Friday Night with Friends...

Last night was FNwF; lots of people around the world working on projects and then sharing via our blogs. 

My evening turned out to be a little different to what I had expected. Yesterday, my part of Queensland was deluged by heavy rains which caused flash flooding in some areas. The road north was cut off in a number of places due to water over bridges etc. DD1 rang as she was leaving work asking if she could come to our place as she couldn't get home...her housemate was in the same predicament so she would be comng to us as well. I raced around changing bedding and bathroom cleaning, but I could have taken my time as the traffic was in gridlock...a 10 minute drive took nearly 2 hours. In that time J's (DD1's housemate) car had broken down and a police officer had helped push it to the side of the road. My wonderful DH went to 'rescue' J and eventually we had both girls home here. There were lots of tears, but hot showers, dry clothes, food and red wine soon helped. 

The girls took a 'selfie'...they were dressed in track pants and some new T shirts of DH's...they looked so cute in the 'big clothes' :-)

Eventually the girls and I sat down in the lounge room and I started my FNwF crafting...

This month it was crocheting again...I've continued to take small/tiny squares and make them bigger. The pile of 10 inch squares was growing, when another K4BN member dropped in last Wednesday with some donations, including some crocheted squares. This meant that I almost had enough squares to make a new blanket...

Yvette's lovely squares..

Last night I enlarged the last few squares and with the 9 from Yvette, I had the 30 that I needed.

The pile of tiny squares is getting smaller...

And I even started to crochet the squares into strips...

Update on the girls...J's car still won't start and the RACQ is unable to attend to all calls, so the girls have gone home to Griffin in DD1's car and will continue to call the RACQ number. It's a lovely sunny day and the washing machine is working hard! 

Another day dawns...

Today I started the day turning on the TV straight away which is something I just don't normally do. I wanted to see how the city fared with the high tide affected the flooding river at 3 am. The good news was that the peak level was lower than expected; the bad news was that many homes and businesses  flooded over the roofs. I found myself overcome with emotion for the plight of those poor people; some of whom had gone through all of this before with the infamous 1974 flood. I sat there sobbing...
Yesterday we found out that one of our girls had been wading through floodwaters at her work the day before. She then went to stay at a friend's place and within 24 hours she was again wading through chest deep flood waters to get to safety. We believe she and her car are now safe with a friend who lives away from the river.



N standing on the footpath near Suncorp Evacuation area, Milton. The day after this her work building was under water to the second level.


I know this tragedy has been on news reports in many parts of the world as well as the rest of Australia. Interstate family members who I haven't seen or spoken to for years (well I send Christmas and birthday cards to some but never hear back!) have contacted us to see if we are ok...that's pretty special that they are thinking of us and are concerned for our safety.

Showing the flooding (r.h.); compared with the same scene without the river flooding

Mid morning a teaching friend came over and we exchanged Christmas gifts. The gift giving is much later than we intended but in the first week of the holidays her elderly mother was hit by a car and taken to hospital. Her mum is still in hospital but is on the mend from her injuries which include 2 broken bones in one leg and an ugly sore on the foot of the other leg. Naturally Tricia has been preoccupied with visiting her mum and also tidying up her mum's townhouse a bit as the OT was concerned it was a bit cluttered  for someone with both legs injured. Later we went out and had a coffee at a local coffee shop to continue our catch-up.

This afternoon we went to my husband's cousin's place where another cousin was also visiting to work on the common family tree. We took all DH's mother's boxes and bags of papers etc `and filled in a few blanks. There are possibly a few 'skeletons' and some 'cover ups' in the family history and DH was able to give the others some anecdotal info that he had heard from his late mother. DH's branch of the family had maintained contact with a cousin of his mother who was unknown to the other cousins until this elderly cousin turned up to a family funeral. This cousin is now 89 so it's important that some of DH's generation gets her information. We also need to organise to get some birth and death certificates to fill in some gaps. The Historical Index online doesn't give enough details and as well people are often called by one name but have actually been registered with another first name, or a different spelling. Then of course the stigma of illegitimate births of those times means that often elaborate cover ups were devised...DH says he's not enamoured with the idea of working on family history as he feels looking back is a waste of time...it's the future that counts...Myself and his cousins think otherwise...

Sad times here in Qld

Following my post yesterday, Ipswich and inner parts of Brisbane continue to flood, with the situation expected to become progressively worse tomorrow. DH has just gone out with my BIL to the suburb of New Farm to help my SIL's godmother (Patrozza) move things out of her house before the river rises higher. Mary's Patrozza is already staying at their house at Bridgeman Downs which is close to being an outer suburb. Yesterday's estimates of homes and businesses expected to be affected have risen dramatically and the death toll is now 12 and 67 are still missing. The good news is that the missing list was 90. Sadly children are among the death toll and our Prime Minister warns that we should be prepared for more fatalities.

DH has been working on a contract in the city and the building is closed for at least another day or so. The Performing Arts centre is also beside the river and performances (including the opening last night) of 'Wicked' have been postponed naturally. A number of us had a block booking for today's matinee and when things 'calm down' a bit in the Central Business District, we'll organise replacement tickets.
It is a gloriously sunny day here today and I washed towels, teatowels, handtowels, tablecloths and washers and they got nice and dry within a short time.
I'm adding a link to a blog which is organising assistance for helping fellow sewers/quilters in the flood affected areas, to replace items they may have lost in the flood. It's always a horrible thought to lose items like that but in such a disaster it's people rather than 'things' that are important. So especially readers here in Australia, please take a look.
http://www.gumtree-designers.com/2011/01/we-need-your-help.html

Not a very good photo as there was lightning around so I stayed in the car and took the photos through the windows. The creek is normally narrow and runs in a horizontal fashion across the middle of the photo. The flooding has covered up a footbridge which would be about the middle of the photo and the little bit of fence that is visible borders a bike path which is flooded over. If you click on the photo it will enlarge

I've taken to wearing my gumboots to the shops now so that my shoes and sandals don't get wrecked!
We must continually keep those affected by these floods in our thoughts and prayers.

A disaster continues to unfold...

Here in Queensland the flooding continues. Yesterday all Queenslanders were shocked by the sudden severe flooding in Toowoomba. Toowoomba is on the 'range' west of Brisbane. It does not have a large river flowing through it; it has some small creeks. Yesterday without warning, West Creek became a torrent and flooded the central business district. The flooding continued and Murphy's creek also flooded. News footage shows people clinging on to poles, trees etc to stop being washed away; cars being washed away (sometimes with people inside); people standing on the roofs of buildings that are almost submerged...horrible!!! Eight people have been confirmed dead but there are several people still missing.
Today, thunderstorms are predicted and I can hear very distant thunder...A lot of water is being released from one of the dams today so flooding is expected in my city of Brisbane. It is expected to be confined to about 400 properties and will mainly affect properties in a number of low-lying suburbs and those close to the river. I've always envied those people who can afford riverside homes ...not at the moment however! We live on a hill and about 12 kms from the city centre.

Lina who is staying under the house and only coming out for food . This photo was taken a while ago as there is washing on the line drying! lol

All of that happening makes my little drama here seem inconsequential. On Sunday it became obvious that my cat Lina was missing and hadn't eaten her dried food for breakfast and did not come home for dinner. When the rain eased DH took a torch and went looking around the yard and under the house. He found her under the house (at the point where it's closest to the ground) and she miaowed but refused to come out. Next morning she emerged briefly when DH put out the dry food but she ate so little and then went back under the house. I spent yesterday morning trying to work out how I could get her out as I was convinced that she was dying or at the very least very ill. Late afternoon yesterday she emerged again and had a drink of water and more dry food. I was able to check her out and she seemed fine. The rain had stopped though when she came out.Then when I fed my other cat about 6.30 she came out again and wolfed down some food and then went back under the house. I think she is upset with 2 or more weeks of quite heavy rain and that's why she's staying under the house; it's like a refuge for her, she won't come into the house! I'm so relieved she's ok as I really thought she was dying...

PS DH rang me just before asking me to keep the TV on so I can hear latest updates. The job that he is doing is at the Convention Centre which is beside the Brisbane River. The car park is below ground and because of the water being released from Wivenhoe Dam, he is concerned he may have to get the car out. That extra water is expected at 2ish this afternoon. I'm going to wear my new gum boots to the shops this morning as I'm going to Bunnings to buy some pavers to make stepping stones through the mud and fill some prescriptions we're going to run out of in the next few days. What happened in Toowoomba yesterday has frightened the daylights out of me and so a little prep doesn't hurt..