The cows on Eleanor Lennard's property at Mount View near Cessnock are loving this rain.
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The humans are loving it, too. That means Eleanor and her husband Shane.
"Our Speckle Park and Brahkle cattle are way happier. They are just so playful and frisky. Some have never seen real rain and mud before," Eleanor said.
"Their coats are nice and clean and shiny. They have been dirty for so long. It must be a relief for them to not have all that dirt and dust in their coats."
Eleanor's property received 186 millimetres of rain over a few days.
"We couldn't be happier," she said.
"The grass is growing well already. The rain has made such a big difference."
Eleanor's photos of their property before and after the rain show the stark difference. As the rain fell, she stood on her verandah and watched it with glee.
"I was actually thinking it was too good to be true and it was going to stop," she said.
"For the first couple of days, I actually fed the cattle without a raincoat or umbrella. It was actually fun getting soaked after all the dust and smoke. I didn't dance in the rain, but I did stand out in it."
At times, Eleanor felt like it would never rain.
"Every time rain was predicted nothing would happen. The weather apps and radar were beginning to be depressing," she said.
"Better not to look than be disappointed again. Everything was brown and trees were dying. There wasn't enough time or water to save them all. Luckily some look like they will survive now it's finally rained.
"The drought has been long and hard. It's also been much more work than normal."
They've had to buy hay, pellets and lick blocks for three years.
"We have also been buying water for the cattle on and off for over three years. For almost the last 12 months we have had to buy all the water for us and all the livestock.
"Even the springs stopped running. Shane also works off farm, so it's been a juggling act keeping everything going."
The rain also brought relief for wild animals.
"They are eating the green shoots of grass. Some of the wild birds that have been coming for food aren't coming now," she said.
"The kookaburras, magpies and butcher birds have been able to find their own food. The parrots and other seed-eating birds are still coming. It's going to be a while before they will have their own natural food."
Pea Soup Fog
Bob "Minmi Magster" Skelton was among those to wake to fog on Tuesday before blue skies emerged.
"Ninety-nine per cent of times you get a fog, you'll get a nice day," the Magster said, imparting a bit of bushy wisdom.
He said the rain had brought on mushrooms on his property: "They reckon when the old bull sprogs [ejaculates] on the ground that's where you get the mushies."
More bushy wisdom [or myth!], that.