An Earth Butterflys Blog: woodham road

What the heck, What was THAT!???
Lots of A/shocks last night ... Come Four am and its a 4.1 ---
And last night, a rather rough 4.5 too.
This mornings 4.0 woke me and had me reaching for the kids. I havent slept since, its now 5.32am, Friday morning.
Thank God Its Friday? I dont know, will it be less shaky than Thursday I wonder?

Fitzgerald Overbridge

I havent blogged this week much...
I just ran out of enthusiasm for anything that wasnt essential. I think the tiredness caught up. Im not alone, the
city is full of people who are stressing about major issues - People, Money, Houses, Insurance, Water, Power, Sanitation, Rubbish Collection, Jobs, Shifting, Portaloos, Safe Places to Be, Petrol Prices, Food Storage, Boiling Water, Family, Friends, Pets, it just doesnt seem to end here at the moment... And then theres the Shakes. Theyre not even little ones mainly - all in the 3-4+ range...

Brick Pile on Bealey Avenue - One of many around the city

Funny how things change with circumstances.
We shop differently now. Can it be stored? Will it go off if I have too much and we lose power? ... How many things can I do with it? Is it essential... thats the most asked question.
My groceries bill this week was far lower than it has been for ages...
I simply cant afford to shop too far in advance, for fear of losing the power and not having appropriate storage for things...

Woodham Road, Demolition begun already

Also, we eat differently.
I have cut out a lot of the processed food, so we are eating from veges to meat, some pasta, rice or potatoes, but not a lot of other things unless it is baking. The kids are tired too, so excess sugar doesnt sit well at all!

Poor Miss 4 has been suffering. She is very *fragile* at the moment. It doesnt help when you have a major aftershock just as she is being put to bed. She bounced out of there in tears last night. I dont blame her, it really WAS a shocker... She was under the table before I had to say anything... bless her.
Mr 10 is doing great, but last night he was questioning whether it was a good idea for him to go back to school next week or not... He thinks not yet. I say, we will see. I need them to be back into a routine... normality... well, as normal as can be under circumstances.
Ive even considered taking them out of town... for a break. The thing is, we cant go for long, I cant afford it. So we might as well wait, and have a break later when things settle down again...

That is, if they DO settle down again --- scaremongers tell of more bigger earthquakes, which is always on the cards, given the way the earth moves already. Im not bothered, we are ready physically. I have food/water should we need it. It is just the emotional toll Im worried about...
Even the cat doesnt bother moving off the bed unless it is a big shake...

Linwood Ave - Crighton Cobbers

Some things have become sought after in Canterbury this week -

Rescue Remedy for one. Its an energy remedy for shock, works best on those who are susceptible to energy - children, pets, some adults. Everyone has a spray or knows someone who has it...
Portaloos - Chemical Toilets - The Longdrop - Composting Toilet - Bucket -- Whatever you have, we all have had experiences with one or the other lately - there arent enough to go around on this side of town!! Theyre quite sought after!

Linwood Ave - Crighton Cobbers :(

Fresh Drinking Water - We still have to boil our water, so its nice to have bottled water to drink, or something similar, artesian wells offer clean water too...

Fitzgerald Ave coming up to Bealey Ave, The road on the bridge SANK!

Orange Cones - We dont need to search far to find a few dozen or more of these.

Theyre EVERYWHERE! Cones & Diggers

They are EVERYWHERE on the roads, as cordons around bricks, broken buildings etc... everywhere!

Demolishing Church Cnr Linwood Ave & Gloucester St

Diggers - From early morning through til late afternoon, youll hear diggers around the city. I have a new appreciation of the men who dig the roads, boy have they worked hard to get the dangerous areas of road back to being safe for us to drive on... leaving their own families and houses, to get back to work. KUDOS To them!!!
Photos... With Famous People... With Friends, Family... So many people out there taking photos...Documenting events, changes in our history, local and personal.
And I couldnt resist...

Richie McCaw & Us

Cantab Rugby Boys & Moi

We found Richie McCaw out there with a couple of other Canterbury Rugby guys...
So *click*... (I went to school with Richie... he is a lot younger than me, so he pointed out... cheeky sod)

House on Woodham Road

Aww Jeez, there we go again. 6.11am and I heard it coming. Theres a small roar, then the rumble, then it hits and it finishes with a crack and a shake. You sit til it shakes, to see if you have to hit the deck, or go and grab the kids... The heart rate accelerates then you do the *Breathe... just breathe* its ok, we got through another one...grrr. So Over It!!

So here comes another aftershock, 6.34am, along with the Daylight, followed by the Sun!
Looks like this Friday begins with a Smile.
So off I go in search of some Toast, Coffee, and some yawning, cuddly Little People...

Love to All, from The Shaky Isle!

EButterfly
XXXXXXX

Putting it Out There...
There are some awesome things happening in our city, our country, our World. People are starting to give of themselves, their time, their *things*, supporting strangers.
Imagine if that extended across the World without reasons such as Earthquake Relief...
Awesome things could be possible.

Making it Simple
Handing garden produce over the fence with a smile, or an invite for coffee, a plate of scones - it doesnt have to be big things, its the little things that are often remembered ... especially when they happen out of the blue at a time when perhaps there is stress...loneliness or sadness.

Anyways,
Here are some links to people doing good things...
If you know of others, please dont hesitate to let me know... so I can add them...

----> Will at LIFE-FIT is doing his best to help everyone he can...
Have a good look at his website HERE

---> The Rangiora Earthquake Express are AWESOME. See them on Facebook HERE
They are taking donations of clean clothing, books and toys as well as fresh produce, canned goods and other non-perishable items...

---> Then theres the Student Army, The Cuddly Crusaders, The Farmy Army... theyre all awesome, doing a great job...

--->Aranui School has a foodbank, Seaview St in New Brighton has a foodbank (opposite the Police Station) , St Chads Church off Pages Road has a foodbank.
There are sausage sizzles in various places, fresh water in a corner of most major parks.
The Council are doing an excellent job of keeping the city as clear of rubbish as possible, distributing dust masks too, and water to those areas who need it. Fixing drains has begun, repairing roads is also being undertaken - these (mainly) men are doing hard work on the hottest, windiest, shakiest days, and some of them have come back to work after leaving their own families and homes that may have sustained loss or damage... Hats off to them and all the other men and women who go to work, leaving their own situations behind. That cannot be easy.

---> Theres doctors and medical centres open giving FREE appointments to those who need medical attention... The Woodham Rd doctors are doing this for the week, and out at New Brighton there is a clinic open for free medical checks also...

Contact Energy have extended the free LPG fills til the end of this week... They ROCK!

Air NZ have extended their $50 Flights for a bit longer too... helps people get in and out of the city cheaply.

---> Theres a mystery writer in New Brighton (still no power out there, hopefully back soon People!)
This person has been writing messages of support to residents on walls and buildings or the pavements in New Brighton, in chalk...