...and the rains came!

After another sleepless night I was feeling a little 'ordinary' once again when I sat down to have breakfast while contemplating the amazing ability of a person's vocal chords to emit a variety of sounds during the night while the said owner of the vocal chords remains in a deep and blissful sleep and is quite unaware of the cacophony of noise disturbing the peace in the room. All of a sudden the sun disappeared as the sky turned threateningly dark and I wondered for a moment if I was going to be struck by a bolt of lightning. :-) It was quite eerie and as there had been fine weather forecast I went outside to check what had caused the sudden darkness and saw storm clouds ready to burst. So I quickly covered the guinea pigs and got back inside just as the rain started pelting down. I checked the forecast on the internet and it said there was a 40% chance of rain then checked the radar and there were storms everywhere in our region. Never trust a weather forecast. LOL!

I sat looking out the window at the falling rain which was badly needed and you could almost hear the plants saying 'Thank You!' in appreciation. I checked on them after it cleared and took a few photos. 

 

How refreshed they looked. I was thinking how the weather can deliver such joy as well as heartache. At the moment one of our neighbours,Vanuatu, is reeling from the impact of a Category 5 cyclone hitting the island nation, causing a number of deaths and creating havoc. Our Defence Force has been flying in personnel and material help as there is no power, communications have been cut, crops have been destroyed and most of the people have lost their homes. Please keep them in your prayers and also consider donating so that their basic needs are provided quickly before disease starts spreading. There are many organisations helping out including The Red Cross which is accepting donations.

 On the home front here in Australia, Cyclone Nathan has decided to revisit the northern part of our state of Queensland after intensifying for a few days out in the Coral Sea. It is expected to cross the North Queensland coast as a Category 4 cyclone on Friday morning. So all the Queenslanders up there will be holding their breath and praying that there is no major damage. It is cyclone season here in Queensland and are a part of life for those who choose to live on or near the coast although they can move inland and cause damage there as well.

On the Down to Earth forums we are in the middle of our first swap of the year and the theme was plants/lace. My swap partner made me this fabulous apron....

...and also included some photos of the gorgeous plants in her garden and a couple of postcards of where she lives. It was a lovely gift and much appreciated.

 

I sent an embellished Woolies bag, a hand towel holder and some calendula seeds. It has been very interesting seeing what everyone made for this swap and I think all members really enjoyed it. 

If you live in SE Queensland I hope you had rain today as it has been so very dry. My Northern Hemisphere readers must surely be seeing some sunshine by now. I do hope so anyway. If I could I would send you some of our sunshine. :-)