update from Mum about weekend visit

Mum and Dad went up to Amherst this weekend, partly to go to the farmer's market and partly to water the trees, etc. I talked to Mum just after she got home so unfortunately I haven't the benefit of her detailed email description, but this is what she said (in a nutshell):

Gum trees are all doing really well, they've filled out so that they're mostly touching the sides of their frames and their trunks are now the width of a finger. Considering they were little twig stalks the last time I saw them this is pretty good going! They're about 3 inches from the shade cloth at the top of their frames. There have been a couple of light frosts up there which they've survived; we still have to hope they'll be OK through any big frosts to come.

The fruit trees too are struggling on... Dad has now swaddled them in shade cloth on the theory that they might not like wind - and until the gums get bigger they won't be much of a windbreak. We'll see, give them another year, they might just take longer to get established.

Dad has moved the little caravan from Mum's place up to near the shipping container and is apparently thinking of building a carport or something over the top of it and the container with some old corrugated iron roofing material he was given. He's been gathering things as he sees them that might come in handy, including a toilet and washbasin set! He's also used salvaged pallettes to build some wide steps to get into the front door of the old house without having to climb, and cleared out the front right hand room. Now it has some carpet on the floor (remnants) and a couple of old sofas etc. Mum said it's a place you can now go and sit comfortably in, so that's not a bad style of camping!

It's been pretty dry up there still with no rain. One of Tex's (our neighbour) dams is almost empty with just mud in the bottom, although the other is still OK... Ours is getting low again so that you can now see the ridge in the middle of the dam again. But, Dad's been using a lot of the water, pumping it out to refill tanks for irrigating the trees. The olive trees and the fruit trees now have their own tanks (which are full) and there are 2 tanks for the gum trees still and a separate tank for drinking water. It is coming into the coldest part of the year up there now so fingers crossed it gets some rain soon.