The rain was relentless.
Having an iron roof is lovely when it's raining lightly, but when it's heavy and relentless, it's comparable to Chinese water torture!
Being tortured like that, I couldn't relax enough to fall asleep. Meditation didn't help. Playing Words with Friends didn't help. Watching TV didn't help. Listening to a book didn't help.
At 1am, the lightning and thunder began, which stirred up the Psychotic Dogs and Colli was barking and crying and attempting to rip her way through the laundry door to get to us in the bedroom.
So I dragged my sorry butt out of bed and rescued her from a fate worse than death (or so she thought), dumped her on our bed, made my way to the kitchen where I prepared a big bowl of ice cream to return to bed with me and there I sat, propped up with a pile of pillows feeding my face and playing WWF.
Finally, at about 3am, the rain eased and my mind relaxed enough to doze off.
At 6am my alarm went off to remind me that it was a work day.
It was our quietest Saturday since we opened our doors, which gave us an opportunity to make an inventory of one of our artists' stock on hand, finish pricing the stock that came in on Friday, rearrange some displays, begin polishing the glass display cabinets and begin assembling the new glass cabinet that we've had in the store for about a month now.
Even though sales were low, we had a productive morning.
Adoring Husband also had a productive morning climbing the roof of a local business and repairing holes to prevent further flooding.
I left the shop at 1.30pm and came home to make a big fresh fruit salad with papaya, mango, apple, strawberries, blueberries, banana and lemon juice. That was our lunch with ice cream.
We are watching the New Zealand vs Australia rugby league test which is being televised live from Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland. A great game so far. Very evenly matched.
AH is cooking on the barbie so I'm off to prepare a salad.
More rain is coming tonight, but as I type this, the big storms are all up north around Mackay and Cairns and inland to Emerald. It will be an early night for me so that I can sleep before the thunder sets off the dogs again.
Have a fabulous Sunday!
Nite all.
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Friday, October 12, 2018
Slipped My Mind
So I was a bit overwhelmed by all the storm activity yesterday and I totally forgot to post here!
Whoops!
I spent the entire day watching the BOM (Bureau of Meteorology website) and following the Higgins Storm Chasers Facebook page where they were updating the storm details every twenty minutes and people who were affected by the storms were posting photos and videos to show how ferocious the weather was.
It was helpful in that everybody in the path of the storm activity could be prepared for the worst.
It was unhelpful in that even those of us who would not be affected by the storm panicked that the worst could happen!
At 4pm both Adoring Husband and I received a text from QFES which read:
"Emergency. QFES VERY DANGEROUS STORM. Likely impact Hervey Bay, Maryborough & Tiaro. Tornados possible. Immediately seek shelter. Avoid travel. Info www.bom.gov.au
At that point, AH had to leave the house to man the SES shed to coordinate crews going to help out in the affected areas.
Approximately 30 minutes later I received a call on the landline with sirens blaring in the background and a serious male voice advising of the severity of the storms, that tornados were possible, to stay inside etc., but the power suddenly cut mid sentence and the line went dead.
Total silence.
The sky was dark but there was no rain yet and no thunder in the distance or lightning on the horizon ... so absolutely no storm activity at that point. An eerie silence with me feeling the residual fear after hearing that ominous voice with it's warning.
I found the big torch and took it, along with the dogs, into the bedroom, pulled the blinds and went back to stalking the BOM & HSC.
After a couple of my comments on FB, Best Cousin in the World phoned me and suggested that I get my laptop out and watch DVDs to take my mind off it and to pour myself a glass of wine.
So I made myself a pitcher of margaritas and set myself up in bed with my laptop and two seasons of Grey's Anatomy.
Our power was out for three hours.
It was around 8pm when I cooked up some dinner for myself and then returned to the bedroom for more Greys.
The rain and thunder were loud and quite frightening at times, but I didn't even look outside, just minded my own business trying to bury my head in the sand and pretend that it wasn't happening.
Today, as I type this, the rain is very very heavy and it's expected to rain all night into tomorrow. A low is forming and there will be strong winds and storms across south east Queensland. Flash flooding is expected and Emergency Services are, once again, on standby.
It seems that we should have put the pool in front of our garage because that's where all the water is pooling at the moment!
I've spent my second day off work, cooking, washing clothes and doing a 'little' bit of cleaning - you know how I feel about cleaning.
I've opted to remain at home tonight. I hope the club and my friends notice my absence.
Happy weekend!
Nite all.
Whoops!
I spent the entire day watching the BOM (Bureau of Meteorology website) and following the Higgins Storm Chasers Facebook page where they were updating the storm details every twenty minutes and people who were affected by the storms were posting photos and videos to show how ferocious the weather was.
It was helpful in that everybody in the path of the storm activity could be prepared for the worst.
It was unhelpful in that even those of us who would not be affected by the storm panicked that the worst could happen!
At 4pm both Adoring Husband and I received a text from QFES which read:
"Emergency. QFES VERY DANGEROUS STORM. Likely impact Hervey Bay, Maryborough & Tiaro. Tornados possible. Immediately seek shelter. Avoid travel. Info www.bom.gov.au
At that point, AH had to leave the house to man the SES shed to coordinate crews going to help out in the affected areas.
Approximately 30 minutes later I received a call on the landline with sirens blaring in the background and a serious male voice advising of the severity of the storms, that tornados were possible, to stay inside etc., but the power suddenly cut mid sentence and the line went dead.
Total silence.
The sky was dark but there was no rain yet and no thunder in the distance or lightning on the horizon ... so absolutely no storm activity at that point. An eerie silence with me feeling the residual fear after hearing that ominous voice with it's warning.
I found the big torch and took it, along with the dogs, into the bedroom, pulled the blinds and went back to stalking the BOM & HSC.
After a couple of my comments on FB, Best Cousin in the World phoned me and suggested that I get my laptop out and watch DVDs to take my mind off it and to pour myself a glass of wine.
So I made myself a pitcher of margaritas and set myself up in bed with my laptop and two seasons of Grey's Anatomy.
Our power was out for three hours.
It was around 8pm when I cooked up some dinner for myself and then returned to the bedroom for more Greys.
The rain and thunder were loud and quite frightening at times, but I didn't even look outside, just minded my own business trying to bury my head in the sand and pretend that it wasn't happening.
Today, as I type this, the rain is very very heavy and it's expected to rain all night into tomorrow. A low is forming and there will be strong winds and storms across south east Queensland. Flash flooding is expected and Emergency Services are, once again, on standby.
It seems that we should have put the pool in front of our garage because that's where all the water is pooling at the moment!
I've spent my second day off work, cooking, washing clothes and doing a 'little' bit of cleaning - you know how I feel about cleaning.
I've opted to remain at home tonight. I hope the club and my friends notice my absence.
Happy weekend!
Nite all.
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
So it Continues
Remember yesterday when I said that my PTSD had waned and that I can cope with storms now?
I lied.
I didn't realise that I was lying ... until tonight when another bigger, wilder storm hit us.
It left me feeling a little fragile.
There are a couple of storms building out west so it may not be over yet.
More storms are forecast for tomorrow and apparently they will be much worse than tonight.
Ugh.
I have two days off now, so if necessary, I can close the windows and blinds and be safely holed up in my bedroom until it's over.
Today was fabulous at work for many reasons.
There were some new faces at meditation this morning which made for an interesting class and the message that The Gypsy shared with us really resonated with me. Her messages always do, but especially this morning.
The Motivator was at work and we had the day together in the shop, so we sat at her desk and made three big orders for stock leading up to Christmas.
It means that over the next couple of weeks, we'll have orders coming from seven different suppliers!
At 1pm today we had only made $6 in sales, which was thought provoking, but things certainly picked up after that and the final two hours were very satisfying.
Both The Motivator and I took advantage of having The Gypsy in the shop today.
I took the last appointment of the day and enjoyed a very intense Zen Shiatsu treatment. It was amazing, as always, and she gave me some stretching exercises to improve some issues that I have with the energy path to my liver. It's always my liver!
We received the quote for our gazebo and decking today.
Gasp!
You know those shows on TV where they do up old houses and they work out a budget before they start? You know how they blow the budget all the time and we sit in our couch criticising them and wondering how the hell they could get it so wrong?
We are those people.
By a lot!
At our current rate of mis-guesstimations, we will have doubled our budget by the time we hold our first social event.
We have been breathtakingly wrong on all counts.
I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to every TV home renovator and builder who copped our ridicule and judgement over the years. We were clueless.
Another storm has just hit so I'm off to quietly cower.
Nite all.
I lied.
I didn't realise that I was lying ... until tonight when another bigger, wilder storm hit us.
It left me feeling a little fragile.
There are a couple of storms building out west so it may not be over yet.
More storms are forecast for tomorrow and apparently they will be much worse than tonight.
Ugh.
I have two days off now, so if necessary, I can close the windows and blinds and be safely holed up in my bedroom until it's over.
Today was fabulous at work for many reasons.
There were some new faces at meditation this morning which made for an interesting class and the message that The Gypsy shared with us really resonated with me. Her messages always do, but especially this morning.
The Motivator was at work and we had the day together in the shop, so we sat at her desk and made three big orders for stock leading up to Christmas.
It means that over the next couple of weeks, we'll have orders coming from seven different suppliers!
At 1pm today we had only made $6 in sales, which was thought provoking, but things certainly picked up after that and the final two hours were very satisfying.
Both The Motivator and I took advantage of having The Gypsy in the shop today.
I took the last appointment of the day and enjoyed a very intense Zen Shiatsu treatment. It was amazing, as always, and she gave me some stretching exercises to improve some issues that I have with the energy path to my liver. It's always my liver!
We received the quote for our gazebo and decking today.
Gasp!
You know those shows on TV where they do up old houses and they work out a budget before they start? You know how they blow the budget all the time and we sit in our couch criticising them and wondering how the hell they could get it so wrong?
We are those people.
By a lot!
At our current rate of mis-guesstimations, we will have doubled our budget by the time we hold our first social event.
We have been breathtakingly wrong on all counts.
I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to every TV home renovator and builder who copped our ridicule and judgement over the years. We were clueless.
Another storm has just hit so I'm off to quietly cower.
Nite all.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Stormy Evening
There have been nasty storms building all over Queensland all afternoon and evening.
They have been severe and fast moving causing damage with hail, wind, heavy rain, lightning and thunder.
The Higgins Storm Chaser's Facebook page has had live streams of the storms as they glided over Maleny and people have posted photos and videos of the hail, rain and wind in various locations that were in the path of the storms.
As I type this, we are experiencing some heavy rain, wind and loud, close thunder.
There is no denying that we desperately need some rain. We DON'T need any damage from the storms though, so our fingers are crossed.
It's nice to not be suffering the full blown symptoms of PTSD. Since the tornado and with each storm that has hit us since, those symptoms have waned. There is still a little niggle there for me, but generally speaking, I can more easily tolerate a storm these days.
But NOT if I have to pedal home in it!
I was worried this afternoon that the storms would build and reach us before I had a chance to get home.
A non-customer entered the shop at 2.55pm and wandered around for 30 minutes. She told me that she was in town to clear out her mother's house and needed a break. She obviously didn't realise that we close at 3pm and spent her 'break time' in the shop.
After thirty minutes, she walked out the door empty handed and called "thank you".
Prior to her walking in the door, I had gathered my goods in preparation for a quick getaway. I had to go to the butcher first and then try to beat the storms home.
Luckily, even though there were some dark clouds about, there were no storms at that time of the afternoon so I made it home easily.
Obviously, Adoring Husband's role with the SES requires the he watches the BOM, and we watched closely as the colours of the storms darkened and joined together and moved towards us.
It's almost over and the huge mass of storms has moved out to sea.
I wonder how much water is in our pool now???
Aside from the rain and storms, the day left me a bit discombobulated.
I didn't feel like I was in control of anything today.
A representative of a few of our suppliers came into the shop and I felt like she didn't really want to be there. She was more than an hour late and The Motivator had a previous engagement, so she could only join us for twenty minutes. I wished it could have been a more relaxing and friendly encounter because ordering should have been more fun for me.
You KNOW how I love to shop!
I finished pricing the stock that came in last week and displayed them.
I wrote the labels for my photos and attached them.
I emptied our inside bins and fit as much old packaging as I could into the sulo before parking it out the front.
I made myself some lunch of avocado, mango, shallots and lemon juice. It has to be one of my favourite meals. I always feel so energised after a bowl of that goodness.
There were a small number of customers through the doors, and the ones who did come in were strange (except for you Lady Lynn lol), and by strange, I mean odd and I spent a lot of time frowning even after they had left.
While Monday passed really quickly, today seemed to drag on.
I'm ready for sleep now.
I woke up in the middle of the night Monday and needed three long meditations to fall back to sleep. So I slept from 9.30pm - 1.30am and then from 3.10am - 6am.
Let's try for a full night's sleep tonight.
Nite all.
They have been severe and fast moving causing damage with hail, wind, heavy rain, lightning and thunder.
The Higgins Storm Chaser's Facebook page has had live streams of the storms as they glided over Maleny and people have posted photos and videos of the hail, rain and wind in various locations that were in the path of the storms.
As I type this, we are experiencing some heavy rain, wind and loud, close thunder.
There is no denying that we desperately need some rain. We DON'T need any damage from the storms though, so our fingers are crossed.
It's nice to not be suffering the full blown symptoms of PTSD. Since the tornado and with each storm that has hit us since, those symptoms have waned. There is still a little niggle there for me, but generally speaking, I can more easily tolerate a storm these days.
But NOT if I have to pedal home in it!
I was worried this afternoon that the storms would build and reach us before I had a chance to get home.
A non-customer entered the shop at 2.55pm and wandered around for 30 minutes. She told me that she was in town to clear out her mother's house and needed a break. She obviously didn't realise that we close at 3pm and spent her 'break time' in the shop.
After thirty minutes, she walked out the door empty handed and called "thank you".
Prior to her walking in the door, I had gathered my goods in preparation for a quick getaway. I had to go to the butcher first and then try to beat the storms home.
Luckily, even though there were some dark clouds about, there were no storms at that time of the afternoon so I made it home easily.
Obviously, Adoring Husband's role with the SES requires the he watches the BOM, and we watched closely as the colours of the storms darkened and joined together and moved towards us.
It's almost over and the huge mass of storms has moved out to sea.
I wonder how much water is in our pool now???
Aside from the rain and storms, the day left me a bit discombobulated.
I didn't feel like I was in control of anything today.
A representative of a few of our suppliers came into the shop and I felt like she didn't really want to be there. She was more than an hour late and The Motivator had a previous engagement, so she could only join us for twenty minutes. I wished it could have been a more relaxing and friendly encounter because ordering should have been more fun for me.
You KNOW how I love to shop!
I finished pricing the stock that came in last week and displayed them.
I wrote the labels for my photos and attached them.
I emptied our inside bins and fit as much old packaging as I could into the sulo before parking it out the front.
I made myself some lunch of avocado, mango, shallots and lemon juice. It has to be one of my favourite meals. I always feel so energised after a bowl of that goodness.
There were a small number of customers through the doors, and the ones who did come in were strange (except for you Lady Lynn lol), and by strange, I mean odd and I spent a lot of time frowning even after they had left.
While Monday passed really quickly, today seemed to drag on.
I'm ready for sleep now.
I woke up in the middle of the night Monday and needed three long meditations to fall back to sleep. So I slept from 9.30pm - 1.30am and then from 3.10am - 6am.
Let's try for a full night's sleep tonight.
Nite all.
Monday, October 8, 2018
Culling Big Time
I just sorted through my wardrobe and pulled forty two items to cull.
Aside from those 42 items, I also have a huge number of Suzanne Grae/Katies/Rockmans/Target/Crossroads clothes to go to the op shop.
The only person I know who has more clothes than I do, is Adoring Husband!!
Anyway, the 42 items will be ironed, tagged and sold in The Happy Abode, while the others will, as I said, go to the local op shop.
Right now, I'm off to bed because I'm feeling quite poorly. I'm having a familiar bad reaction to food. This afternoon I purchased a packet of Kettle Salt and Vinegar chips. They are gluten free, but this reaction is from a flavouring or some kind of additive.
It's dreadful and uncomfortable and I need to sleep it off.
So this post is short and to the point.
Perhaps I'll see you at coffee?
Nite all.
Aside from those 42 items, I also have a huge number of Suzanne Grae/Katies/Rockmans/Target/Crossroads clothes to go to the op shop.
The only person I know who has more clothes than I do, is Adoring Husband!!
Anyway, the 42 items will be ironed, tagged and sold in The Happy Abode, while the others will, as I said, go to the local op shop.
Right now, I'm off to bed because I'm feeling quite poorly. I'm having a familiar bad reaction to food. This afternoon I purchased a packet of Kettle Salt and Vinegar chips. They are gluten free, but this reaction is from a flavouring or some kind of additive.
It's dreadful and uncomfortable and I need to sleep it off.
So this post is short and to the point.
Perhaps I'll see you at coffee?
Nite all.
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Over Cars
They spend crazy amounts of money on a fast car to drive round and round and round and round and round a mountain road.
The men cry because they make a mistake and it costs them the race.
Seriously dudes!! Priorities!!
A fraction of all the money that all the teams spend every year on racing those cars could end homelessness in Australia.
Not just car racing, but all the sports.
End rant.
Adoring Husband dozed in front of the television (just like most men on this day) while watching the "Bathurst 1000"
I spent the first half of the day in bed drinking coffee, eating toast, reading, playing, writing and watching videos.
The second half of the day was for doing the washing. Three machine loads and NINE (yes I said NINE!!) items of hand washing. Each one needing to be washed separately because the colour ran a little. It seemed to take forever, but at least it's done now.
The lesson I've learned from today is that I MUST check the labels of the clothes that I plan on purchasing. Unless I have fallen desperately in love with that item, if it requires hand washing, it goes back on the rack.
I made a batch of chicken broth and spent some of my evening putting it into containers and into the freezer. I'll make another batch tomorrow because I bought two organic chicken frames and the other one can't be refrozen.
We think our pool will be sprayed with colour this week. Our choices are 'midnight' or 'pacific'. I prefer 'midnight', but both colours are fine.
It's after 11pm and I need to work tomorrow, so I'm off to bed. Have a great week.
Nite all.
The men cry because they make a mistake and it costs them the race.
Seriously dudes!! Priorities!!
A fraction of all the money that all the teams spend every year on racing those cars could end homelessness in Australia.
Not just car racing, but all the sports.
End rant.
Adoring Husband dozed in front of the television (just like most men on this day) while watching the "Bathurst 1000"
I spent the first half of the day in bed drinking coffee, eating toast, reading, playing, writing and watching videos.
The second half of the day was for doing the washing. Three machine loads and NINE (yes I said NINE!!) items of hand washing. Each one needing to be washed separately because the colour ran a little. It seemed to take forever, but at least it's done now.
The lesson I've learned from today is that I MUST check the labels of the clothes that I plan on purchasing. Unless I have fallen desperately in love with that item, if it requires hand washing, it goes back on the rack.
I made a batch of chicken broth and spent some of my evening putting it into containers and into the freezer. I'll make another batch tomorrow because I bought two organic chicken frames and the other one can't be refrozen.
We think our pool will be sprayed with colour this week. Our choices are 'midnight' or 'pacific'. I prefer 'midnight', but both colours are fine.
It's after 11pm and I need to work tomorrow, so I'm off to bed. Have a great week.
Nite all.
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