Following anxious inquiries from Alice Harris and myself over the welfare of herself and family following the recent horrific fires in Victoria State, Australia, Raelene of Canpelkni Blooms responded stating that “We are about 1.5 hours from the Melbourne fires, and we are safe, with no fires in our area this season; hubby and I are both in the local fire brigade, 2 kms down the road. I always worry when the pager goes off, and always constantly reminded when I go to town as the fire trucks are often parked roadside ready for dispatch.” “I went away at the weekend the Melbourne fires started to my home town of Horsham for a late Xmas gathering, it is about two and a half hours from Melbourne. Mum and dad reside in Haven on the outskirts of Horsham; my grandparents have passed away, grandpa in 2007 and nan in 08, their house was empty of residents but still full of love, joy, memories and happiness, and thankfully most of the mementos had been put into storage, the picture below I took the day after it was destroyed by fire.”
Dale McDonnell earlier commented that “Raelene was at her parent's home when the fires broke out and had been helping to save the house for most of the day. She said she never knew her parents owned so many garden hoses! Unfortunately, her grandparent's house has gone and the houses either side of her brother's home have both been burnt to the ground, as has the local shop just a few hundred metres from where Raelene is. In fact, she says it is still burning.”
“In typical Raelene fashion, she tells me she found some new/old cannas just before the fires started late this morning.”
Raelene went on to state that, “My nan was a devoted gardener, and I learnt so much from her. I can still see us in her front garden- behind the wire fence; she had stuff growing everywhere, even out the back in the chook yard and the wood yard to the right of the pic. A 30 metre stroll to the outside toilet would take 20 minutes, as there were 100’s of potted and hanging plants to admire on the way. Grandpa was a veggie grower and supplied the shops in Horsham by horse and cart, and as kids we used to run down the veggie rows and knock the fruits etc and get growled at! But I remember it was such fun running between those veggies and jumping those strawberry rows, lol, now all that can be seen is one of his rotary hoes burnt out, sorry if I'm rambling too much.”
“The day the big fires started it was 46 deg centigrade in Horsham (Haven), I think Melbourne weather was the same too. It was so windy, and we had dust storms in Horsham throwing twigs, leaves and dirt everywhere, and I presume Melbourne weather was the same. The heat and the speed of the wind had the upper hand, some of these Melbourne fires are in mountain country, trees everywhere, and they had no hope. Honestly, I think I've heard enough on the TV, I don't mean to be mean but its starting to depress me or something, I know life is so valuable and sometimes some of us forget, but this is too harsh for our minds to comprehend.”
“The Cannas are ok, I’m constantly amazed at how drought tolerant they are, they just keep flowering although most aren’t as tall as earlier years, and they just need more water.”
Typical of Raelene, she didn’t mention the fire fight that they had protecting her parents property. Raelene went on to describe in detail the effects on her Cannas, and that will be the subject of tomorrows blog.
