greerg wrote:

Hi Winnie - is it OK if I email Cookessentials re your contact details too please?

Ofcourse

winnie231 - 2011-03-09 21:05:00

Hello Rae.. :-)..
I've just emailed Julia to ask her to forward my email address to you.. if ok with you, would you email me please.. I'd love to help too.. thanks Rae..

I admire your strength and courage.. which shines through, even in this awful time you're all experiencing there.. I saw a saying recently that was.. 'It takes a strong person to let themselves cry'.. thank goodness we have the release of tears, and the joy of happy tears when they come too..

The quakes here in '87 don't begin to give a similarity with everything that's happening there, and I can't begin to imagine how it is for you all.. seeing the TV coverage, and the website photos is somehow unbelievable, and to know just how it is for you all is hard to comprehend.. it's way beyond what anyone would ever want to go through.. please.. know that you're all often in my thoughts and I'm sending hugs and caring across this nation we all share..

I am worried for one of our Recipes people.. Tracy - tixy - hasn't been online since mid February, and although I've emailed, I haven't heard from her.. her profile page shows 'Darfield' - has anyone heard from her at all?? Their home was badly damaged in September and they were living in a caravan there.. she had internet access and had emailed at times after then.. I so hope she and her family are safe.. and that one of you has heard from her or is in contact with her??

juliewn - 2011-03-10 01:18:00

I don't know Tixy Juliewn but Darfield was pretty much unaffected this time fortunately as were all the Western areas hit worst last time like Rolleston, Greendale, even as close in as Lincoln and Prebbleton.

greerg - 2011-03-10 07:49:00

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herika - 2011-03-10 09:08:00

We are all here in different areas wanting to help....when your ready .

jbsouthland - 2011-03-10 09:20:00

Have been hectic with uni last couple of days, I will contact you via facebook a little bit later on today Winnie. So if you get a message from Julie S then it is me. Even though trade intials are jc. best go post some trades and go get some supplies for my jam.

jcprotea - 2011-03-10 12:52:00

oh and one of my friends is not feeling to well so I am make her some nectarine jam and banana chocolate muffins to feel better. I love baking to make people feel better.

jcprotea - 2011-03-10 16:55:00

Hi all,
a quick update from me as some of you lovelies would have been expecting to hear from me today ....
things have been a bit stressful around here - as well as my own challenges, Mum was supposed to have moved house last Friday. Both homes (here & the one she has bought) are ok but her buyer got the jitters & put the brakes on so we have been trying to deal with that, living out of boxes, lawyers, structural engineers ... & headaches!
We finally got the good news at 4pm this afternoon that it's all go at 12pm tomorrow - so you can imagine the scene here! Moving truck due at 2pm.

I look forward to meeting some of you, and talking on the phone to others, but I just need to get through these next couple of days first. Thankyou for making contact & offering support - I will be taking you up on it :)

winnie231 - 2011-03-10 19:04:00

Hi winnie, good to hear from you. I am so glad that legal wheels finally turned, and your Mum can move tomorrow. Take care moving, don't strain or sprain anything ! It will be nice to catch up with you at a time that suits you. Take care and will be thinking of you tomorrow :-)

2halls - 2011-03-10 19:22:00

Winnie, all the best for your Mum's move today, shifting house is one of the highest stresses but it would be so much worse under the conditions that are all experiencing at the moment. Thinking of you all.

510 - 2011-03-11 06:36:00

Blardy aftershocks!!!
Apart from another broken sleep, we're all ready to go.
Time to start the next chapter :) Life in a caravan in the burbs of Chch!
For those of you with my contact details, the Hoon Hay address will be home for the foreseeable future.
Have a good day all, Rae xx

winnie231 - 2011-03-11 08:08:00

What a horrible night you have had in ChCh, sympathies. In Wgtn we have had a few quakes lately with a wee one last evening. I thought it might have been your one but the times don't seem to match. 2 of my family in high rise office blocks felt your big one.A daughter works in a high rise that moves in a strong wind causing some to feel queasy! Winnie, hope your Mother is delighted with her new home and you find caravan living a bit of fun. Do you know of many others doing the same?

marywea - 2011-03-11 09:43:00

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cookessentials - 2011-03-11 10:07:00

Kind thoughts to you all as we RIP our Bishies on the Westie P& A thread...so much suffering and angst and please if we can help it makes us feel helpful....

jbsouthland - 2011-03-11 18:36:00

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charlieb2 - 2011-03-11 19:44:00

I have Hot water for the first time since the 22nd - looking forward to using the shower.

sumstyle - 2011-03-11 20:52:00

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charlieb2 - 2011-03-11 20:55:00

We're in, we've our beds made ... and we're knackered!!!
More tomorrow ... but I couldn't go to sleep without thanking greerg!
A welcome basket of goodies arrived for myself, Mum & Winston during the chaos of the afternoon - with a little card attached. What a lovely, thoughtful gesture - THANKYOU!!! Rae xxx

winnie231 - 2011-03-11 21:00:00

Oh - and hooray for H2O!!! Enjoy the hot showers!

winnie231 - 2011-03-11 21:01:00

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cookessentials - 2011-03-11 21:16:00

just sent you a message finally on FB winnie :) my eyes are glued to the news at present. I was looking at going to Japan this year too after graduation for a trip.

jcprotea - 2011-03-11 21:17:00

I was having a lovely shower this morning and the cold water went off, fortunately before I had put the shampoo in my hair. So I dried off, got dressed and rode my bike to South Library which is open +++ does "estatically happy dance" +++(so are Bishopdale, Little River and Akaroa). Then to a friend's then, by very indirect route to Merivale, then home - 27km - only to find the water still off, but it came on half an hour later,

Also a very truncated version of the eastern part of the number 3 bus route is in operation half hourly. It stops at Ferrymead - sort of the Sumner route minus Sumner and the bays.

Charlie, so glad you've got water.

Winnie I have your number too and will text after the weekend, You are a really amazing woman with all you've been through.

calista - 2011-03-11 22:11:00

Goodmorning,
took half a sleeping pill last night which sort of helped ... was still woken by the 4.2 at 2.37am ... and then kept awake by Mum fumbling around in the dark trying to find light switches so she could make a cup of tea. The joys of being in a new house :)
We're all good though. This place has a lovely feel to it and I'm sure she'll be happy here. Builder coming next week to remodel & fit new kitchen & bathroom ... the carpet's being replaced & my uncle will paint throughout. Then it will feel more like hers. Oh - and she will attack the garden with vengence :)
Cup of tea time, Rae xx

winnie231 - 2011-03-12 07:25:00

Cup of tea sounds like a good idea. I have been thinking about Japan all night.
日本の私の祈りを送信！(Sending my thoughts and prayers to Japan). To you all really..stay safe.

jcprotea - 2011-03-12 10:09:00

No problem Winnie - a very small thing. But your comment about your Mum and the light switch reminded me that quite a while ago I bought from Mitre 10 a packet of three flat silver touch led light things with sticky backs. They were about $10 for 3 and I stuck them to the flat bases of bedside lights. Just a touch turns them on and they are quite bright enough to see the whole room. After Earthquake No 1 I went back and got enough to go beside all beds. They are very unobtrusive but ideal in any powercut.

greerg - 2011-03-12 10:18:00

Greerg you genius! I had seen them then forgotten. Given that power here is a bit fragile due to a contractor going through a cable, they sound just the thing.

My thoughts are with the people of Japan, but I'm keeping the news firmly switched off. I just can't cope with anything else.

calista - 2011-03-12 10:44:00

calista, I'm exactly the same ... my thoughts and prayers are absolutely with the people of Japan, but I just can't take the anxiety of watching too much on the tv. I find listening to the news on the radio informative, without being too stressful. Take care winnie ... might see you sometime soon? I'll txt you my email address sometime today :-) ps - greerg, what a sweetie you are :-)

2halls - 2011-03-12 13:04:00

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cookessentials - 2011-03-12 13:43:00

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elliehen - 2011-03-12 14:27:00

elliehen wrote:

One of my children lived for two years recently in the Chiba prefecture of Tokyo, while teaching English. We're all feeling immeasureably sad.

I have qualifications in Japanese and I have friends who just left Chiba about 6 months ago. I stayed in Sendai when I was in Japan as we had gone by train through most of Honshuu. I made some of the Food in a minute (yes I am naughty using jam setting sugar and not entirely from scratch) nectarine and pear jam. Kids like it. I got 2 500ml jars and I had not other jars so had to use a coffee mug, which is about 250mls. will make some wholemeal bread later on for supper. One jar I have already vetoed to go to my friend who is recovering from surgery.

jcprotea - 2011-03-12 17:04:00

Afternoon everyone... Hope everyone is having a lovely day around family or freinds and ignoring the dust and problems of life. I feel quite caught up on life, Miss 16 did what we call her $10 jobs (she gets $10 duh) so i came home last night to all the floors vacuumed and washed and I had made the dinner the night before... so a very easy evening sitting in a lovely clean house... Today we took my Dad out for a belated birthday lunch and had it at the Whitford cafe.... just lovely then tonight we are going to neighbours for dinner. Tommorrow... mmm more perfecting the art of chilling out... think i will do my normal catching up on the Shorty omnibus (tragic I know) while I give Dads jumper a good knitting session... then tommorrow we are going to M&D's for dinner.... Life is good and I don't feel nearly as stressed as I was at the beginning of the week. Its amazing how a concerted effort to catch up pays dividends... just small steps every day.... still have lots on my to do list but feeling like the urgent things are handled and the looming of the 31st March (end of the financial year) is not so daunting.

Off to get the washing in... have a great evening all and special Luff & Higs for my Christchurch friends and prayers for our Japanese friends, its amazing really how the Christchurch tragedy brought the country together... and funnily enough I feel the same about Japan.. kind of brings the world together,

Edited by toadfish at 5:46 pm, Sat 12 Mar

toadfish - 2011-03-12 17:36:00

I feel the same Calista - total overload - it's impossible to imagine destruction so much worse than we have here. The radio is much more clinical and copable with. Today we found that a favourite cafe that we expected to have gone is still open and that was a real lift although thinking I would pop in to Ballantynes this morning wasn't such a bright idea. It might take a while to stop expecting the places that have been there all my life to be there still. On the positive side though I am so glad I don't have to get grumpy teenage boys to school an hour earlier or worry about what they are doing in the afternoons as so many poor Christchurch parents will be doing. Our students return to Campus on Monday and, while we usually spend the holidays telling ourselves how lovely our campus is when it's not cluttered with students, it will actually be great to have the life and noise back - even if the coffee queues are horribly long again.

greerg - 2011-03-12 19:31:00

Hello.. just enormous what is happening in Japan.. my thoughts are with them all there..

Yay for having water on.. sure makes the 'you might have to cope for three days or more' from the Get-thru adverts, into 'way more' rather than 'or more'..

Glad the move went well Rae.. may your Mum enjoy her new home, and that Winstone settles quickly..

Regarding emergency lighting/kits, etc.. I bought some of the torches with a dynamo, plus radio and cell-phone charger last Christmas - I kept one and included them in my kids Christmas gifts.

There are several types, including some with an alarm to alert people as to where you are.. they don't have a battery and use a wind-up method which also can charge a cell-phone - great for emergencies, when there's no electricity, or when camping, etc.. they're for sale on Trademe too:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/SearchResults.aspx?searchTyp
e=all&searchString=dynamo+torch+&type=Search&gen
eralSearch_keypresses=1&generalSearch_suggested=0

juliewn - 2011-03-12 22:10:00

Arggghh... I obviously don't know how to relax....
It's 11.50am... Not knitting and catching up on soaps as planned.

Took Miss 16 to school at 7.30am for "Round the Bays"
Huge grocery shop at Pak'n'Save and put all away
Filled up the car with Deisal (got 20c off so saved $13.60)
Picked up storage containers (Great special at K Mart - 6 assorted sizes $7)Large Load washing on the line
Baked a brownie for hubbies committee meeting
Baked a Chocolate Weetbix Slice & a fruit weetbix slice for lunch boxes.
Sorted out the kitchen after all of the above....

Phew... now i am ready to blob.....

Edited by toadfish at 11:53 am, Sun 13 Mar

toadfish - 2011-03-13 11:52:00

Just making pear crumble from the Masterchef recipe and I know you can combine in one big dish but I suspect it would be ok to put in separate dishes and cook that way? I was just wanting to make some to give to my sick friend as a comfort food.

jcprotea - 2011-03-13 16:03:00

OH Bugger. The water is working well except... when it was turned off a couple of days ago I was in the shower, now the cold water isn't coming through the shower and I suspect it's either some grit of an air bubble in the mixer,
So I still can't have a shower until I find a friendly plumber

calista - 2011-03-13 16:47:00

calista, try turning it on at the first outside water source ... run the outside tap for a few minutes. Sometimes this clears the air lock, and also if you have grit in the pipes it doesn't drag it into the house system. A lady at the City Council told me to do this after September when the water main near our street kept leaking and the water was going off frequently :-)

2halls - 2011-03-13 17:56:00

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cookessentials - 2011-03-13 18:32:00

Certainly the outside is appealing. Lots of decorating to do though.

In my post-EQ mode I stared long and hard at the final photo to consider whether it could be a luxury long-drop...it's certainly photographed out in the middle of nowhere (seemingly).

Mmm. Short week - and for a good reason. Yay!

sumstyle - 2011-03-13 18:46:00

Hi everyone,
I took the day off today (from everything lol) & went out to the Raspberry Cafe in Tai Tapu with a girlfriend ... it was just what we needed!!!
So good to be out of Chch & enjoying something 'normal' for a change :)
School starts again in the morning ... on the other side of town to where I am and with 9am-1pm classes instead of 1pm-5pm. Not sure how that'll fit with work but as there's no word on if or when the casino will reopen, I'll just concentrate on school.
I still don't know that I could cope with the casino at the moment anyway as crowds & noise are still bringing on panic attacks with me.
Some of you have expressed a desire to help me recover financially enough to eventually get out of a caravan and back into a real home. I appreciate your generosity but I'm not going to give any details here. I have a little EQ recovery fund set up & I'll give the bank details to toadfish & cookessentials or you can contact me privately through FB or email. It is extremely humbling to be in this position, but without insurance I am overwhelmed by not knowing how I can ever recover without accepting help.
If you know any big companies with even bigger wallets that want to help in a practical way - mention my name lol!
I'm glued to the news tonight.
My heart is breaking for the people in Japan - to have lost people here and come to our aid ... and then this ... it's unbelievable.
Make sure you give your loved ones a hug. Rae xx

winnie231 - 2011-03-13 19:13:00

heya winnie nice to hear you had a great day, when i see what happened in japan - the feelings overwhelm me those poor people chch is a shocker then to think they had it that much worse its truly unbelieveable

motorbo - 2011-03-13 19:17:00

I'm sure the Raspberry Cafe was healing Rae - a very peaceful spot. We had a lot of police and USAR people on our campus at Lincoln and hoped they would find a little calm on our lovely environment too. I dreaded going back to work but the routine has been great. Can't claim to be thinking at full speed yet but definitely better. If we all give help when we can and take it when we need it the world will be a much better place and right now being able to help in a small way is really helping the givers too.

Edited by greerg at 7:27 pm, Sun 13 Mar

greerg - 2011-03-13 19:23:00

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charlieb2 - 2011-03-13 19:34:00

Winnie..forgive me if I have not picked up on all the details of your unfortunate position but we were at a public mtg and the winz rep was adamant that everyone should be applying for "all available grants". (red cross/winz etc esp if you have lost income ) If you haven't already looked into this I urge you to as they seem very obliging and may be able to give you a wee boost at this awful time. Thinking of you..Di

neil_di - 2011-03-13 19:45:00

2halls, I'll try that in the morning - I have done it at other times but I think some grit may have got sucked in this time as all other taps are working better than they did before.

I think the fact that the shower was actually being used when the water was cut may have made a difference.

calista - 2011-03-13 20:49:00

Hi all,just popped in to say I have been lurking in here,just find it too sad to post some days,i really don,t know what to say,to take away the pain,you wonderful people are having.
I just wanted to say I am thinking of you all,and you are no far from my thoughts each day.
I have planned an tranzalpine trip to Christchurch at the end of june,have never done this trip by train before,going to stay in motel in Riccarton,just around the corner of my son,s,life is too short to not enjoy yourselves.
I am going on my own,so should be lots of fun,will be there for about 5 days,so will have to start saving,partner is paying for my motel,and I will pay for the rest.
I have been keeping busy lately,still planning my garden,and only have 5 days left before I go back to work.
You all take care,and good night all.

earthangel4 - 2011-03-13 23:57:00

Not so much as in the way of pain but I am fully of empathy and I think too much, so sometimes I absorb it all in (if that makes sense). uni today for me so I better get myself and the kids organised to get out the door by 8. Got sent a voucher for the vegetarian place here called Revive so I am going to use that for lunch today then I get a $7 secret shopper voucher for participating in that next week. Just what I need at moment when saving money. Ok all have a great day and may you be blessed and safe.

jcprotea - 2011-03-14 07:14:00

jcprotea wrote:

Not so much as in the way of pain but I am fully of empathy and I think too much, so sometimes I absorb it all in (if that makes sense). uni today for me so I better get myself and the kids organised to get out the door by 8. Got sent a voucher for the vegetarian place here called Revive so I am going to use that for lunch today then I get a $7 secret shopper voucher for participating in that next week. Just what I need at moment when saving money. Ok all have a great day and may you be blessed and safe.

you too,hun,have a wonderful blessed day and stay safe xx

earthangel4 - 2011-03-14 09:58:00

Note for Christchurch people in the Cashmere, Beckenham, Hoon Hay areas: there is fresh artesian well water available in Ernlea Tce (off Colombo St, almost opposite the South Library) ... it is flowing from a hose at the end of the street (out of the Swan Lake property). :-)

2halls - 2011-03-14 14:23:00

Mmm, walked past there last week but they didn't have a sign out so it looked a bit random!

sumstyle - 2011-03-14 16:20:00