Patra's Other Place

I started out with Patra's Place, primarily dedicated to my linen collection and stitching projects. But I kept getting side-tracked, so I decided to create Patra's Other Place for anything not related to embroidery topics. So you now have a choice. If you are interested in me, read this. If you only want to see my linen and stitching, visit Patra's (original) Place! (Please note that by clicking on any of the photos, they will be enlarged to fill your computer screen.)

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Location: Melbourne, Vic., Australia

I was married to Ken for 43 years, but he died in October 2022. So I am now alone with two cats, eight hens, and a few finches and parrots in one aviary.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Huge waste of water.

If anyone around my side of town wants a free car wash, drive over here some time before next Wednesday. We have to empty our rain water tank. All five thousand litres. If it isn't used up, it will go into the storm water drain. I've washed my car, Ken plans to wash his car and the bikes, I've hosed the whole property, front and back, until it is almost a sea of mud (not really), and the tank is still nearly full. I visited the CFA (Country Fire Authority) and Edendale Farm (our council's environmental farm and plant nursery) to ask if they wanted the water, but they both said they didn't need it as they had their own supply.

The reason for our panic? The tank when full weighs about three tons (don't ask me what that is in metric, I have no idea. I was born in imperial times, and will think in imperial measurements until the day I die), and the ground underneath one side of it is subsiding. It is next to a brick wall, and when it was originally installed, it was about 10 inches from the wall. It is now just touching the wall, and if nothing is done, the wall will be pushed over and possibly rip part of the house away with it, as the wall is attached to the house. We had a plumber here last week to look at it and he said "Empty it as soon as you can. We'll be back next week to move the tank and bring more sand to tamp down before replacing the tank." I asked if he'd ever seen that happen before and he nodded, and said yes, many times. Funny when something like this happens, I feel like I'm the first person it has ever happened to! But it is good to know that the plumber has fixed this problem for other people and knows what to do.

On a brighter note, I found a cute little Santa hat in a shop this morning, and couldn't resist buying it to try out on our pussies. They weren't very impressed, but we thought they looked cute! This is Tiger, only sitting still long enough for a quick photo before he pulled it off himself.
Ken holding Topsy, who was puzzled by the fuss but not very stressed, unusual for her!


I've always liked these Nativity scenes done in figurines, but they are usually very expensive. Yesterday I walked into our opshop and there was this set on the counter for $12. It is now in our house in the entrance hall! Couldn't believe my luck.

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