Brisbane Flood

We are high and dry here at home but some other people are not so lucky. 

This photo is taken from North Quay just near B105.  

I made a mad dash into the city this morning to empty the freezer in my father's unit before the power was to go off at 8:30am. 

It was tricky getting in as Coronation Drive and Milton Road are cut.  Rosalie is underwater - hard to believe. 

That is the Gallery of Modern Art you can see on the right. The galleries and museum are closed.  The city was being blocked off by police cars as I left.

Take care everyone....

Green Revolution and Toowoomba Floods

I'm back at work - with the all important coffee cup to keep me going. 

What do you think?

This is my bit for the green revolution....a recyclable coffee cup which I bought at a place called Lamington in Noosa.

The Brisbane River continues to churn and boil with driftwood and looks like a big brown wide river.  Its hard to focus on Coronation Drive going home it's so mesmerising......

Poor old Toowoomba copped it today.  If you want to have a look at some amazing photos, befriend the Premier's Disaster Relief Fund on Facebook...oh and while you're at it...why don't you make a donation to all those poor families that have lost their homes...their books...their clothes...their sofas...their tvs?

You get the picture...You can make a donation here

Navmen and other delights

I think it is important to log how much in love I am with my Navman...okay okay Bel...OUR Navman.

Bel and I went halve-zees in a Navman a month or so ago and I'm just beginning to use it and discover its delights.....

I love that it can re-direct you in the event of road closures et al....I love that it can tell you where the nearest petrol station is....we laugh at how it pronounces names - the woman says Caloundra like Maroubra***.....which won't mean much to people who aren't from Australia but I'm sure you have equivalents wherever you live....it tells me when I am speeding...it tells me where there are speed/red-light cameras.  If you've ever wondered if it was an extravagance, I say to you...go and get one now....they are a godsend for those over 40 who find street directories hard to read at night or parents of kids who have to go to soccer-fields in godforsaken suburbs they've never heard of.....


It's very rainy here....I spent the day browsing in shops mostly...it's my last day of holidays before I go back to the proverbial salt-mine.  I got caught in a downpour in the city.  My shoes were soaked.  My jeans were soaked.  Luckily I could go to my father's unit and put my togs in the dryer, have a cup of coffee and borrow his shoes to drive home.  Here's the view from the unit.  You can't really see much from a mobile phone photo but I assure you that the river has broken its banks and is very brown with lots of interesting driftwood.  The City Botanic Gardens are absolutely soaked.

I was grateful to find bandaids in the unit as well...It's the little things that make a difference isn't it?...a blister on the back of your heel can be hell....

God bless the person that invented Navman and God bless the person that invented Bandaids.

And a big PS - God Bless friends who share their very special champagne with you and teach you how to do Fair Isle and take you to Noosa so you can browse in fabulous shops to your heart's content. Love you heaps girlfriend!!!

***in case you are slightly interested ....in Australia we pronounce Caloundra as in Cal - ow - ndruh......and Maroubra as Ma- roo - bruh (the "a"s on the end of both names are short as in "up")....so you can understand why we giggle when the lady says Ca - loon - druh.

Cloche

Yes!  I can knit a hat in a day...for charity.....

for those who care it's a Thicket design....

and I knitted it in a lovely yarn called Dream in Colour Classy and the colour is Dusky Aurora....

I found it at Peppermint Stitches.

I do like a hat...do you? 

Slip, slop, slap !

A Tisket A Tasket

I do love a good basket!

This Christmas gift was from lovely Faith...and I have just filled it with books, magazines and DVDs from Kenmore library.....I borrowed the March and June issues of Yarn magazine which I've never bought.  I borrowed The Last Picture Show and Affinity.  I borrowed Kenmore Park by Jean Stewart, Patchwork for Beginners by Sue Prichard, a V & A publication, Around the World in Knitted Socks by Stephanie van der Linden and Closely Knit by Hannah Fettig......bliss, joy, rapture.....off to browsing land now.

Kenmore Library

I've been meaning to say for a while how excited I am that Kenmore now has it's own new library.....it opened just before Christmas.  I didn't get to see it until after Christmas and the joint was jumping.

I don't know about your library but our library has cheerful technology that "sings" when you borrow a book - a bit like those new fandangled washing machines that sing a little tune when the load is finished.  The library was so busy the day I went all you could hear was the dinging of happy customers and their books being checked out.

There are all sorts of great spaces in the library particularly for young uns - (puts on old shaky voice) "Oh they're not like they were in my day...."  ....well actually, I remember them being pretty fantastic in my day too.....

What do you remember about libraries in your youth?  I remember listening to Elton John's Yellow Brick Road over and over again while my parents looked at books - it must have been on tape...and that would have been in a library in Canberra....I'm trying to remember which one it would have been - I think it might have been Kingston ....

Do you have a library near you?  Do you like it? What do you like about it?

A photo a day....

I've only just caught onto this suggestion for January - a photo a day....what an excellent suggestion...I've always liked taking photos and this morning I took quite a few....let's see if I can keep going every day.....

So, this is a photo of my big splurge this week at the post-Xmas sales.....a new wreath for our front door....half price from Crabtree & Evelyn....I am very happy with it...the other one was starting to fall apart..it was my mother's and was probably at least 20 years old.

Happy New Year to you and yours......what's your new year's resolution?  Mine is not to have the same old resolution next year....i.e. lose weight!!! Wouldn't it be nice to keep it off and never have to worry about it again.....but my father makes such excellent Christmas pudding...and brandy butter...mmmmmmm.....