Your garden looks so lovely Pauline; thank goodness you could get a new pump. We have a water tank, so I’m used to the vagaries of water pumps, but am incredibly grateful for the tank. It was originally our only water source, but when we renovated we got a new tank and needed to connect to mains as well. City water is expensive here, but also chlorinated and horrible. We do actually use mains in the house (well-filtered), and it means that our underground tank is available solely for the garden. Joy!!!!
Thanks for being part of The Changing Seasons. Seeing the changes in your garden each month brings such joy (and learning on my part).
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I can remember living on farms in NZ where the tank water was the only source. Never seemed to run out of water. Our city water here is chlorinated too.
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🙂 We ran low a couple of times and got the tanker in, but in general, I think we were just really careful and appreciated that water was scarce. We loved the tank water because it was so kind on the boy-child’s eczema.
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[…] Pauline at Living in Paradise […]
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Having a few years’ seniority over an older couple who moved to my area, I saw them in a hardware store getting supplies to fix their water system. I walked up to them, tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘Excuse me sir, I’m with the water department. May I help you?” We all laughed!
I am grateful for my many lessons in various trades in this Latin American school of survival! What’s most important is keeping a sense of humor when Life tosses challenges our way.
That lovely garden is worth all of the frustrations! It would be wonderful to sit there with both of you and bask in the beauty of life!
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You made me chuckle Lisa, bringing light and joy to your neighbours. We would love to have you sit in the garden with us and enjoy the beauty and birdsong
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I am so happy for you that you were able to get a new pump and water these glorious flowers. I so enjoy your photos of your wonderful garden. Your plants are fortunate to have you as their keeper.
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Thank you for the lovely comment Renee.
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🙂
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Glad you managed to get a new one! The light in that last shot is fabulous 🙂
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The garden couldn’t survive in its present form without it
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[…] have been recording the monthly changes in the garden for 2years now. Here is January 2019. This January 2018 was my first “changing season” […]
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