Quick Post - Echinacea Haven is Bumblebee-tastic!

Its freezing cold out there, and the wind is nasty, and still these little bumbles work over time.
I love seeing bumblebees at work, they are so busy, and seem so happy at what they do :)
Snapped this photo, the echinacea flowers always seems to get mobbed, and the bumblebees cling to their spiny cones, sometimes gathering pollen, sometimes just resting on top and riding the flowers in the breeze.
I never realised just how gently scented the ech flowers are, heavenly!

Love,
E Butterfly
XXXXXX

Tuesday already...Plans... Globe Trotting Teens... Bikkies for Breakfast.

Cant believe it is  Tuesday already. I know, its Tuesday every week, but this Tuesday has come around so quick. Think about what you were doing last Tuesday. To be honest, Im not sure I can remember the details. It involved reenactment of the chicken with its head cut off, panic, frenzied shopping and Lists. Ahh. Thank Goodness that is over!
This Tuesday Im planning. Ive just bought another red currant. And an Autumn Bliss Raspberry that fruits late Summer/Autumn. I think it is the wrong time of year to buy things like this, but they are On The List of Wanted Plants, and they can sit until the beds are ready to go in. Im planning next years garden already.

My list of Wanted Plants is extensive. I think Dwarf Comfrey sounds good. The blue variety. To put right along my fenceless edge that I share with our neighbours. Theres a huge *hedge* of Flax and Bears Breeches, and Im thinking some dwarf comfrey along underneath might encourage some good soil eventually.
It is very dense soil out there, and it has been sorely neglected.

Also, I have a list of herbs Id like to have access to. Not all for culinary purposes, but medicinal too.
Some of the herbs have the most romantic names - Pellitory-of-the-wall, Alexanders, Skullcap and Lovage...
Watch this space, Ive not made my selection yet, still in the Learning stages - ie, Im reading up on things.
Thank Goodness for my aged copy of A Modern Herbal by Ms Grieve. It is great for reading up on herbs...
Yes, this book information IS ONLINE!

So the Pre-teen with the Cellphone has spent the morning catching up with his brothers. Theyre the Globe Trotting Teens that have this morning, hit Auckland and are looking to see as much as possible while theyre at a Family Function. Its awesome theyve had the chance to go, their Dad is very brave taking two unruly teens on holiday with him and his wife, for a week... I hope Auckland looks after them - if youre up that way and you see one very bedraggled, tired looking man and two perky looking teenagers, its them...  :) I hope they have a blast! Its not often they all get away together.

And Im picking Im in line for Bad Mother of The Year award given this mornings fare for breakfast. We have eaten so much of late, and there was a dearth of goodies left, or given... It was bananas this morning, that took their fancy, and shrewsbury biscuits, with milk and shortbread afterwards... Oophs!!

After watching Harry Potter (Deathly Hallows 1) last night, this morning I have the pleasure of watching The Muppets Take Manhattan, with Miss 5. She loves it. The rats are so funny, and she giggles her way through it all... I get more pleasure out of watching her reaction, than the actual movie.

Well thats us.
I hope youre all doing fine, and enjoying the sun if you have it. Remember to Slip, Slop, Slap and Wrap if youre in the sun!

Thinking of You,
Love,

E BUTTERFLY
XXXXXXXXX

And then it Shook!! 25+ Eqs yesterday - 62 in the past 24hrs!

FOR THE KIDS - JO-JOS PLACE -
Information about Earthquakes and Stuff...

Interesting EQ Planet Alignment On YOUTUBE

CROWE QUAKE Website

ABOUT EARTHQUAKES HERE

and a NZ Site HERE

Avon Riverside

Well it happened! I had just sent Missy inside up the front, into the Lounge to watch TV while I made lunch.
Weve been outside, in the garage, tidying. (A job I will have to go and redo by all accounts, what a mess!)
I had just yesterday, taken in the boxes of china. I had thought I would unpack them. Get back to normal, make the Lounge look a little less sparse.

Our Lounge Wall has a myriad of large cracks in the plaster

BANG, THUD... shake. My missy was thrown down, and came crawling to Mummy. Hate that terrified cry. She just shook. SO I picked her up... took her outside, and went to check on my friend across the road, who met us halfway there.

We had just been talking about an hour earlier, about how it might happen, joking about *the next big one*.
Her first words to me were... See, you SHOULDNT JOKE about these things... She wasnt cross, just couldnt believe that we had again had *a big one*...

So, we parted ways... I went and got the eldest from school.  Not a gridlock of traffic this time, home in fifteen minutes, YAY! He was quite glad to see me, but not nearly as pleased as I was to see him... Got home and Mr EB rang. Did I want him to come... Was everyone ok? ...



Its Another Crack! From Floor To Ceiling!



ARGH... I did the girlie emotional thing and cried down the phone. He came in and we had just made coffee, when Mother Nature swung into action again.

Good God. My COFFEE!! All over me, freshly made and boiling hot!! This one was stronger and longer... and I slipped into the coffee and got thrust up against the wall and fell. Ouch. Bump

Poor Mr EB was thrown too, sore hips, knocking him around... The thing we dont realise, is the swinging is so hard on the bones. Its like the whiplash effect, and it hurts. You feel quite out of sorts afterward. The *Equilibrium* is altered.

Shops Down - Stanmore Corner

River Road - large cracks right alongside the River

Looks like snow? Nah, its Sand Bags on the banks of the River.

Gloucester Bridge. Approach With Caution! Large hill to climb up from the North side!!

Anyways, the two littles were outside playing, and I saw the Earthquake turtles as Mr 11 crouched over Miss 4. Thank God theyre so sensible. Miss 4 was screaming, and Mr 11 just told her they were ok, to keep down. So Proud we are!

And so, in the past 24 hours, 62 Aftershocks. Most in the 3-4 region, but several high fours which just ARE NOT FUNNY anymore...
This morning... Tuesday. I wake, to the tv on - (small people watching cartoons) we kept power. Yay for Orion! The first thing I notice when I open the windows, is the sun... Yay Mother Nature! And then I recognize the scraping of shovels and the swish of the wheelbarrow tyres again. Oh sweet Liquefaction, how you do defy us! Yesterday we saw the liquid from Liquefaction start to ooze. Quite a phenomenon. When stable, it is solid like silt. Once moving, and being bumped onto the road for collection, it starts to ooze. Which then creates another solid settlement in the gutter which later has to be scooped out too. So its a back-breaking prospect, and some of my neighbours have it *In Spades* ok, poor pun. Not funny.

As I say, the big difference this time, is POWER! It sure beats boiling water and cooking on the BBQ...  Lots of broken stuff this time. As I said to my neighbour, who has also lost china - I know its only stuff, but I dont have much *stuff* left... to which she agreed. Her daughter has house issues, and has a 3 week old baby - I wont complain. I have power and the kids are all ok. My Emergency supplies stand us in good stead. All except for the MILK POWDER.
A big tip here - DONT store your laundry powder next to ANY food. The strong perfumes permeate through the plastic bags and taint the food... How do I know this? I hear you ask... Ever had cornies with a touch of Lime and Jasmine? Not nice. eewww

Noticeable changes around the city today when we braved the roads to find Milk. Many people doing similar. It was the only thing we needed really, and it was nice to get out for a little break - it wasnt planned that way, but nothing is open til tomorrow (hopefully back in stride with the schooling!)

River Road, and around Dallington Terrace way is looking sad. Its beautiful big trees are being forced into the water on both sides. The Avon is high, the tides being high too, but seriously there is a lot of land that seems to have sunk back into the river, as if Mother Nature is reclaiming her own. The bend we used to walk around, and over the now severely twisted bridge is gone. There are cracks on the pathway which is now almost non existent. There are new flood banks and sand bags on either side of the river... there are sizeable cracks in the road. And further round towards Stanmore Road there are holes in the road where things have subsided. Some of the roads resemble muddy paddocks, but to their credit, the  council workers are hard out trying to repair and reseal. Awesome, cant fault them, out there right from the outset trying to get us back on track... again.


Theres this weird lady who grows ALOES in her WINDOW... Grow.. Aloe.. In Windoe... ;-)


THREE people hospitalized overnight with hypothermia. Makes you think. This is a NEW REALITY we are living. As Mark Quigley who is an Eq man said on the TV last night ... It will happen. He isnt into predictions, it is fact.
So I parrot to the children, the importance of keeping their extremities warm - Ok - so I nag them about socks and shoes... Hats and Gloves. Getting sick is NOT an option in this enviroment. We need to do all we can to keep the Winter Ills at arms length.
It is bitterly cold here in Christchurch by early evening. The mornings are horribly cold, icy and frosty -until mid morning or later usually, the heat of the sun is watery until the afternoon. Gloves, hats, scarves and a damned warm  jacket are a neccessity.
If youre coming to Canterbury for any reason - keep your feet warm & woollen socks are a must. Also, bring a hot water bottle. You wont regret it. I got two more last time I went shopping, and we have made good use of them. The warmest place to be sometimes when youve got no glass in your front windows or a gaping hole in the roof, is in bed. And there are a few houses like that here.
Our favourite pieces of clothing at the moment, are our GUMBOOTS. You just cant be without them. And they have grippy bits on the bottom, cos liquefaction makes you slippy (Grippy Cos its Slippy - ooh!)

Again, the people of this street, and in general, this City, have got together and roused help for one another. Good to see!
Even the plants continue to grow, just like Mother Nature will keep doing Her Thing. I will keep Doing My Thing... Planning the new seasons Garden!
Will be interesting to see how we do over the next few days, and nights.
Thinking of you!

Love,
EBUTTERFLY
XXXXXXXX


My Capsicums. Sigh. Arent They Pretty?



All over the Country, not just us today!!

Notice to Abandon Buildings

Well, look at this map here on Geonet.
This says it all, the wee stars on the map that usually cover our Canterbury are all over the place!
Its called sharing, People! We know how to share...
Poor Wellington must wonder if they are next on the Shaking List, given the ones they have up there lately! I can only hope its a storm (so to speak) in a teacup.

One of the Time Traps around the city - Traffic Queues.

Today was one of those low-key, catching-up days. Nice to get out and wander a little up around the Super Shed on Pages Road.
We got some crayons, some felt pens and some paper to keep us occupied. And Mummy got some good ideas for putting gardens into old baths (for some amazing reason (doh) there are a lot of old baths to recycle this week!)
Im thinking that the garden could be much better if its in old baths and easy to move along if required...
And so the planning continues. Im thinking companion planting, and some herbs, veggies and lots of colour if possible. Got to bring the light in via the plants.

Army Unimog Parked Outside our Home, the Army deliver toilets!

Still missing my friend B from down the road. We are feeding her pussycat, and have seen her once or twice, or the twitch of the bushes as she vacates the bush shes hiding in as we pass by.
A bit grey and cold today. Im wondering if this is the onset of Autumn, and the Winter isnt far away again.
Time to bring out the Winter woolies, and the knitting needles. Even the Pussy-cats seem to be eating constantly to build their Winter coats... or are they just being greedy?

Occarina refuses to move, Mr 14.5 sleeps on the trampoline, so she sleeps on him!

Well, thats about it from me. Time to eat the dinner Mr 10 is making.
It smells... well lovely, seeing I didnt prepare it... it smells like saveloys :-)
His favourite.

Love and Blessings.
Almost managed to believe we dont Shake today!

Long may it last eh!?

E BUTTERFLY
xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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