Already Autumn

We bought a small Queensland Blue pumpkin. Just the right size for the two of us. The volunteer butternut pumpkin in the old garden set lots of little pumpkins, but they rotted in the extreme Wet Weather we've been having.

We make do without a freezer due to our limited solar power. Before the start of the Wet Season we stock up on dried and canned goods and keep an eye out for Pretty Good Keepers, like pumpkins, to store in the pantry. The frig holds all the perishables and gets refilled each week, after a shopping trip to town. Unless, of course, the creek gets too high to cross to go to town. That has happened a few times so far this year.

Heavy rains in the area dumped 446mm (18 inches) in 24 hours on Port Douglas up the coast. We got around 120mm (~5 inches) that day. The creek came Right Up. We walked to the creek crossing and watched a car stop on the far side. The car - one of those cars held together with fencing wire and determination. The young couple got out and waded partway across, stood in the fast flowing current and talked about it for a while (couldn't hear what they were saying). They waded back out of the water. He got a piece of black plastic (looked like an old HeftyBag) out of the car. He draped the plastic down the front of the car and secured it with the bonnet. Then he drove across. The woman waded. They both waved as they drove past us at a high enough speed to make it up the hill.

We figure our car could make it across, too, but not having any HeftyBags, we decided to wait another day or two.