Home...

I've been to cities that never close down
From New York to Rio and old London town
But no matter how far
Or how wide I roam

I still call Australia homeI'm always travelin'

And I love bein' free
So I keep leavin' the sun and the sea
But my heart lies waiting over the foam

I still call Australia homeAll the sons and daughters spinning 'round the world

Away from their families and friends
Ah, but as the world gets older and colder

It's good to know where your journey endsAnd someday we'll all be together once more

When all the ships come back to the shore
Then I realize something I've always known

I still call Australia homeNo matter how far

Or how wide I roam
I still call Australia homeHappy Australia Day!!

Queensland Flood Relief Auction Winner!!

What a fantastic effort everyone has put into raising money to help those affected! Toni and Carli have done an incredible amount of work, and what a success it's been!!!The winner of my pin sets is (drumroll please!) ...

Sarah of If Only I had Chocolate!

Congratulations Sarah, and thankyou so so much! You have helped me raise $120 and have won yourself 8 sets of pins!!!!!
I'll email you asap!Thankyou to everyone who bid, not just on my auction, but on other auctions as well! We have raised roughly $45,000 through this!!! Isn't that incredible!?!?
Don't forget that the raffles are still going until Wednesday the 26th, so if you didn't win some of the auctions you bid on, you can still donate money to help those in the floods and have the chance to win something awesome! Here's the list!

Queensland Flood Relief Auction

Have you read about Toni's Queensland Flood Relief Appeal yet? Click on the button below to go see what it's all about.I'm just one of the many people having an auction on their blog to raise money for those affected by these terrible floods, including my own town.

What you are bidding on:Two sets (yes two!) of my handmade owl pins! Keep them both or give one set to a friend! If you're not an owl fan, I will gladly exchange them for roses, strawberries, bluebirds, pumpkins etc. Just let me know along with your comment.How it will work -

• Bidding starts at the cost of one set - AUD$8.00.
• Place your bid by leaving a comment on this post with the amount you are bidding, and a way to contact you should you be the winning bid.
• Postage worldwide is free!
• The auction will be on from now until 9:00pm 24th of January Australian Eastern Standard time.
• I will contact you soon after closing should you be the winner.
• Winner is to pay directly to the Premiers Flood Relief Appeal.
• Once the winner has paid, they will email me a copy of the receipt or pdf file. When I have received that, I shall post your pins off asap.

I will also be distributing the "New Beginnings" Sewing Packs from the Gum Tree designers in my flooded town, so if you're able, give generously there too! See button on sidebar for details.

If you live in a flood affected area and want to do something to help, then "Baked Relief" is perfect!! Get those aprons out and start cooking girls!!!

(Picture taken by me from Mt. Archer. Click to see detail.)

Thankyou to everyone who is helping at this terrible time. May all your loved ones who live in these areas stay safe!

Edited to add: For every $20 that is bid, I will add another set of pins! You can choose any sets of pins you want, bluebirds, roses, pumpkins, strawberries, etc! I will email the winner pictures of different ones I make so they can choose. Remember if you are a no-reply blogger, to add your email or blog address so I can contact you if you win! Keep those bids coming, and again, thankyou!

Photo Dump

I've had these pics kicking around the computer for ages, so it's time to share!This is Tibby, a pure-bred female Tibetan Spaniel we fostered for 24 hours while more permanent accommodation could be found. It irks me that someone can abandon a dog worth $300 plus, especially when they're this cute!This gecko was hunting grasshoppers at the same time I was.Some of our purple Vanda Orchid flowers in full bloom, and surprisingly, they still are flowering!
One of our Walking Iris plants is in flower.Some green tree frogs in amongst seed pods at our front door.Here's Spike and Oscar together on the couch, snuggling! Oscar must've thought that, if it was going to flood, the safest place would be with a water dragon!

Under Water

Rockhampton certainly has changed in the last few days! We went from being able to drive around on Friday, to having a lot of roads closed on Saturday, to being able to only take a few photos here and there on Sunday, to boating down the main highway on Monday! Oh my!The damage in unbelievable, you really can't imagine the scale unless you see it for yourself. This is what our entrance into Rocky from the south usually looks like -This was it yesterday -Our local hockey grounds are almost totally underwater (just a five minute walk from my place)!The showgrounds are filling up with cattle and horses that have been saved. One cow was lucky enough to be washed up onto someones front lawn instead of being washed down the river into the ocean to inevitably drown.Snake handlers are being called every five minutes by Police and SES workers to come and remove a snake or two from homes, not to mention the countless snakes that are just being killed, including harmless pythons.RSPCA ambulance volunteers are run off their feet trying to find places for the countless animals they're rescuing.We are almost at the same level as the 1991 floods, which took the life of a friends son.The piles of sandbags have reached into the 1000's of tons!When the waters die down, and the cleanup starts, the amount of things having to be thrown out will reach into the millions.Yet through it all, we still manage to laugh, and band together, knowing that it could be worse.All we can do is look at the overcast, stormy sky and pray it won't rain.

A damp start to the New Year

If you live in Australia, you've probably heard about the Queensland floods. The area that's been affected is the size of New South Wales, or France and Germany combined!

(Click image to enlarge)

Our little city has now been completely cut off by flood waters, the shelves in the supermarkets are empty, commercial flights have been shut down, the airport closed and a lot of the roads in the city are under water.The flood level isn't due to peak until Tuesday or Wednesday and is said to be at over 9 meters. It will be a few weeks before it dries up and the Bruce Highway opens again.Thankfully we are well out of the way of the flood waters, but a lot of residents aren't. I can't imagine the cleanup we'll be faced with afterward, and the mosquitoes will be horrendous!(The area under this little bridge is usually a dust bowl with a few weeds and grazing horses. It's now totally under water!)Please share a prayer for the people who have lost their homes and possessions under water, and those in Bunderburg and Emerald and surrounding townships that are now faced with an enormous amount of damage.

Goodbye 2010

Hello 2011!!Have a safe and fun New Years!