Cyclone Yasi update ...

Nilo From Beautiful Airlie Beach.
Cyclone Yasi made landfall at Mission Beach, Tully area. Reports are that there has been no fatalities obviously very early still and day is just breaking. Heaps of wind around still. TC Yasi has now been dowgraded to a Cat 3 as it is tracking inland

According to the live broadcasting on TV. The whole banana plantations have once again been wiped out 95present of Australias bananas come from there. Roofs and houses destroyed. Tully and Mission Beach copped the worst of the storm.

On FB
J...It doesn't seem to have been as bad as they predicted, we will get a better idea as the sun rises..glad you are okay Nilo
Yep J... it's actually answer to prayers, the whole world was praying. All praise to God who sent his Angels to protect us all.


Rina... Morning Everyone it's with a lot of relief that we here sit in front of the computer, to see you and most of Australia made it through the night Nilo your right it was probably all the prayers
How you going this morning8:35am
All good Rina, nog baie windy (still very strong winds But it looks like everything) maar lyk my alles
.. is amazingly fine all over N Queensland8:37am
Sh.. it still not over, there is more injures afterwards than during cause people being silly any damage to roofs or trees8:37am
Lets pray that people heed the warnings8:38am
will talk later love ya8:38am
Bye my friend

More good news, because Yasi slowed down before it hit the coast, it hit on a falling tide, not a rising tide, and the storm surge that was possible did not eventuate and many areas that were expecting innundation were not affected by any surge....Garrett from Cyclone Yasi Update

There is still flying debris in many of the affected areas, please guys, stay inside and stay safe until they give the all clear, emergency services have enough to deal with this morning without having to worry about sightseers, I know it has been one very rough night for many of you, please just stay put until they give the all clear...Garrett

Cyclone Yasi .....

More updates ... From FB Nilo'says...

Went to bed at 12 and up at 5 just couldn't sleep anymore. Rather nervous about the Cyclone, it is Cat 5. Pray people Queensland needs your prayers...

‎12 Hours before STC Yasi and the wind is picking up already. We are all set for the event, Des has just connected the Generator and is load testing it. We have water, fuel, gas and food a radio, torches and batteries. The necessary windows are boarded up and we have our emergency pack ready to go if need be.If you have prepared well and you use your common sense we will all be fine. Stay safe Airlie.
57 min ago
From the offical sites:
Details of Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi at 7:00 am EST:
.Centre located near...... 16.1 degrees South 150.9 degrees East
.Location accuracy........ within 20 kilometres
.Recent movement.......... towards the west southwest at 30 kilometres per hour
.Wind gusts near centre... 295 kilometres per hour
.Severity category........ 5
.Central pressure......... 922 hectoPascals

From another Queensland Blogger ...Yasi has been up-graded to a Strong category 5 this morning.It is 5oo kilometres wide.The eye is 30 klms wide.It will take an hour for the eye to pass over ,and then the 280 - 300 klm winds will return.
It is the biggest storm we have ever experienced.The frightening radar images shown behind our Premier Anna Bligh gives you a good idea of the size.
Yasi is moving fast and still growing.Now due to hit 10pm tonight.(Wed 2nd feb)
It is so hard to believe this is happening..just when you think it cant get any worse..it does.
My thoughts are with all my fellow Queenslanders further north.
Stay safe...

Update:


Path Cyclone Yasi is taking. Nilo's son and Girlfriend managed to get to them from Townsville and they sitting somewhere down just past Mackay. It looks like a category 5 and they expecting it by lunchtime today. with the eye crossing at midnight.
According to the weather people it will cover an area of 800km wide while the eye is 100 km wide. Severe winds up to 280km per hr that is as strong as Katrina. 400 mls of rain is expected.This cyclone is stronger than Cyclone Tracy that devistated Darwin many years ago.
Elise says ... Wow, Willis Island weather station has not updated for 40min, they presume it has been wiped out!! And they say this is the BIGGEST cyclone ever to hit Australia... May God protect all those who are in danger!


She's a BIG girl !!
North Queensland is now preparing for a Huge cyclone to cross land ,
1am Thursday morning.
She is being described as a dangerous giant,
category 4 ..massive system.
No more rain is need in the state,and the days to come will be a nervous wait.
Where the rain travels after that is however, a big worry.
Our forecast is for winds and high seas for now.

A few of our friends will be coming face to face with Cyclone Yasi. We're thinking of you all and pray you will be safe. Nilo and Des, who moved up to Airlie Beach a few months ago. Hope Al's well at your place, we'll be thinking about you.
Stay safe everyone...

Apple pie ....

Peeled Granny Smith apples or pie apples, add a few raisins, 1/2 sugar and sprinkle Cinnamon. Stewed until just tender, or just use a tin of pie apples. Let it cool while your making the pie mixture.
2 Eggs, 2 tablespoon margarine or butter, 2 caps of vanilla essense, 1 cup sugar, cream together. a tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk (if you got any handy)
2 cups of self raising flour
1 cup of milk
Mix well and pour into pie dish.



Pour mixture into a pie dish, place a layer of pie apples or stewed on top of the mixture.Bake for 1/2hr or until golden. Pour over a sauce made of 1/2 cup milk, 1 tablespoon margarine, 2 tablespoon sugar and a little sweetened condensed milk, just zap it in the microwave or bring to the boil in a small pot. Return to the oven for 5minutes to soak in and brown.



Yummy apple pie served with a little fresh cream or custard. They going to the freezer to be eaten another day.



Turning over ripe bananas into little muffins, they're going inside the freezer to be eaten another day. When needed they get defrosted and then just zapped in the microwave for a second or two and their as fresh as ever.Cut in half and spread a lick of butter on them (extra cals)

Homemade chalk and other great ideas...

I just found this blog and am so impressed with it I just had to share.Penniless Parenting ... extreme frugality

Homemade Chalk (This is something the kids could help make during the school holidays)

Ingredients:
Plaster of Paris
Water
Tempera paint (optional)

Instructions
1. Mix plaster of Paris powder with enough water to make a wet paste. Add water a little bit at a time. Note that it'll thicken considerably when you mix it. Add enough water that it mixes easily and is relatively wet. No matter how wet you get it, the plaster of Paris will still dry; the wetter it is, the longer it'll take to dry.
2. Add some paint if desired. If no paint is added, you'll get white chalk. If paint is added, you'll get colored chalk. Note that the color of the chalk will lighten considerably once dried.
3. Put mixture into a mold. Crayon molds work fine, as do any non deep molds. I made my chalk in the plastic cover of one of my containers that was approximately 3/4 of an inch deep.
4. Let chalk dry for a few hours.
5. After it hardens somewhat, score it with a knife where you want to break it later. If you don't do this, it's ok, but this step makes the next step easier.
6. Let the chalk finish drying 100%. Overnight is usually enough.
7. Break the chalk into pieces.
8. Give to your kids and watch them entertain themselves!

This recipe is terrific because plaster of Paris is dirt cheap and easy to get around here. I made a nice amount of chalk, and it cost me less than 25 cents.
I find the cheapest place to get plaster of Paris is at hardware store. I can get a 2.5 pound bag there for a dollar. Craft stores charge much more money for this.

Please pop over there and have a good look around, I for one want to know more about edible weeds and repurposing stuff.