Back to the real world

Hello all,

I was quite organised before I went back to work and drafted a couple of posts as I knew I'd be busy in the new year. Little did I know what lay around the corner for my home town of Brisbane. I've still posted my original blog, which is a bit of a year in review (in pictures), but my prologue is about 'The Big Wet'.

For those of you who haven't heard, Brisbane is experiencing its worst flooding in 36 years. Actually, it's not only Brisbane, but a third of our rather large state. For example, parts of the flood waters around Emerald have been over 15km wide! Rockhampton, Gympie, Dalby (for the third time!), and not to forget the tragedy of Toowoomba's 'inland tsunami'  and poor, ravaged Ipswich .. well, basically all of Central and Southern Queensland have all been affected.

The comment that strikes fear into the heart of anyone who lived through the 1974 floods, or those who grew up in Brisbane, aware of 'where the water came up to last time' and water depth indicators beside suburban (seemingly distant-from-water) roads, is 'this is going to be worse than the '74 floods'.

(source)

This, amazingly, is the first photo I found when I googled the floods. It's where I was this morning. Westerham St, Taringa. This was 1974 (source)

This was this morning.

Heart-breaking.

And there's more to come. Water has had to be released from the Wivenhoe Dam, built after the 1974 floods to prevent this ever happening again. Some scoff about its effectiveness, but from all reports the flood would have been earlier and more devistating without its presence. We've got a high tide at about 4am tomorrow and waters will continue to rise.

Here's an aerial shot of Brisbane, 1974 from here

I feel for families who have been evacuated, or worse, have lost loved ones. My house is unaffected, but I live relatively close to the river and have had many roads around me cut off. Even if I wanted to help, I'm at a loss to know what to do. One thing I've done and you can do too is donate to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal.

Another thing that I, as well as many of my BrisStyle friends, will be doing is a Handmade Ark Appeal to contribute to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal. I will post more details as soon as they come to hand.

Exhale.

Ok, so this now is my regular post that I'd planned. My inital comments seem a little glib after all that's gone on, but I hope the pictures can serve as a short escape from what might be going on around you at the moment.

shelleyberelli xxx

I've had a lovely, long and relaxing holiday. It started just before Christmas and finished abruptly when my alarm went off on Monday morning, rudely reintroducing me to the rat race. 

I savour the break to take stock of the year that's been and make plans for the coming one. As well as catching up with friends and family, I potter around, gardening, going for walks, cleaning, reading, shopping and eating - in no particular order. One of my jobs (nowhere near a chore) is sorting all of my digital photo files and deciding what's going to be printed. I usually end up with a few hundred for the year - it's a meditative process that allows me to reflect on all we've gotten up to over the past 365 days. Here are some of my favourites from 2010.

Australia Day Bushwalk - Mt Cordeaux

BrisStyle catch up, Bleeding Heart Gallery

Hiking in Arthur's Pass, New Zealand

 shelleyberelli at the BrisStyle indie Twilight Markets - King George Square

My birthday hot air balloon ride

A new purchase!

my garden visitor #1

 my garden visitor #2 - we were both happy to see the back of #1

Dinner and drinks for absent (and soon to be absent) friends

Work ball 

Good friend's high tea birthday at Mt Tamborine

Pirate shelleyberelli!

Thrift shop finds

A serendipitous visit to Tessuti fabrics, Flinders Lane, Melbourne

New shelleyberelli cards from moo

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from O'Reilly's 

Merry Christmas from the UK (my gorgeous niece visiting relatives)