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September 27, 2013

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AUSTRALIA, Bush, Landscapes

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I LOVE A SUNBURNT COUNTRY


I DO LOVE LIVING IN AUSTRALIA..OF COURSE I HAVE LIVED NOWHERE ELSE AND HAVE NOTHING TO COMPARE IT TO BUT THINK I WOULD STILL LOVE IT NONE THE LESS..

LIVING HERE OF COURSE IS INDEED TO LIVE IN A SUNBURNT COUNTRY…IT CAN BE UNFORGIVING AND HARSH .

LIKE ALL PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN A RURAL SETTING I RUN THE RISK,THE VERY REAL RISK,OF LOSING ALL TO BUSHFIRE.

ALREADY SYDNEY HAS HAD FIRES AND AS I TYPE QUEENSLAND IS HAVING TROUBLES WITH FIRES ALSO.

EVERY SEASON I PREPARE A SURVIVAL STRATEGY..IT IS NOT MORBID,IT’S NOT DOOM AND GLOOM IT IS A PART OF LIFE IN THE BUSH. TO THINK WE ARE NOT VULNERABLE IS INHERENTLY STUPID..

IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO I WILL START TO ACTIVATE THIS PLAN.IT IS A PLAN THAT IS VITAL TO NOT ONLY OUR SURVIVAL BUT THE SURVIVAL OF ALL OUR ANIMALS.

THE SUMMER SEASON IS PREDICTED TO BE A BAD GRASSFIRE RISK..RAINS HAVE ALLOWED GROWTH OF GRASSES AND THE UNDERSTOREY IN THE FORESTS AND WHEN IT DRIES IT DRIES QUICKLY AND TO A CRISP.

THE SUMMER OF BLACK SATURDAY THE GROUND SOUNDED LIKE WALKING ON CHIPS..FRIGHTENING.

I AM CURIOUS AS TO WHAT YOU ALL DO TO PREPARE FOR WEATHER EXTREMES WHERE YOU LIVE.

BUSHFIRE,FLOODS,TYPHOONS,TORNADOS ALL THESE EVENTS HAVE A SMALL WINDOW OF ACTION.

I WILL POST A BLOG WHEN I HAVE DONE MY PLANS AS I SAID THEY ARE QUITE FULL ON AND INVOLVE A LOT OF WORK AND LOGISTICS.

I  LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING HOW YOU ALL ORGANISE YOURSELVES AND YOUR PETS FOR A CRISIS.

PERHAPS WE CAN SHARE IDEAS AND INCREASE EACH OTHERS KNOWLEDGE..IDEAS SHARED MIGHT EVEN HELP SAVE THE LIFE OF SOMEONE..WE MAY COME FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES BUT MOTHER NATURE AFFECTS US ALL IN SOME WAY WE ALL LIVE ON A PLANET THAT CAN SOMETIMES CRUELLY REMIND US OF OUR VULNERABILITY.

HOPING YOUR WEEKEND IS SAFE AND REWARDING FOZZIEMUM

 

 

41 thoughts on “I LOVE A SUNBURNT COUNTRY”

    • Thanks sweet Mollie we will..tis a wet and windy one..so perfect time to get our plans together..better to do it early,we had an early start last year and I was not ready..had to make a very quick exit I did with a travelling bamd of barkers and meowers hahahah Big hugs back Fozziemum xx

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  3. I live in an area where natural disasters are rare, but still need to prepare for snow blizzards and such where electricity may be out in freezing temps, etc. In case this is of any use to any of you, here’s a manual on emergency preparedness from my professional organization, the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters. Maybe it will give you some good ideas!

    Click to access DPPetOwner.pdf

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  4. One thing they suggested after 9/11, was to have a “go bag” for yourself and your pet, so if you have to leave in a hurry, you’ll have a few days worth of supplies, clothes, food, and some official papers from home. Thank goodness we’ve never needed it, but I keep our bags current and change out the little bags of food and treats for Cupcake and meal bars for myself.

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    • Same here ..we have a food medicine water bedding collection,bowls etc..we have water spray bottles to keep the cats cool if they have to be in the car for a long time in the heat,dog runs for the boys a trailer with box sides for the sheep..our phones here have apps with fire alerts,we have a scanner that is on all smmer that scans the fire and police frequencies etc..all hard copy photos and documents are moved to a relatives house who lives in a safe area,we have dust masks,etc the list is a mile long and yes it has to be for an extended period away from home..we even bought a car that can have the dogs and four cats safely inside..You need to be prepared..the house is insured so it is not worth dying for or risking our pets for .

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  7. We don’t get extreme weather in Ireland, and the house can be heated using the fireplace if the power goes out. I do know I have no way safely out of my 2-story house if a fire breaks out downstairs, though. I’d be throwing animals out the window and hoping for the best, really.

    I did grow up in Florida and we had to evacuate for hurricanes several times. My dad was a cop at the time and wasn’t allowed to evacuate, so we left the cats at home under his care while mom and us two girls went inland to my grandfather’s house.

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  8. Great photo, looks like a sunburnt country. We are meant to do stuff, even though we live in suburbia, we have a lot of natural bushland and parkland around us, so we have to be careful, though nothing has ever happened, so we live in hope.

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    • Thanks..love our summer sunsets the most beautiful usually while fires are on sadly 😦 ..it doesn’t hurt to have a plan you ever know..the season ahead looks to be a bit nasty ..we all hope it isn’t 🙂

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      • I do wonder sometimes whether they just tell us that so we will be prepared. Maybe that is the skeptic in me, though we know we won’t get another Black Saturday or Ash Wednesday for while, not until another drought anyway. Really all I can is get all the things that matter if they are burned together, so they are easy to grab is the house burns down. We hate our house, so we know it won’t happen to us.

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        • Oh I wonder sometimes too,but driving around here and seeing the growth I do worry,not to mention those charmers that go light them! there are a couple of amazing books about Black Saturday and the facts in there are very scary..they open your eyes to the lead up the weather that contributed and of course our total lack of preparation for what was a maelstrom of fire.I hope we are all safe and really it’s a great way of sharing ideas..:)

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          • I think the biggest problem with Black Saturday was we had no idea that a bush fire could be like that, it was so scary and so big. So fast too, so much damage in one day.
            Of course you are right about the idiots who light them, you have to wonder about people like that. I think they should be made to work and every cent they earn has to be given to the people who homes were destroyed. Hard labour.
            I haven’t seen any books on it, maybe you can recommend them. I find this kind of stuff fascinating, don’t want to experience it, but it is interesting.

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            • Exactly..i went outside and put an egg on our concrete verandah where we lived and it cooked..by the early afternoon the street lights were on ash was all over the ground and we left..the ferocity was a surprise to us but when you read the data it wasn’t at all..The best book is called INFERNO by Roger Franklin (slattery media group publishing I think) and it’s quite an eye opener..the other book is Firestorm black Saturday tragedy available from Collins boks and it’s a compile done with proceeds to the CFA I don’t know who published it.
              We had a few fires started around Bendigo area by ‘POSSUMS WITH MATCHES” and the concern being that again this will happen..and not to mention farmers who continue to use machinery on high risk days…. and yes I like to read about this as I think being informed is better than being in the dark..we have had CFA over to do risk assessment here etc and honestly..we don’t want to be here if there is a problem..the house is insured all precious stuff is removed well before the season and I don’t want to hear the bush burn..

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  9. Wes too lives in a sunburnt (in the summer) rural area and wes gets tons of snow in the winter.
    For the summer – Wes keeps all the brush cut back around all the houses in our village. There is signs on our front and back doors that says how many animals lives in the house (3 cats (Nellie, Koz and Jo-Jo) and 2 Dogs (Bob and Cinnamon) live here. They likes the names of the animals listed. There is a meeting place in the next village, if the peoples here has to be evacuated or can’t gets home because of fires. We too are a meeting place for other villages and the evacuation chief has a list of the peoples who lives here (there are 612 people).
    In the winter, sometimes wes gets so much snow we needs to shovel the roofs when the snow comes down lots at once – so the roofs don’t collapse. There is also a place in town where we can go if it is too cold and the power lines is down.
    Neither has ever happened, but everybody knows what to do – just in case.
    It sounds like your plan is great, especially the water sprayers….Mommy is adding it to her Summer Car Essentials list. Thanks yous!!
    Kisses
    Nellie

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    • Nellie you have great plans in place 🙂 what a great thing when communities get together..we do phone trees where one person rings another and so on to spread the news..the water sprayers are great and we can spray water on the kitty carriers and keep the girls cool..i am thinking also of buying some battery operated fans to mount in the car.we have a big container of water in the car too..in case when I am driving I see a small fire by the road perhaps from a ciggie butt or exhaust I can then pop water on it..we also had a system to let the firies know we were all out of the house in a fire so they didn’t have to risk their lives looking in an empty house,but this needs fine tuning because some people use that as a way to rob you!! Stay tuned and we can all share our ideas and keep all animals and peeps safe 🙂 HUgs and loves Fozziemum xx

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  10. Oh, I can’t wait to hear all the preps you have done for your emergency evac!! Ma is always up for some new ideas; we have earthquakes here in California, and Ma has a ‘go bag’ ready with all my important stuffs ready to go. Though, I told her the furst out the door (if there IS a door, is MOI !!! hehehe)
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥☺

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    • I agree Ruby…always the pets first!! and earthquakes must be terrifying…when the ground moves it really is sooo frightening…we get tremors and I always know because the kitties start acting weird ! Glad your mum is prepared 🙂 stay tuned for the post 😉 Hugs and lovies Fozziemum xxx

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  12. hmmm…well now that Mom and Dad live in Nor California…the fire danger is pretty removed. But when they lived in So Calif, before me, they were once evacuated as a fast moving brush fire was leaping over hills and roads…their property backed onto some wild canyons…but they had tile roof, hardscaping surrounded their house which was stucco and they had a pool. Mom collected all the impawtant stuff, two indoor kitties (could not find the outdoor ones but they were OK later) and grabbed her hard drive cuz she had her own business, and some papers and family heirloom quilts, that was it. Off they went. So then they prepared everything in one place in case of a repeat fire. Now, as before in So calif, they have back packs in each car with 4 days supple food water for two with warm coverings all supplies needed. They replace these back packs when the stuff inside becomes outdated, they buy them at a near by shop. Dad became a member of CERT–Community Emergency Response Team—about 4 years ago…he went through training for saving people, how to deal with fire, how to triage…so he can help our community in a disaster…earthquake is HUGE worry here. And now we have a bin in the garage with food for me, and tent, sleeping bags, battery powered lights, radio, a bunch of stuff…walkie talkies…oh and both Mom and Dad each carry an extra pair of tennis shoes in their cars in case they are caught wearing sandals in an emergency. I think that is it. They know they need to do a bit more to prepare to take me…but my carrier is right by the bin in the garage…I will be the first thing Mom or Dad grab for sure!

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    • What great planning Savvy! we must all be aware of our environment and the risks it presents..i will get hubby to give me a refresher on the chainsaw as I need to know how to use one..if a tree blocks our driveway I can go nowhere..so I need to know what to do 🙂 he hates these lessons and is sure I am going to cut my legs off hahahah

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  13. Pingback: easyblog SOS SUNDAY | Easy Blog

  15. fozzie….frum de kittehs point oh view; R food serviss purrson nell haz in R carrierz at all time; a towel, couple oh fav rite toys, thermal pad cat blanket, mosquito netting, a water purifier drinkin straw, anda sleepin bag anda tent thatz….well… we dunno what itz called but ya can fold em up like a poncho N they bee heat, water N cold ree sistantz !! we haz soft side carrierz sew they R prettee large, N if we ever hafta go two de ewe noe wear place, her take de stuff out…
    her all sew haza food/water dish that haza “bottom” ta it sew kibble or canned can be hid under ther……we hope ta cod we never haz ta like eee vacuates ore haza eemergencee ta try thiz out N thanx God everee day we dont !!

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    • Guys mum is well organised which is great! we have water bottles in the car to spray the kitties in the heat food and bowls blankets toys medicines vet paperwork dog runs etc..we have a big wire cage that is actually a puppy pen and we can set that up and put a top on it for the girls to get out and wander if needed..a big sheet to cover their carriers so they can stay dark and freak out less..there is so much to think of 🙂 and yes we pray we don’t have to but better be ready than deady 😉

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