Weather, From One Extreme To Another

Australia has had a whole bunch of seasons within a matter of days. While the weather is much cooler here in Victoria, where I live at least, there are still bushfires burning and not a lot of rain in the forecast. At the opposite end of the scale in Queensland and northern New South Wales they are facing what is left of T.C. Oswald and massive flooding. A lot of the areas affected today were also affected by flooding from T.C. Yasi back in 2011.

This morning I had been watching the news on TV. Schedule shows have been postponed to show live coverage from Queensland and what's going on around that state.

I managed to find some video on youtube that shows a little of what's going on up in Brisbane.

With all this rain, I know its probably not possible, but it would be nice if it made its way down the coast and in to Victoria so that it can put out the fires.

Finished Item & an Update

With all the crazy weather we have had over the past two days we have had sunshine and (mostly) blue skies this morning. Although it hasn't rained the threat of flooding still continues in parts of Gippsland (the region where I live) and some other parts of Victoria. Don't worry my little town is okay but those who live further east aren't quite so lucky. The town of Traralgon, where Brodie goes to TAFE, still has lots of water to contend with. There have been some evacuations and they are still on alert with the water levels still rising.

Whilst the weather has been wet and miserable I've been busy crocheting my little heart out. I made a pretty blue striped scarf. I'm adding that to my stash of finished items. I've no clue were it will end up yet its just being added to my collection. 

Just a quick update on my niece, Lee-Anne. Her water broke last week but she wasn't in labour. I was told (and I never knew this) that there are two membranes that surround bubz and only one of them broke leaking a small amount of amniotic fluid. Since everything is okay and she still wasn't in labour over the weekend Lee-Anne was allowed to go home late Monday. She's now 29+ weeks and counting. The longer her little princess stays where she is the better. The doctors are hoping that she will make it to 38 weeks but I don't think that will happen considering everything that's gone on already. I'll cross my fingers and keep praying that things go well for her & bubz.

Time to go stick the kettle on and think about what I should make next. I'm finding it hard to come up with ideas :-/

It's Wet & Soggy

We've been swamped by rain and strong winds for the past 24 hours or so. Some parts of Victoria are on flood alert, flood watch or have even been told to evacuate. In those places they've had 150mm (6 inches) of rain since yesterday. Don't worry though we're pretty safe where we live but we are still expecting lots of rain.
The weather bureau has issued more warnings.

The town where Brodie goes to TAFE, well the town where he is meant to go, has had some evacuations. In some ways I'm glad that he hasn't been to TAFE these past two days. Not that he should stop going though. But that's a whole different story - see yesterday's post.

Would you believe that yesterday I went out in that yucky rain up to Neerim South, where Brodie used to go for high school. He was sore & sorry for himself and wanted me to come and collect him. Me being the sucker nice Mum that I am went to get him. It was absolutely pouring down. The clouds were so low I could hardly see all that far in front of me. I was so grateful to make it home and sit in the warmth. Brodz owes me BIG time for collecting him.

This shows how much rain we've had sine 9am Monday

Other than having to nick to the supermarket for some fruit & veg I don't need to be out in today's yucky conditions. Which I should probably do soon while it isn't raining. Today is definitely the perfect weather to sit in front of the heater watching some TV and crocheting.

The Rain Keeps Falling Down

I feel pretty bad for the people of New South Wales and Victoria who are affected by the recent rains and the flooding (which hasn't finished yet some rivers have not reached their peaks).

This is a photo of Wagga Wagga from news.com.au

It makes me realised how blessed I am to live where I do. I can only imagine how hard it is to lose everything and need to start again.

I'm not exactly sure what the weather forecast is for these areas is but I'm crossing my fingers that the rain stops and the water levels drop quickly.

Not So Good News

Mark got a phone call from his Dad this afternoon. They (he & his wife) are currently living in Western Australia but they own a home in Emerald which is about a 45 minute drive from our place in the Dandenong Ranges. The rain was pretty bad up there, just like it was here. They are renting their home out while Mark's Dad works in W.A.

Anyway, he phoned to let us know that the real estate agent had contacted him to tell him that the ceiling had collapsed.The damage is quite extensive. They've decided to fix up the place and sell it. They can always buy a new home once they are ready to come back to Victoria.

I feel bad for the people who were renting the place. Not only do they have to try and find a new place to live (which is almost impossible to do) they have a lot of their belongings damaged by the water.

Melbournes Rainfall

This shows how much rain Melbourne & surrounding suburbs had over a 24 hour period, up until 9am this morning. I live in the red area near Warragul (found on the right edge of the picture). It sure explains why it was so wet & soggy today and why some of the roads in my town & Warragul were closed due to water over the roads.
Here I was thinking that my little bit of the Australia wouldn't be affected by all that rain. I guess I was wrong.

Rain Update

We had a lot of rain last night. I uploaded those two videos to share of how it affected us but that was nothing compared to some suburbs in Melbourne and other towns in Victoria. From what I saw on twitter last night with the links to photos, we were very fortunate. While other places were even sandbagging. Ballarat copped quite a bit. Some of Mark's family lives there so I hope they are okay. I am sure that we will hear about it if they aren't.

Mark visited a friend last night, while it was raining, he is such a dedicated motorbike rider. Personally I would have stayed home to avoid getting soaked. Mark's friend lives on a farm about 10kms from our place (that's around a 5 minute drive away). The friend checked the rain gauge on the farm and it showed a rainfall of around 58mm (around 2.28 inches) just for yesterday and it was still raining at that stage. It's no wonder that our carport flooded with rain like that.

Would you believe it is still raining? And we still have another day or two of this type of weather.
Mark just told me its a bit of a mess out there. He went our for another ride this morning. There are trees down and paddocks are flooded. I know we prayed for the drought to end but I don't think we had this kind of weather in mind for when it finally broke.

Victorian Floods Appeal

Thanks Kerri at Willow Grove Quilting for posting this info. I thought I would share it too.

How do I donate to the Victorian Floods Appeal 2011?
You can make a secure online donation, make a donation via credit card by phoning 1800 811 700, or send a cheque or money order with a note that it is for the Victorian Floods Appeal 2011 to:

Australian Red Cross Supporter Service Centre
PO Box 2957
Melbourne VIC 8060

Donations can also be made over the counter at any ANZ or Commonwealth Bank branch.

Funds raised will be used to support individuals, families and communities in areas affected by the 2011 Victorian floods.

More Floods

Carisbrook Victoria
Photo from news.com.au

While things have settled down some for Queensland and the residents there are able to begin cleaning up in some places here in Victoria things are just heating up. Western Victoria had rain falls of up to 280mm (over 11 inches) in some places. That's equivalent to 6 months worth of rain in a day or two. Some rivers have hit their peak flood levels while others are still rising and will hit their peak early next week. Around one third of Victoria is affected by floods.

Five states have now been affected by floods (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia) and Western Australia has had bushfires. My heart goes out to all those who have been affected by these tragic events.

While I have already mentioned the Qld Flood Appeal Auctions there are some other amazing people out there organising things for other people in the crafting community.

• Gun Tree Designers are organising "New Beginnings" sewing kits for Quilters who have lost everything. Click HERE to find out more.
• There's a group on Ravelry called Restash Queensland/NNSW aimed at helping RAVers who have lost their stash.

I am sure that there are more people in the bloggosphere or the knitting/crochet world that are quietly helping out. I just love the Aussie spirit that rises up every time there is a crisis. The way Aussies, and our overseas friends, just pitch in and help. It shows just how amazing people can be towards one another in times of need. I think it brings us another step closer to that utopian Star Trek world I wish existed.

If you wish to check out some photos of the floods in Victoria click HERE. The photos are from Halls Gap & the Grampians.

Twitter tags are #vicrains, #vicfloods, #qldfloods, #nswfloods, #tasfloods, #wabushfires

Flood Appeal Auctions

I love the blogging community. I love how there are so many people in the blogging world with such generous hearts. It makes me feel really good.



Toni from Make It Perfect has organised an Auction to help raise money for the Queensland Flood Appeal. Basically its a whole lot of extremely talented & generous people donating something wonderful to be auctioned off. You can find out more about it HERE and HERE. Toni explains it much better than I can.

You rock Toni! And so do all the other wonderful people who are joining in either with items or who are bidding on them.

The Lucky Country?

Toowoomba, Qld. This video was taken yesterday.

What a mixed bag of weather Australia has had these past few weeks. With flooding rains in Queensland, northern New South Wales and pasts of Victoria to heatwaves in Western Australia and parts of South Australia.

They say we are the lucky country but I am thinking that there are many today that are thinking that they aren't so luck after all.

Most of Queensland is under water, even Brisbane is under flood watch. I've been on twitter getting lots of updates and I have seen lots of photos (and videos). Its rather scary to see. Heartbreaking in fact. With many places already under water and lots of people being asked to evacuate immediately.

If you wish to check out what is happening you can go to any of the following sites
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/11/3110450.htm
http://www.facebook.com/QueenslandPolice
Current Qld weather warnings:
Suburbs at risk:

LIVE news broadcasts

They have also stated that if you were in an area affected by the 1974 floods to get out NOW because it is expected to be worse this time around.

I hope & pray that there are no more lives lost.