2011 leaves with a Shake... so what will 2012 begin with?...

2011 is leaving.
Well, ceasing. And The Bitch doesnt want to leave us without a decent farewell - We got that!
Today we had a 4.82 that the USGS recorded as a 5.2! Some serious shaking, more damage for some, liquefaction for others - us, the lucky ones, just a stern reminder that Mother Nature Lives Beneath.
After a drive yesterday, we realised sadly, that yes, there are changes being made in Canterbury, but our neighbourhood is now looking like a series of country lanes, empty houses on funny angles, broken bits and bumpy gravel roads and neglected spaces where gardens still bloom regardless. Sad and Forgotten for the most part. The people who drive by, are just there just to look, to Thank God, maybe, that it isnt them?  and then they drive back from whence they came.

Did the Mayans truly predict that The World Might End in 2012? Im sure the Mayan who was in charge of writing the numbers at the time, lost count of where he was, and then decided, he had to go to the bathroom. When he arrived back, he looked at what he was writing (The Calendar) and shrugged... Meh. It seemed like a good thing to do at the time, but Im over it... and off he went to lunch. Never would he ever guess that he left us all hanging...
Ok, so thats not it at all, but we will never know :-)
Im picking The Changes that are spoke of,  have begun already. Theres an air of unrest right around the world.  Chaotic Economic changes, Natural Change, More water, less food, more people, Earthquakes, Floods, Famine. Civilization is Changing.
It is all part of an energy that means we MUST assimilate Change - Into our lives, our homes, the way we educate our children, technology, it all will change.
Change never happens without some sort of negativity or positivity to activate it. We need to get used to the changes, and its tough!
Its what they say - What doesnt Kill Us, Makes Us Stronger.
Im about as Strong as I can be. No - possibly not, but lets not push that to trial.

... Out with the Old, In With the New...I just want to cruise - no - sleep! through the end of 2011. I do not like New Years Eve at all.
My family are not entirely with me, and never are now theyre older and have Social committments. New Years Eve for me brings back sad memories of people dear who are no longer with us, of past Memories that bring home how much I miss the ones I love.
So Im a sad sack, and I ll be happy just chilling with the littles, watching some TV, then drifting off...

OR WILL I?
This year in Christchurch, it seems half the world wants a reason to celebrate... and why not?
Weve had some kind of wacky stuff to deal with  this year...
On with the good stuff - Celebrate Your New Year Cantabs~!
Parties on each side of the street here, and lots of music.
Someone was jamming on an electric guitar before - It sounded awesome, even from here, and Im picking it was a few houses down. The unfortunate thing, is that next door have Elton John on Replay, and the two playing alongside one another makes me want to run for cover :-)
Shouting can be heard, (the happy kind) and lots of families walking in the night air. It isnt dark or cooler yet, at 7.30pm its a nice time of night for a stroll around our neighbourhood...
Let the celebrating fill your heart, and let go of the fear - not just here, but whereever you are!
We got through, we will continue to make good.

Love, Light and Blessings
HAPPY FABULOUS NEW YEAR

Roll On 2012!!
Love
Earth Butterfly
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The Big Wake Up Call...5.1 for Breakfast!

Blue Skies with a tinge of cloud, and an aftertaste of SHAKE!
Good Morning Christchurch, this is your Mother speaking - Mother Nature that is!
WAKE UP! Youve slept long enough... Yeah I know, you didnt sleep a wink... Or you lot there (Us!)
I know youve just got to sleep, but cmon - WAKE UP!!...




Zander

 5.1 should be enough to wake the dead.
Oh wait, theyre NOT dead, theyre just rather badly traumatized and very very tired!
My Littles didnt sleep well. We went for a walk around the neighbourhood last night, checking on their local haunts.
They came home, we watched TV until late. Sleep. Bliss. Shake. Uh-Oh!
We were awake between the hours of 1am and 3am. Sleep again. Wake Up!!! Mother Nature calls... The 4.2 at 5.50ish I almost slept through, rearranged the blankets and cuddled under again.
6.30ish and we have LIFT OFF.
By the time I get off the floor to check the kids, the damn shaking is over, and I realize that I was the only one moving. The only one awake...Oh except for one very scared, big-eyed cat who meows at me.  (And now I think about it, that meow could have been for food, not empathy for our predicament!)

So. Its Saturday, and I have visitors arriving later, Family!
Bring it on. Lets Celebrate all that comes our way.
Best foot forward and besides, its CHRISTMAS EVE.
Joy. Peace. Spirit of Santa - of GIVING, sharing, loving.
The Joy starts when I realize Im alive. Theyre alive.
Im safe. We are safe! We have everything we need.
Most of what we want.

We can celebrate and whilst we celebrate, we can duck into doorways when required...The serviettes may not match, the glassware will be sparse.
It wont matter at all.

Merry Christmas.
Happy Holidays
Blessings!
E Butterfly
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The Shaking Continues - Christchurch hit with 5.1 tonight!

Here we go again...
Read about this HERE 

Just when you think its safe to get out from under the table...
It was close to us, this one. We had a small shake, a 3.0ish, and I said to The Lad, oh wow, havent had one of those for a while... So what happened? Minutes later, we both up and run for the shelter of the Table. Miss 4 was under there already, sleeping blissfully. She didnt stir. The cat was inside, and freaked. Eyes bigger than saucers, and she surfed the floor with the rest of us...
So, it was centred in Shortland Street, Aranui. The same street as Aranui High School is in. 5km down, which is quite shallow, and it was a good shake, if theres such a thing. Rocking and Rolling! Hopefully its just Mother Earth Rolling over, and shes done... comfortable for now?... A small 2.9 has just occurred too... but maybe thats a snore.

------------------------------------------------
All ready to hide under the table again. 

Heartbeat is restored to an even rhythm. 

Hate those biggies!~

Happy Sunday Cantabs.
After a weekend of rain, Im hoping the week begins with some Sunshine.
Love to Y'all

EBUTTERFLY
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Counting blessings tonight...

It is a quiet still night out there.
Im here by myself, which happens once in a blue moon - like never. The children decided to go for a drive back to Uncle N & Aunty Ts place. It is soooo quiet.
I had my first shower since the Quake, and enjoyed the luxury of hot water, peace and quiet and gorgeous smelling shampoo! Oh the Joy! I feel remotely human again! Gone is the grey dust that riddles everything the instant the wind blows.
Dear Mr EB bought us in a huge chocolate gateaux of all things --- Im sure its for me, but I bet I have to share (of course I will) ... It was nice to spend a day with the big guy today...We havent seen him in a while because petrol is extravagant by our means, and well, he hasnt got power at the moment due to a local fire --- all the linesmen are here in town fixing up our issues, so he has had to wait in line, and it isnt looking likely for a while. Not good!

Tonight Im counting my blessings. I have so many. Ive got a gorgeous family, all my basic needs are met, and Im healthy, as are my family. This week has opened not only my eyes Im sure... there are people out there who are digging deep, struggling to cope, using all their resources. For some Im sure its instinctual, others have learnt along the way, but it is amazing how strong the human resolve to survive is.

Having the energy to cope is one of the things I see as being a big issue in a disaster/emergency situation. I noticed that as our diet fitted what we had in our cupboards and our garden, we gained in energy. Preparation is minimal, you can eat it straight away after a quick wash - No processed food.
Vegetables straight from the garden - fresh food, high in goodies like fibre, vitamins, minerals that possibly we skip sometimes in favour of things that are quick, easy, tempting, sweet or salty...
Im planning on extending the *Green Zone* in my yard. I think I can make a big difference, and it annoys me that it took me so long to realise this. Ignorance is bliss... Self realizations are annoying :-)

Today was grocery day. Our local Pak n save was a little more alive than last time (last time we counted 8 people plus ourselves) Its important to keep our dollars, big or small, with the local vendors, and Im keen to help where I can. It isnt alot, but we need our supermarkets over this side of town, as we have lost many of the other ones. Countdown in Eastgate is closed at present, The Woolies in The Palms mall is closed... And Stanmore Super Value has gone... So that leaves our Pak n Save in Wainoni, and the New World in Stanmore Road, in Richmond. Not a lot of choice, but it is important to support them... Use it, or lose it, especially at this time.
Loving the Rangiora Express. Bless those people for the job they do, making a huge difference in peoples lives when it counts. Theres so much stress, I hear on the radio that Domestic Violence incidences rise at times like this. It is no wonder, with the loss of life, the loss of businesses and jobs, incomes and esteem, it is a torrid time. There are places who can help with counselling, if you know of people who are struggling emotionally, please please, for our children, for the spouses of these people, urge them to seek help.

Also, another place for support and a food parcel is Aranui Primary School - the ladies and gentlemen there are supportive and caring, they have clothing and shoes, books and toys too. Ladies, you can get sanitary items from these places too, nappies and formula can be found if you require them too - dont be afraid to ask, they want to help!

Loving the free sausage sizzles too - it is really inspiring to see people wanting to give back - with sacks of fruit on their front gates with FREE signs everywhere throughout the city. Bottles of water being given away, Free hand sanitizer.
See, its simple. People ARE counting their blessings. And then they pass it along - that energy is awesome and it makes a really good thing come from what was a really scary thing...

Ok, I hear the glee of small children returning home. Ooh, says One. Its really DARK! It must be past our bedtime...
It sure is Bud, and ... Mum still hasnt had that huge piece of gateaux yet :-)

Take care of Yours and You!
Love

Earth Butterfly
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TOMORROW IS CANTERBURY RED AND BLACK DAY! Dont forget your One-Eyed Cantab Supporter Outfit!

No Aftershocks today... But tonight - NO SLEEP!

Actually, Happy Thursday! Its morning already.
I woke up to an aftershock. We scrambled a bit, then realised no... it was a little 'un. Back to bed. The kids settle quickly. I roll over and try to sleep but theres another one. And another one... and would you believe it - after a day with NONE since 9am, this evening since 5.17pm there has been around 8 aftershocks here, and most in the mid-3s! Incredible!
So here I sit... waiting for the washing to finish so I can hang out another load. Yes we have water. We have power... but it still rocks, and my heart thumps.
I notice outside, the sky is inky black - no moonlight - and the stars are twinkly and very bright. It is so cold, which is odd as its meant to be Summer, late Summer, and it was so hot yesterday.
It is now 4.47am - the coffee is hot, the day looks like it might be good - none of yesterday's wind, so the sand storms will be minimised hopefully.
While outside hanging the washing I notice the neighbours office light on. See, its not just me. We are jumpy at the moment here in the *Eastern Desert* of Christchurch...

We have lots to be thankful for...

I met a lovely French lady today, Sister Deborah.
She came to visit our street dropping food parcels with St Vincent De Paul - not just her, but an entire team of lovely people... My Mr 10 said to me as we walked down the street towards home... Look Mum, a Nun. The sand was blowing, so I thought he was seeing things, so I said... No son, surely not...?
There she is, he said... and pointed.
I looked up, but as I did, she must have ducked into another house...
No Son, I cant see her... are you sure? ... By now Im thinking hes flipped ;)
A couple of minutes later, he says ... See, there she is... and there she was...

So, THANKYOU Sister Deborah, it was lovely to see you! And thanks for everything you do!

Well its time to go and see what I can hunt for breakfast...
Looking forward to the daylight today,

Love
EButterfly

Day One - Christchurch Earthquakes, shakes and breaks...PHOTOS

Tonight while Ive been sorting these photos through, we have had about three good aftershocks. Ive been sitting watching some TV and by my reckoning, theyre in the mid-threes. Of course Im not a seismologist, but ya get to know by the amount of swaying and rocking, or the creaking and groaning... and when they dont get you out of your chair to clutch loved ones or catch falling vases or tvs, you know youre ok... Thats making light of it of course, but you do get to a stage where you cope better with them!

So here are some of my photos from the first day -  
E Day - Tuesday 21st of February 2011.

Nine minutes to one oclock on a pleasant still overcast day, we were shaken again.
Our children were at school, people were at work, doing what they do every day, every Tuesday.  Buses travelled familiar routes, people buzzed by in cars, on bikes, all doing what they do.
By half past one, all our lives had changed. People had lost friends and family, loved ones, or pets, or workplaces. Others had lost homes, cars or both, or all of these.
No discrimination - throughout the city there were pockets of life and devastation alike. Christchurch will never be the same, the skyline has changed forever and history has been made...
 Then, to top it off, it began to rain - hard. Those who had lost their tile roofs scrambled to cover their possessions. Some people could not cover things successfully, and with their homes split open wide, they had to leave it to the elements.
There are broken windows, broken possessions, torn up lawns and fallen fences, chimneys... Some that were hit last time have been mercilessly hit again, others who were hit last time were spared by this one. But all of us have been affected somehow.
We headed off over to extended family, across town, to escape for the first night, then came home the next morning to dig in and clean up... get ourselves back together again...Our trip was very slow, through high tidal waters from the estuary travelling up the Avon river that had burst its banks. It was scary, it was astounding. And it took us 2 hours 45 minutes to go what usually took us 30 minutes in busy traffic.

My Street minutes after the Earthquake. Liquifaction started pooling immediately

Water from broken drains spills out onto the street

Within minutes, people panicking travel quickly through the streets breaking the tarseal on the surface of the road, releasing the liquifaction to the surface where it becomes slippery silty mud.

My side of the road has less damage for some reason, but because it has such a deep puddle, people avoid it, causing further damage to the middle and opposite side. Several cars pop their tyres on the hard surfaces of tarseal as they speed over it.

The hole is caused by the fire hydrant, just opposite my driveway in the middle of the street. It is a deep hole and quite unstable around the edges. 

Liquifaction - grey thick silt that *appears* from below and smells terrible whilst drying out

 

 

 

 

 

A Neighbours wall lies on its side

A telephone pole looks like its days may be numbered. I worry about this pole through future aftershocks!

Throughout the city, people have ditched their cars in favour of walking home.

 Some have run out of petrol 

Some have been frustrated by heavy traffic, and walk to get home sooner

More liquifaction - it is everywhere!

At almost high tide that afternoon, the Avon river is grey like silt and almost bursting its banks

Avonside Drive, again in tatters 

Starting the drive over the city - many cracks like this appeared

Traffic crawled along Pages Road to the only bridge across the Avon River that separates the East of the city from the rest of it. Very slow progress was made, lots of damage along the way.

Note the tiles from the roof. Many of these houses had holes where you could see right through.

Some of these cracks you could see right into. Scary!

An Orion ? Airplane that soared very low, over the city, possibly looking at damage or monitoring traffic...

Someones puppy waiting to be taken to safety!

More tiled roof damage

Thick muddy liquifaction

This speaks volumes. Footwear like this is useless for walking over this stuff. It sticks, you slip, and before you know it, youre covered in the stuff and it STINKS! It is a health hazard all round!

Someones day just got really bad. Middle of Pages Road

 - I hope the owners are ok!! 

 Will put some more photos up tomorrow if we have power...
Off to get some sleep while weve stopped shaking :)

Love to all,

EB
XX

On and Off, In and Out... Lots to do!

What a day!
Weve been in, cleaning and tidying and out getting lots of water for dishes, for floors, for cleaning bodies, doing washing and boiling boiling boiling. All water is to be boiled twice, as I have said previously, or 3 drops of bleach added, and sat for half an hour before use... Of course bleach is a commodity at present.
We had power, then we lost it. (LOL almost literally, it was almost too much!) 
Now we have it again, those wonderful people have been working so hard to restore our power city wide and oh the joy! It came back on late this afternoon and we are all so glad not to have to crank up the barbeques again!!! It is so much easier to cook inside on our ovens...
We had water but that had slowed to a very small trickle due to local leaks, and we have been carting water from the local school - very grateful to have it available though. It has become the *local watering hole* and we catch up with our outer neighbours, stopping to chat, to pass the time of day - its so nice to just to see people and realize that the absurd world we have at present is not just isolating us, but it is affecting us all equally, and we are all making the best of it...
I have to say, today, Ive worked myself silly to get on top of the dishes, some washing... all the small things... Im exhausted.  It just takes so long to do the normal tasks, but we are not complaining... We are alive. We are together, and we are coping Ok!
The children both needed a break, so went for a rest. And I think after all the cleaning up and the cooking, the carrying and the walking for water, for bread, to another place for milk etc. It all adds up. Im not the fittest. If this carries on, I ll be running marathons. Yay! ...

The Plans continue... 
Am planning in my mind, to get ready for Winter. A blessing came to us, by way of a friend who lives up the road. She spoke to friends who live in Blenheim, and they sent us some raincoats their children had grown out of. Im so thrilled. It makes things so much easier knowing we can prepare in advance for who knows what, but we will be ready... Now to gather some winter woolies - scarfves, gloves, hats, leg warmers and gumboots. Another LPG bottle, and perhaps a gas heater or a brazier... Warm blankets, socks, singlets.
We want to be ready just in case. Im hoping to help some of the other families in the street to prepare too. We spoke about it and there are some small things we can gather weekly, with the grocery shopping, so we will have things sorted.

Not much more to write today, but I ll be checking in later when Ive sorted some of the photos.
Hoping you and your loved ones are all safe.

Good things today - Sausages in bread, Fresh water to drink, the Monarch butterflies we have in the garden at present... Friends and neighbours returning from being away...
Not such good things - Toilets that dont flush, Piles of *free dirt* - the silt from the liquifaction, down every street... People who speed down our street, causing silt dust to settle throughout our homes and causing our littles to cough and wheeze...  We have a fine grey dust on everything in our home at the moment.  
Dust masks are a must if youre out and about!

PLEASE SLOW DOWN if youre travelling around Christchurch.
The silt is terrible - it stinks and is very fine...
Again, we really appreciate the help we are getting from everywhere - all over the world and around NZ too.
Youre Awesome!

 Love to you

EBUTTERFLY
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

New Beginnings, Fresh Starts, Happy Faces...

Lots to do this week!
Have been enjoying the last days of the school holidays, and the buzz of anticipation and excitement that has surrounded our son as he readies himself for school.
First day back today, the hottest day of the year mind you, it was sweltering heat, and everyone was packed into the Auditorium to hear where their new classrooms were... Parents and Children alike.
 Mr 10.5yrs was pleasantly surprised to find some of his old friends nearby in other classes, and others have moved to other schools... Four hundred + new students starting at this school, quite amazing when you see them all moseying along...

Me, well Im there, trying to be supportive without being too Mumsie and hoping not to let on that Im as anxious for him as he is. I love my boy, he is a good lad and Im so proud of him - his Dad is too, we really think the world of him.
He is my Sunshine. Even at ten and a half.  My memories drift back to the happy wee Sunshine baby who used to sit and grin effortlessly at everything, and demand cuddles and loved kisses...
So anyway, we were in Staunch Mode this morning. See Ya Mum. Bye Dad... but little sis got a hug. She cried. Hmm, not even a tear from Mum (Me Brave!). But my heart swelled.
He fits in, he looks good. He looks so grown up. Its a good thing, I tell myself and we leave as requested by the Principal before anyone falters...
But its not about me - It is about Organization!
Weve been buying uniform pieces, we have it all accumulated. Ive just paid for his first Day Out, which sounds exciting - a team building exercise to get the classes working well together. Good Ideas!
 He has a new calculator... Ive written names on everything - for sure, the boy will not forget his name in a hurry...

So proud. Ooh hes doing Spanish this year, hes interested to hear about Social Studies, and hes got his nose in his student diary already, writing notes of things that are important to remember. Homework, he has scribbled alongside... Dont Forget PE Gear. ... So Proud!  Hey Look, theres things to look forward to - Art Camp, or Sailing Camp... Swimming lessons...
And then theres the big smile... He has a Happy Face on, which is totally bloody awesome, that soothes my anxious Parent Brow... and the crinkles in the corners of my Parent Eyes well up as seeing him happy makes my heart soar, and I smile too. Awesome. Its Working!!

Onward with the learning...
Hope this is the precursor to Good Things.
Love to all,

EB
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