ARE YOU SICK OF RAIN YET ?

Well, here in Brisbane the rain continues to bucket down

keeping the temperature cool

and everything soggy.

Those dry, brown, crackly lawns are but a memory as we paddle around in our soggy backyards

and the lawns are growing before our eyes.

Today's papers are full of stories about the floods up north where people are watching and waiting,

hoping the water will start to go

and they can return to reclaim their flooded homes and businesses.

:::

I've scanned in a few of the items from this morning's paper.

Luckily a lot of homes in the north are highset - built on stilts we say - to catch the breezes and provide extra area underneath to accommodate cars and laundries.

It also means you are sometimes protected from floodwaters like these people.

:::

In another town some individuals set about building their own levy banks to try to keep the floodwaters out of their homes.

This fellow is sitting on the top of his home made levy bank.

Lots of sandbagging has been done everywhere.......

and community spirit is high in most areas

with neighbours helping neighbours.

::

These two chaps below have the right idea.

But through it all

boys will be boys !!

Cheers.

ONE IN A MILLION

Today is our Wedding Anniversary.

39 years !

 ( Sorry for the poor quality.Photos of a photo hanging on the wall )

::

This morning my husband, aka the Computer Geek, presented me with this card.

Can you read the words?

and when you open it , it plays " Wild Thing, you make my heart sing "!

He then presented me with this gift , wrapped up in a sheet of computer paper.

Just what I needed !

He had even taken the trouble to load it with photos.....

Wanna see them?....

Isn't he one in a million?

I think I'll keep him round a little longer.

Love you too  Sweetie !

Cheers.

PS.  I've just remembered that today is Friday and that means Favourite Things Friday so I'm making Tony my Favourite today.

GARDEN DISAPPOINTMENTS

Gardening can be so disappointing can't it?
You nurture your plants.....
Fertilise and trim them .......
and when the buds appear you look forward keenly to a beautiful show of flowers.

This is what was happening in our front yard.
The Ixora plants are lush and green after a dose of fertilizer and lots of rain.

They were completely covered with buds promising big heads of coral pink flowers like this.

But no. Look at this.

This plant should be covered with flowers

Instead we have this.

A horrible caterpillarish bug is eating all the buds and we are left with this!

Yuk ! YUk ! YuK !

I've sprayed again this morning but it's a battle with the rain washing it off.

Let's hope it's not too late and the next lot of buds survive.

I'll keep you posted !

At least elsewhere in the garden things are looking better.

The flowering gums are doing well

and the flowers are spectacular.

with the promise of more to come.

Even this tiny tree has heaps of buds

The frangipani is doing its bit and sending a delightful perfume through the air.

I guess you win some, you lose some!

Cheers.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS AND A CHALLENGE

As usual this morning I've been cruising round the blogs,
leaving a comment here and there,
saying " Hello, how are you today?"
The topic I'm seeing quite a lot is New Year's Resolutions.

I don't know about you, but I never keep NY Resolutions.
They are usually about losing weight and THAT never seems to happen!
So I've decided that perhaps if I don't make that resolution it might happen .

What do you think of my logic?

So I'm changing tack and this is my NYR:

move more

From the above you will probably realise that I HATE exercise and am very good at avoiding it at all costs - with predictable results.
So we'll see how this NYR  goes!

:  :  :  :  :

If you look at my sidebar on the right you will now see that I have joined a Photo Scavenger Hunt.
I found it on this blog belonging to Lynn.
It sounded interesting and I thought it might provide another topic for a post each month. I don't know about you, but sometimes I find myself lacking inspiration.
Casting around for something to post about.
Thinking I've shown you all I have to show.

To this end I've joined Favourite Things Friday and Wordless Wednesday ( far from that today !) and they have helped me when I'm casting about for something to post about too.

So there it is.
I'm going to give it a try and see if I can do it and enjoy the challenge.
I'm giving it a month's trial.
I'll post my photos on the last day of January.

Perhaps you might like to join me?

Cheers.

A MUST SEE

Today (Monday) is the final day of the New Year break. All that Christmas / New Year fuss is over and done with and we can return to normal tomorrow. The workers are probably sorry about that, but I for one will be glad to see things go back to normal, though of course it is still school holidays for another four weeks here in Oz so shopping centres are full of school kids and the sales are in full swing.
Hot Cross Buns have made their first appearance in the supermarkets and it won't be long before winter clothes will be in the shops despite the temperature hovering around the 30 degree mark.

I'm a little ashamed to say it, but while the people in northern Queensland have been struggling with rising floodwaters, Tony and I have been off to the movies today.

We went to see this:

If you're from the UK or any Commonwealth country especially, you don't want to miss this film but the story has a universal appeal.

Wow what a winner - a fantastic story with superb acting from the whole cast.

Colin Firth is brilliant as King George VI.

The clothes are fantastic and very authentic.

Helena Bonham-Carter is perfect as Queen Elizabeth ( the Queen Mother )

and our own Geoffrey Rush is delightful as the Australian speech therapist.

 

Guy Pearce ( who we claim as an Aussie though he was in fact born in England ) plays the debonair Prince of Wales

Such a lovely film - parts were very funny, parts were very sad .

It provided an insight into the life of King George VI ( Bertie to his friends ) and the pressures that come with being a royal.

Go and see it if you can. It's a winner !

Cheers.

A VERY BAD START TO THE YEAR

Apparently the area of flooding in Queensland is as big as France and Germany combined!!

The amount of devastation is enormous with whole towns being evacuated and services like electricity and water unavailable for who knows how long.

This flood meter shows the height the flood waters have reached in some places - that's metres on the scale !!!

Today is sunny here in Brisbane - about 28 degrees with a gentle breeze.

There are still showers about and you don't feel the humidity unless you move !

At least we don't have floods here in Brisbane.

Our dam is way above 100% full. I know that sounds peculiar but, in order to prevent flooding in Brisbane, the dam needs to be kept at a certain level and that level is called 100%. When it reaches that level there is a controlled release of water so that catastrophic flooding does not occur downstream.

If the dam was just allowed to fill then overflow it would be catastrophic and possibly wipe out  Brisbane and Ipswich and everything in between.( 100% full is only about half the holding capacity of the dam )

(I hope this explanation is not gobbledygook to you)

This scenario is what is happening in the Emerald area. The dam is overflowing over the top of the dam wall and Emerald has been completely evacuated and Rockhampton is completely cut off with their airport also under water.

Here is a video so you can see the volume that is flowing over the dam wall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf7V3DQQq_w

A road runs way above the dam wall. You can just see someone standing on it in the far left hand corner.

( Edit: oh no I've just enlarged the photo and it's a road sign I think !)

As this is only the beginning of the wet season we can only hope the rain will stop soon and allow the floodwaters to clear so people can begin reclaiming their homes.

Cheers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Another year has gone by .... sooo quickly.

I think it's a sign of age , this quick passing of time.

 We planned a quiet night here - just dinner with two good friends.

We made it to midnight - just!

From our front lawn we can see the firework display far away in the city.

We sat out there on the grass and watched. The weather was pleasant with a balmy breeze.....

.. and today a New Year's Day brunch that went all day.

A yearly get together - you could almost call it ritual - with a group of dear friends, old neighbours we've known for twenty years.

It will be a relaxed end to Christmas then life will go back to normal

and we'll stop all this eating !!

I'm rather looking forward to it.

So, my dear blogland friends,
 thank you for a year spent meeting you and visiting you in your homes.
Thank you for your kind words and your friendship, your recipes and encouragement.
Thank you for the laughs and fun we've had along the way.
I hope you all have a happy and healthy year ahead
and we can continue to tred this blogging path together

 - it is such fun!

Cheers.