In Tasmania all the electricity is state owned hydroelectric – dams, and they sell the excess to the mainland through an underwater cable. If they make over 100 million profit then we all get a Renewable Energy Dividend off our bills. This year they think it will be around $30 per household. With the Federal government’s Energy Relief Bill payments, our battery and solar panels, and our wood heater, we may not be paying anything at all for 12 months or even longer. It is getting ridiculous. Of course firewood costs money, but I cook the books to put it in a different column or something.
I’ve collected almost all of the old tires left on the property by the previous owner and moved them up beside the big shed by the driveway. There are 52 in all including 8 light truck/4wd tires. There are at least another 3 tires around bushes in the front yard but almost impossible to remove unless I can find a way to cut them off. If I was able to get them to the council waste transfer station myself it would currently cost $780 to dispose of them. I have also registered for a council hard waste pickup in November, but they don’t take tires. I’m collecting all the old bits of metal, reinforcing mesh, the old bbq, satellite dish, etc. and have started moving some of it up near the curb just to be ready. They also take cardboard and a few other things so I think I have enough for a load. It will be nice to have it all gone.
I arranged with a firm that does tyre recycling to come and pick up all the tyres that I’ve collected. I hosed them all out pretty well and cleaned them up a bit since you pay a higher price if they are soiled with rocks and dirt. They came today and took them away and didn’t tick the box on the form that said it was contaminated, so it looks like I will be paying the lower price. Hopefully I get the invoice soon and going by the price list they sent it should be only about $520-$525 which is $250 less than going through the council waste transfer station. The good thing is that they are all gone, another job done and one less thing to worry about.
I have been doing some mowing the last couple of days and have all the back paddock up to the house mowed. With the fence gone it’s hard to know where to start with the mowing so now I just went from the house all the way back to the ditch, running over the line where the fence used to be. It will take a bit of getting used to. All that’s left now is the front and side area around the house which is less now since I have already mowed part of it. Hopefully I will get it all finished and not have to do it again for another month or two.
The garden is going well, I have 25 okra seedlings that have come up now and with this warm weather there is a real chance they will take off. I got some seed potatoes from the garden centre here in Legana so I have one entire raised bed just for them. The gherkin and Lebanese cucumbers are up, the button squash are up, so I guess my next chore is to get a fence around the garden.
