Bossy Gene

Ashy: Can you quilt my quilt for me please?

Me: sure. Would you like me to do anything in particular?

Ashy: Just do whatever you like.

Me: OK.

Ashy: But nothing too flowery.

Me: Right.

Ashy: And nothing on the coloured parts. I want them to pop, so only quilt on the white.

Me: So I can quilt whatever I want that’s not flowery and is only stitched onto the white?

Ashy: Yes. That’s it.

The bossy gene has not skipped a generation.

I love a girl who knows her own mind.

Starting Again

I’ve been away from my blog for so long that it feels like I’m starting again…

Hello. I’m Tracey. I’m pleased to meet you.

I have a speedy new hard drive. A few small computer issues which I decided required professional attention revealed some major flaws in my old hard drive. I was very lucky to find them before the hard drive left this Earth permanently. It has taken a couple of weeks to coordinate appointments and to bring in the hardware, but now my computer is zipping from thought to thought and has not closed down unexpectedly once!

Unfortunately my keyboard just randomly stopped working as the computer was being put back together. Now I am using a little, weedy keyboard. I just don’t like it. The keys are too bouncy and it doesn’t have little legs to get it to just the right angle. I feel this will be a very short relationship and a new one will be sought very soon.

It feels good to be writing again, despite the keyboard issue.

I’ll be back with more very soon.

The Plague

Well… not really. I am, however, being plagued by some computer issues which are making my online time very limited. Really, I can only access the computer when Pip is not using his and he has pressing assignments to complete (and facebook to access, but let’s not mention that.)

I hope to be back very soon…

Rediscovered

In many ways my recent studio clean resembled an archaeological dig.

Take these blocks for example.

Carbon dated to circa 2008/9, they were found abandoned to the “stuff in the corner” pile.

I had made thirty-eight of them and, as I recall, was very pleased with them. Then I placed them into the arrangement I had planned and…

I hated it. It was not at all what I wanted to see. It was too many seams all converging and odd double strips of fabric.

Realising that sashings were required but lacking the energy required to be bothered, I just muttered under my breath and tossed them into a corner.

I have now rediscovered these blocks, but the problem of  not wanting to be bothered to cut sashings remains. Don’t worry, though, because I found this.

Forty pre-cut strips in a shade called natural. As luck would have it they are cut to EXACTLY the the right size for the sashings in this quilt!

There is new hope for these poor abandoned blocks!

Tonight

I am in the studio with Ashy.

She’s making a quilt…

and we’re singing along to this song.

Life is good.

A New Day Dawns

I have never been more pleased by this inevitable truth than I am today.

Today the sun has risen to a still, calm day and my mind has finally become a still, calm mind. When I read back what I have written so far I sound incredibly calm. You can be certain that was all facade. This was a terrifying experience.

The winds raged for more than thirty hours at our place. For twelve of those hours the wind gusts reached over one hundred kilometres an hour. The sound of the wind was constant in our ears. The highest wind gusts recorded at the airport were 135 kph. At that speed we could feel a vibration right through our solid concrete house. Sleep occurred in short bursts measured in minutes not hours.

We have been incredibly lucky. Damage is only to plants. We maintained electricity supply, except for a short time. We are so glad to live in an area where our power supply is delivered underground. I am so incredibly grateful for the internet and my iPad. The Queensland Police Service set up a bulletin page on facebook and posted information that was timely and factual. I had access to real time radar images and knew where the cyclone was in relation to us and how fast the winds were blowing. This information and knowledge is what kept everyone safe and prevented rumours and speculation.

The aftermath for us has been minimal. Lots of damage to our plants and yard, but that is trivial and easily cleaned up. In the next two years these plants will regrow and heal themselves. I haven’t left the house yet, but I know that every road across the city has trees laying across it and power lines down. Many houses have been flooded and sustained damage from wind or missiles propelled by the wind. Sand that was once on the beaches is found kilometres away across roads.

I made these three videos yesterday, around 9am. The wind was still gusting, but compared to what had happened overnight it felt calm.

We coped, we survivied, but we have no plans to do it again. If anything like this cyclone is heading our way again we will drive and drive and drive until we reach somewhere safe and quiet.

Thank you for your comments, concerns and emails. They have been much appreciated. I apologise for not responding to all of you. Hopefully our lives will return to something a little more normal today and tomorrow.

After Ten Hours

This storm is still raging ten hours after it began. The winds are still around 100km per hour.

We are safe. We are exhausted.

We have electricity and communications, although many do not. We are very lucky.

I am just adding some videos to youtube now.

I am happy to remember this experience in that way, but I don’t want to do it again…

Holding On

We are now facing the biggest cyclone seen in our lifetimes.

The winds in the centre will be over 300 kilometres per hour. It appears that those winds will be to the north of us, but we are expecting up to 200 kilometre per hour winds over our house within the next twelve to twenty four hours. (The black dot below represents where we’ll be as this storm, which is 500 kilometres wide passes over.)

We have prepared as much as we can. We have boarded and taped windows, prepared a safe room and bought food supplies. There have been mandatory evacuations made in low-lying ares and the police have warned to stay off the roads after midday today.

I know of so many people who have just left North Queensland. They’ve flown, trained or driven south.

We’re staying, but we’ll be holding on tight.