Thank you,quilting and a op-shop/garage sale link up.

Hello,

Happy Monday everyone. Thank you to everyone who sent there best wishes on our "Storm Cell" as they are calling it. Apparently it had nothing at all to do with Cyclone Bianca. Though people are saying that they have been in cyclones up north and this was far worse. Winds of 130km were reported so no wonder the rain was horizontal instead of vertical. It was interesting to hear that the weather bureau reported on the news last night that they warned people of this. I hadn't heard of anyone getting a warning. Listening to the boss of FESA (Fire and Emergency Services) on the radio this morning he said they had no warning of it. I think a bit of cover up may be going on. Oh well, that is bureaucrats for you. Yesterday afternoon we went for a drive around town. There were still plenty of streets blocked of and power lines down. Laying in bed on Saturday night I couldn't believe that people were driving around,there were no lights on anywhere and these people would have had obstacles across roads,idiots is the word that comes to mind.

There is a massive amount of damage done to trees. The funny thing is we have a dead Tagasaste on our verge and I would have loved that to have been blown out.

This is the Avonvale school. It had several buildings with roof damage. All there school supplies for this year were ruined as well. School starts on Wednesday!!!

This tree is at the Northam High School. The main part of the building we noticed received some tile damage. I don't know how much more damage they had but we did see several trees down.

This is the house near Mum's. She was going to see them yesterday when the local SES (State Emergency Services) pulled up. So we don't have any further information on it. We noticed all the other homes around town had tarps on them so I guess this house will be gone.

This home is in the "Woodley Farm" area, several homes lost there roof . These people were on TV last night and the ceiling is in danger of collapsing. Carpets are ruined etc. A big damage bill. With high temperatures expected over the rest of Summer I really feel for these people. We have two homes at the end of our street with roof damage. One of the homes is for sale.

This was part of some one's roof along Woodley Farm Drive. Lucky the tree stopped it going into the home behind it.

As we had no electricity until Sunday morning, we had to meet our own needs into regards to what was happening around us. We don't have a radio in the home but there were plenty up in the shed. Ian attached a battery to this one we could at least listen to some music and news on Saturday evening.

Now I am truly thankful for that shed full of tools that Ian has. We set up this power pack with a light. You just need the right adaptor according to what you want to plug in. We also had plenty of candles on hand as well as a heavy duty torch. We brought in from the back patio or rather they had blown across the lawn the solar lanterns that hang out the back. I also brought in the solar lights from the garden bed. Ian brought the solar lights he has in the shed down too. We were the most lit up house in the street. I know next door who have two children only had one small light. Preparation is the key.

Communication with the outside world is vitally important. One of our mobiles went flat and that was the one with Internet connection!!! Luckily we still have a "old fashioned" plug in land line phone. So we were still able to make and receive calls from family. The newer style phones may be handy to walk around with but when there is no power they don't work. So if you see one of these phones somewhere grab it. Looking at the photo I must go and give it a bit of a wipe over.

One thing that saved our home from damage besides luck being on our side with what way the wind was coming from is these vents.We have one in the end,the way the wind was coming from and the other one is further up the home in one of the gables. These let air flow through the home. Very handy indeed. A lot of homes are built with closed in eaves and this is where damage is done because the force of the wind just lifts up the building etc.

The only thing I wished we had was one of those little battery operated fans. I really could have done with one of those on Saturday evening. Oh well a wet flannel did the trick. One other thing we realised is that you must keep your phone charged and I know that I should charge my battery camera on a more regular basis. It went flat after I took the first few photo's yesterday. I hope these few things we found out may help someone who may go without electricity for a while. I know there are still thousand's of homes and shops in the Wheatbelt without power.

On the quilting side of things I have completed the quilting to the edge of  all the blocks that needed doing on Lisa's quilt. I will work on doing a design in the centre of these blocks now. I found a wonderful book at the library last week called  "Quilting Designs from the Past 300 plus designs from 1810-1940" which is written by Jenny Carr Kinney and published by C&T Publishing. This book has history about the designs and a great selection of patterns to choose from.

Once again this year I was able to be included in the OPAM Challenge that is run by Kris and Peg. I have two finished items for this month. Next month I will be able to include the tablecloth and quilt I have sent to the quilters. Thanks to Kris and Peg for taking on the paper work involved with collating every one's finishes.

I would like to pass our deepest sympathy to my sister-in-law Laura and my brother Geoff and family on the passing over the weekend of Laura's Father Ray. Our prayers and thoughts are with you all.

I have noticed that a lot of bloggers out there in Blog land love getting a bargain  either at the local op-shop or garage sale. I have been after something for a little while and found some at the local op-shop the other week. You don't get to see what it is yet. You will probably laugh when you finally do see it. Everyone is after something they want that is all I am saying. I thought it would be interesting to see what everyone else has purchased recently at a op-shop or garage sale. I will do a post on Friday morning this week on the 4th February and will get friendly with "Mr Linky" so you will all be able to join in. I hope you can.

Thank you once again for all your best wishes. I have some pumpkin and corn soup on the stove I want to blend up for lunch. I know making soup in Summer but over the last week or so I have felt like soup and today I decided to "just do it".

I hope to see some of you on Friday with your op-shop/garage sale purchases. I will be back tomorrow with Tuesday's Treasures.

Happy days.
Bev C