Thank - You

Hi Everyone

Finally, I am back on deck in my little piece of heaven...
So much has happend since xmas, from Holidays in Melbourne, to Floods at home...I want to share my journey with you, both amazing and scary...

So, xmas was an amazing time. We had Micky, Dan and their 2 boys, Jordan and Jackson, Mum and Dad and us over xmas eve, had a pyjama party and all woke up on xmas morning to Santa being (very generous) and also us being all together. We had a great gourmet bbq breaky and then we then headed over to Mum and Dad's house for xmas lunch. We were going to go for a swim, but we did have a rainy xmas day...but had a great day hanging out inside.....







On the 28th December, the girls (me, Mum, Micky, Grandma, Aunty Jacky and Cousin Jessica) scooted to Melbourne for 4 days (mum, jacky and grandma went for 9 days). We had the most amazing time...eating lots of great food, drinking lots of great coffee and wine. PLUS THE SHOPPING, oh, the shopping...
We caught up with extended family as well which was really lovely. Trammed it and bused it and of course flew (which i do not enjoy at all)!!!
I visited some of my favourite places....Olive Grove, Meet me at Mikes and In.cube8r (which sadly was not open, but needed some sort of proof that I had been there)









We came back on new years eve to spend with our husbands and kids who missed us dearly as did we...But it was nice to have a break from the real world!!! The weather in Melbourne was amazing too...

Then came the floods...I was supposed to come back into Handmade Heaven on Tuesday 11th Jan...but this is when it all took place. We evacuated Mum and Dad from their home in Laidley which we thought was lower ground, so Monday night we had another pyjama party. Tuesday came around and we started getting text messages from the SES saying we need to evacuate to higher ground immediately...then came a knock on the door from SES advising the same thing. So, we grabbed our packed bags and walked to higher ground (whilst crossing a raging river on a foot bridge). We walked to council yards where there were about 100 people. They did not have the facilities to look after all of us there, so they helicoptered us out to the Laidley Hospital and then bused us up to the Laidley Highschool where we spent the night on the floor. We were dirty, smelling, wet and did not know what we would be going back to the next day. So a nervous wait for everyone there....





Come Wednesday we went back home after lunch to find that we were one of the lucky ones, as were mum and dads home (apart from the pool)... Mimmi's (mums shop) at Forest Hill was not so lucky with the flood waters creeping into her shop up about 6 inches. Quite a bit of damaged stock, but Mum, Mitch, Dad, Mum and Nicole (from Hot Toffee) got stuck into it and cleaned it all up in one day. Amazing and hard work by all...

Come Thursday, we headed into Handmade Heaven to check that everything was ok here, which it was. Grabbed some stock from Bubba Chenille (Eco Cloths), Cute as Buttons (towels, washers, singlets, shirts) and Spoil & Indulge (soaps) and scooted up to the main evacuation centre at the Ipswich Show grounds to donate...A big thanks to you guys for this...it was very well received for all...

Come Friday, Mum and I headed back to the evacuation centre to help. We spent a couple of hours folding and sorting clothes for the people effected by the flood. We spoke to a lot of people, helped them find what they needed (as I am sure the last thing they felt like doing was spending hours up there sorting through needed things) and was a shoulder to cry on. My heart goes out to all of you and only wish I could do more for you.

That weekend was spent cleaning up our own yards from debris, etc....

On the Monday (just gone), Mum and I received a donation of 400 bottles of water from the Lockey Valley Ulysses bike club, so we drove around to all the effected areas in Ipswich handing out bottles of water. This is seriously the least we could do for all of these people trying to get their homes on the foot path. The devastation that we saw was heartbreaking. Words can not describe it. I can not even comprehend what these people are going through that have lost everything.

So, a bit of a diary of events that have happend since xmas. I never thought that I would go through this. I have heard about the 74 floods ever since I have moved to Ipswich in 1996. The amazing efforts from volunteers, defense, family, friends and strangers has been amazing and even though I did not lose anything, I wanted to thank them for all their hard work and efforts...

A big thanks to everyone who has sent messages, called and emailed us to see if we are ok. WE ARE xoxox

At the moment, I have dedicated my front feature cupboard to handmade items where 100% of sales go direct to the Flood Appeal. Current Handmadie or Not, EVERYONE is welcome to put a couple of items on this table. I am hoping to raise quite a bit to help grow the fund which will go out to well needed families...

Big Kisses and Hugs

xoxoxo

Liesa