All I've been able to do over the last three days is sit glued to the tv watching the flood coverage...weeping along with a mountain of Queenslanders, who are indeed a mob to be proud of...

...and knitting dishcloths! 

I kid you not. Don't laugh...they're very absorbent. Perhaps I should send them to Queensland :) And no, I don't knit them with calligraphy brushes!

There's going to be an awful lot of Chux needed to mop up this lot isn't there?

Wish I was closer so that I could help in some practical, hands on way. 
I have lived in Brisbane three times in my life due to Army postings and it's the city where my kids were born, so I have a very soft spot for it.

Just quietly, I'm a bit chuffed with the dishcloth pattern. I dreamed it up all by myself after much trial and error. There was a lovely black one too but I gave it to Richard.

There are many photos of the floods in The Australian newspaper's galleries page. The photos of Grantham are particularly heartbreaking. It's never too late to donate to the Premier's Fund...click here...the clean up bill will be just that...billions. And all extremities crossed for Goondiwindi which is holding its collective breath at the moment.

p.s. I used to knit them like this...double cotton so they are very thick...but perhaps too thick to dry out quickly enough for dishwashing and mopping up......they'll probably end up joined together as a rug for the vampire slayer!

You hear (or read) about so many acts of kindness in this bloggy world. I hadn't expected that when I started, although I suspect if I'd actually thought about it, it might have gone down as one of those glimpses of the bleeding obvious.

Kindness is pretty much everywhere. Friends rally when you're glum. I've had lots of 'rallying' in the last few days. From my 'here in my home town' peeps and from my online friends. And that has been so lovely.

And when you're feeling out of sorts it's wonderful to come home and find a package in your mailbox. It puts a smile on your face and makes you feel a bit better.

this image is via chasing satellites...the first born's new tumblr (it's lovely - you should visit)

The package was from my friend Mary in Canada. She follows my blog and always leaves lovely comments. We met each other 20 years ago when our husbands were posted to the UK. Mine in the Australian Army, hers in the Canadian. She's still got hers though!!! We only reconnected recently through the wonders of Google and a name search! Thanks so much for doing that you guys :) 

You can tell she reads the blog because she knitted me some dishcloths!

...they even came with a colour coordinated card...

...and instructions in case I want to make some too! Well thank you Mary...I just might do that:)

And last, but not least...thank you everyone for your comments about my blues. I knew you'd understand and I am very grateful. They're still hanging about (blast them to smithereens!), but honestly, I know I have very little to be glum about. Nonetheless, I'm going to take your advice and take it easy for a week or so. I've noticed there are a few others doing that...perhaps it's that time of year!

And when I come back I'm sure I'll be much chirpier (thanks Amanda, such a good word to be reminded of!). In the meantime I'm going to do some of this...a bit of getting fit..or at least starting the process (because boy do I need to do that!) and spend some time in the garden (if it ever stops raining). Oh yeah, and there's that pesky work to go to as well in between knitting dishcloths ;)

I do hope you'll still be around when I come back, because I really do appreciate you. If not, that's ok too. I'll still be blog stalking of course :) And as this lovely picture Jess took last night shows, there's always a rainbow somewhere...very pretty isn't it?