Floods receding.

This morning there is blue sky and lovely sun with a gentle breeze blowing. The river is dropping and slowly the water is receding from homes and businesses but it will be days before anyone will be able to clean up.
I had a phone call from my eldest granddaughter to say she had made it home. It had taken 7 hours to drive back. She had gone with her partner to Ipswich, west of our state capital Brisbane, and had become stuck there as all the roads closed. She was worried about her own home here in Bundy and I couldn't tell her anything but I thought it might be OK. But she is home now. She says that there had been no water in the house but because it was all closed up, everything was mouldy and smelly so the windows are all opened and the breeze blowing and she has gone to the laundromate to do some washing.
My friend came around this morning to get some of her food out of my freezer. She told me that when a neighbor across the road found out that she and her husband had no power, he brought over his portable generator and fixed up for them and also a small gas camping stove so at least she can make her own coffee and cook a meal. The water has left their back yard now so she is hoping that the power will be switched back on soon.
I have been able to vaccum my floors today. Before, because the air was so wet, the floors were 'tacky' and I couldn't do anything, the dust etc just spread around so I had to wait until everything dried off a bit but I am a little cleaner now.

And the floods continue.

Well, Bundaberg is well and truely under water. All the bridges are under and many houses as well. It is a mess.
I am dry and safe but there was a time when I thought I might have to move.

This water was just 7 houses from where I live and it did get a little higher then stopped. It is now very slowly receding but we have been told it will probably take days to go completely. Then there will be one big mess to clean up.I still had power but my friend in the street behind lost hers yesterday so she came around and filled her flasks up so she could make coffee. She had a lot of cold meat and stuff still from christmas so they didn't have to cook. The power won't come back on for her until the water has left her back yard.

The funny thing was to watch Mullet jumping around in back yards, they had come up from the river.

I did manage to go shopping today with my youngest daughter Elle. She knew how to get around to the one part of town where there was a clear way to one of our shopping centres. I got a few groceries in and then I found a lovely dress in a sale so I treated myself to a birthday present. I hope I can wear it on Saturday.

I have managed to get a fair bit of knitting done and a bit of reading so I off to do some more.

Rain, rain and even more rain.

It has been a very wet Christmas for us in all of Queensland. It started with a lot of rain before Christmas and then on Christmas morn a small cyclone crossed the coast just south of Cairns and then became a monsoon low and it has not stopped since.
Yesterday we had three thunderstorms, one after the other and the rain came down so hard tat I turned my TV up to the highest but still couldn't hear it.
The whole town of Theodore, west of Bundaberg, has been evacuated and there is the possibility that others will be taken out as well. By tomorrow, most of Queensland will be under floods and it is creeping into NSW.
Bundaberg is well under although I am safe at the moment but our Burnett river has not peaked yet. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

This is usually just a narrow flood channel

In the last 24 hours alone we have had over 200mm fall and it is still raining. The weatherman says that the rain is not expected to stop before the New Year.

Ah well, I shall just have to stay here and knit., I can't go anywhere, the roads are cut.

Exhausted!!!!

I am exhausted. I got up at 5.30am this morning in the hopes of getting my backing done early. It was already hot but fine with clouds and the humidity was high.
At 7am I started t get ready to bake but my next door neighbor called in and wanted a little chat then my good friend called by to see if I needed anything at the shops. By the time I started it was 9am and getting hotter. My friend called back on her way home from the shops so it was another little chat.
When she left I got on with my baking. First the welsh cakes, they take the longest and it was lunch time before I could start on the bread pudding. I had just put it in the oven when my daughter Elle called in with her children and I gave them their presents, I won't get to see them tomorrow. The bread pudding finished it's time in the oven and I was getting ready to start on the chicken strips when my eldest granddaughter called in. I had to stop and give her a cuddle, she miscarried last night and she was still upset by it so we had a good talk, woman to woman. She left at 5.30pm just as it started to rain hard.
Now I had to cook the chicken. I finished at 7.30 pm and my feet are aching so is my back and all I want to do is go to bed but I have to wait because I think my brother will phone tonight from London.

I told you about the stupidity of people going through the flood waters. Well the water is rising well here in Bundy and as she drove over, the council man was putting up 'road closed' signs across a flooded road but the motorists still drove through the water. My daughter turned around and took another way to get to my place but watched as more drivers went straight through the flood. It is people like that who will need rescuing in a couple of hours.

The flood waters are creeping into Bundaberg, about three roads are cut at the moment but with the rain falling hard, it will soon be more. tomorrow is supposed to be bad. There is a monsoon low just of the coast of Cairns and is expected to cross the coast tomorrow and will cause heavy rain in all of Queensland and there is a second low in the gulf which if it crosses also then we are in for masses of rain. All our rivers are already flooded and the dams are overflowing and it is king tide time being helped by a huge whirlpool just of the coast of Queensland which is pushing more water onto the coast. We don't need any more sky juice.
I haven't done any knitting today nor writing and I don't feel like doing any now.
I shall be glad to get back in my bed.

Diamond Eyes.

I have finished reading Anita's book. I know. I said I was going to take it slowly but last night I made a stupid mistake in my knitting and it means unpicking so I picked up the book and started to continue reading it, then found I couldn't put it down. It is a brilliant book and I look forward to reading the next volume, Anita has told me that that one will be released in June 2011 so I shall be putting my order in.

The flooding of Queensland continues. Many towns north are already cut off and if we get more rain tonight then all the roads into Bundaberg will be cut.
I went shopping today (absolute bedlam) I stocked up on non-perishables just in case I can't get out or supplies can't get in so I won't go hungry or thirsty.

Now I must go and up-pick my shawl and find out where I made the mistake.

Never ending.

Rain again today, heavy too. It has been raining now for 12 days out of 13 and the weather man says to expect another 300-500mm between now and Christmas day. I think we can expect the floods to get worse, our river is already over its banks.

I was able to buy Anita's book yesterday, the last one in Bundaberg and none due in until Feb.I had an email from her the other day. She is thrilled that it is doing so well and she has been nominated for a writing award. She deserves it, she has worked so hard for several years to get this book together. If you want a good read over Christmas the try 'Diamond Eyes' by AA Bell. I am enjoying it but I have to go slowly as I have important knitting to do as well so I knit for an hour then read a chapter. Normally I will read a new book and stay with it to the end but I have to be disciplined here, my knitting is very important and I have to get it done by a certain time.

Only a couple of days till Christmas and I have all my presents wrapped and I have started my baking, not much of that to do really. I don't think we will have a pool party though, not unless the weather man is wrong. I guess one could wish.
Back to my knitting now.

Crazy, crazy, crazy.

It is as if the world has gone mad. Europe and USA smothered under snow with nothing able to move.
Australia is under floods and nothing able to move. Except parts of Victoria and N. NWS and a little part of ATC. They are under snow!!!!!
We have been have just been told what sort of weather to expect for christmas. Wet and then wet some more. There is even a tropical low forming which means there could be a cyclone to hit us on christmas day.
I am going to my eldest daughter for christmas day, a pool party. I think she will have to change it to inside party.
I have got all my presents ready and have planned what I am taking to add to the feast. Gwyneth, my daughter, has asked me to bake a bread pudding and make some welsh cakes. That will be easy and not too much hot work. Must bake some extra bread to use.
I am still picking a couple of tomatoes every couple of days and they are so sweet. My cucumber is going well but I think the heat is getting to it, plenty of flowers no sight of fruit yet. I can wait.
Back to my knitting.

Noisy night.

Had a bad night. It was stormy and the noise of the thunder, I think would have kept the whole neighborhood awake. There was very little rain but the lightening was brilliant and the thunder shook the windows.
It all started early yesterday morning when storm cells started in the west and south of the state and moved slowly to the east and north. There were six cells at first and caused damage as they passed along. Then the cells melded into one and hit our state capital, Brisbane. By then the whole sate was under a severe storm warning. Bit by bit, it slowly moved towards our part of the state and at first it seemed as if it would move out to sea and miss us but it started lightening, we could see the sheet and fork lightening and hear the occasional rumble. We were all ready in case of winds but it didn't seem to get any closer.
I went to bed. My little dog, Cariad, stated to bark and carry on. I had left the blinds drawn back to allow the breeze to came in and she didn't like the flashes so I got up and closed them. My other dog, Trixie, just hid her head under the quilt.
At first the flashes lit up the sky brilliantly, even with eyes closed it shone through. Then the thunder crept closer. It shook the windows. It was so noisy it was like being in a bowling alley with evey lane in use. The banging and then the rumbling just went on all night.
It is now 7AM in the morning and the thunder is still rumbling, in the distance now, but still there.
We are promised more storms again today.

Sunshine...for now.

Today was sunny and hot with high humidity but at least it didn't rain.
The flood waters in our area are going down fast and the local council workers were able to get out and check the damage.A couple of roads are badly damaged and will take weeks for them to be mended. A lot of  farmers have lost their crops and the ground is too waterlogged for replanting yet. But there is more rain to come, in fact, were are under a storm warning for tonight and in the north, it would seem that they are in for an early wet season, the monsoon trough has developed already.

I had a treat yesterday. I picked my first tomatoes. anbd they were lovely. With cheese and some basil leaves, my sandwich went down very well.

I only have pots growing in my carport but it is enough for me. There is nothing better tan eating what you have grown yourself.
Now I must go back to my knitting.

Utter stupidity.

There have been several people drowned during the floods in Australia and most have been caused by utter stupidity. Cars have been washed off flooded causeways when for years people have been warned not to drive through flooded roads.
Others have been teenagers and young people, swimming in flooded rivers and creeks. Apparently, they will not listen to the fact that flood waters are fast running and is dangerous to try and swim, no matter how good one is at swimming. Even here in Bundaberg, three teenagers had to be rescued from our local Burrnet River yesterday. Not only was it still pouring with rain, the river was running extremely fast and in danger of breaking over the banks. Other people had to risk their own lives to go in and rescue those stupid kids. This action has been repeated right around Australia and it would seem that some people think they know better or are capable of being better than others. Utter stupidity.

Guess what?

The sun is shining! Which means it is not raining!
If the rain keeps away for today it will mean the floods will ease. Bundaberg is not flooded but all the roads leading in and out are and a lot of the small townships in the area are cut off.
But the sun is shining! Yea!

Wash out.

Well, todays market was a wash out. It started to rain just before Linda and I left . For once we were able to pull up almost to the door to unload so we didn't get too wet. The humidity was high (94%). We all looked as if we had just stepped out of the shower by the time we were set up. I noticed a lot of stall holders were missing, probably cut off because of flooded roads. Unfortunately, the rain kept the customers away so none of us did much selling which was a shame, I was hoping to earn a little money for christmas. Never mind, next year might be better.
One thing though, I did manage to get a fair bit of knitting done and talk to other stall holders there.
It is still raining. Reports are coming through about local flooding and more rain is forcasted for tomorrow. I am safe from flooding but it will be too wet to do any thing except to sit back with my feet up. I won't have to water my plants. LOL.

Floods.

There are so far, 48 centres in Australia under flood with more expected by tomorrow. It is a mess everywhere.
http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/warnings/index.shtml
These are the floodings so far.
To  make matters worse, the forcasters say that the monsoon season is starting early this year and is expected by next week. That will then bring northern parts of Australia into the flood danger.

I worked hard yesterday. With the threat of bad weather for this weekend I completely cleaned my carport and it looks nice now for christmas. Moved the plants around, my tomatoes especially needed more sun to ripen. The cucumber is flowering well but I don't see any fruit forming yet but then, they would be so small it would be hard to see in the beginning. The few flowers are in good bloom. Very pretty.

I also worked on the edit of my novel, the last one I hope. My woodsmith did a good job of picking up small mistakes I had made with grammar, mostly forgetting full stops and commas.

I put another pattern together. I told you I had been busy. It is for my market ladies and I needed for Sunday's market. Hopefully, it will sell well.

Now I have a month to think of another pattern but I must finish the graph for my Royal shawl and get that knitted.

Today I hope to take things easy. It is already quite hot and humid so I shall get the fan going and sit under it, trying to keep cool.
I shall knit for a while and then, may be, take a kindy nap and then when the sun goes down a bit, water my plants.
That would be a good day for me. LOL.

Storms.

After ten years of drought it would seem as if mother nature is giving us back all the rain we missed out on. Many parts of Queensland are flooded and there is more rain on its way.
Parts of NSW and Victoria are badly flooded as well with many communities evacuated to higher ground as rivers burst their banks.
It is a continuing disaster for farmers. This year many were able to plant crops for the first time in a decade only to see it ruined by the floods and in a couple of areas of NSW those that weren't flooded got hit by locust. One farmer watched as his fields of wheat were eaten in 24 hours, all that is left is stubble.
We had a storm yesterday afternoon. I saw it coming. the sky was ink black and the thunder could be heard long before the storm reached us.  It was a short storm but violent. we didn't have very much rain in my part of town but the wind was rough and it blew over my big plant stand that has small hanging plants on it. It has never blown over before.
The trouble with all this stormy weather is going to be the shortage of fresh vegetable and fruit. What is left on the trees and in the ground can't be taken to the markets because the roads are flooded, at least I have some tomatoes growing and they will be ready for christmas.

I went to a christmas dinner today. It was with my old ten pin bowling group. I can no longer bowl but I still go to the special days and meet up with old friends. It was very enjoyable and of course I ate too much. I find meals that you don't cook yourself can taste so much nicer.
I forgot to take my camera so there are no photos. Sorry.

I heard from my friend Anita Bell, her new novel 'Diamond Eyes'  is selling well. I am so pleased for her, I know how long and hard she has worked on it, I hope to buy a copy for my self sometime this week. It will be my chritmas present to me.

I must get back to my knitting now. I have craft market on Sunday and it is the last one for the year and I am trying to finish a couple of things I would like to sell. At least I have a new pattern for them, a few ladies are waiting for it so I hope they turn up.
Bye for now.

Busy day.

I have had a busy day. It was raining hard so no work could be done outside so it was indoor stuff only.
I finally wrote up a pattern of some shawl I had knitted and passed it over to me web master to place in my web page.
The shawl is a simple one to knit. When I came home from England in August I was so jet lagged for nearly two weeks. I couldn't concentrate on anything and kept falling asleep so I decided to knit myself a shawl, an easy one so if I fell asleep while knitting it didn't matter. I loved what I ended up with so knitted another one in different yarn and then another. So far I have knitted it six times each one in a different type of yarn. I wore my favourite one several times and people started asking me for the pattern so at last I gave in. The pattern I have produced is the same pattern in three different yarns, 8 ply, 5 ply and cobweb all knitted the same way but they change size from body wrap to neck wrap. I feel pleased with them all and now they are there for every one.
http://www.knittedlacedesigns.net/
I call it Simply Elegant Shawl and I have put it up as a PDF.

So now I am in the mood I shall have to write up the patterns of some scarves I knitted while in London, my market ladies keep asking me for more. Eventually I might put them opn my web page as well, who knows.

Now back to knitting my Royal Shawl.