The aftermath

It's great to take photos of significant people and events - to have something to blog about if nothing else. Despite the fact that I have had a blog for years, I still regularly find that I get to the end of a lovely visit with friends and family and have no photos. Bethany probably won't be like that. When I hooked up my camera to get the photos of the flooded library I found this record of a play day Bethany must have had with her Liv dolls. This doll looks most uncomfortable - her back foot!

The driver is not watching the road and the girl in the blue dress knows it.

We had a downpour on Thursday night. It really did rain very hard for quite a while and Andrew got soaked getting from work to the car. I had to open our garage door to let out a lot of water but we were fine inside the house, not even afraid of the thunder and lightning. I had no idea of the damage caused in town. There is a gallery of photos here . Friday dawned bright and sunny and I drove the kids to school as normal. Just as I dropped them off the radio announced that the art gallery and library had been flooded and the whole Civic Centre was closed. The building has three floors (the library takes up part of two of them) and the roof collapsed over part of the third floor.

I didn't think that the building would be closed to staff but we were told, as we hung around outside, that we should go home and we probably wouldn't come back until Tuesday. At this point we had mixed feelings. Terrible damage...... surprise day off and super long weekend....After fiddling about with phone numbers and chute contingencies (if everyone came and returned their books over a very long weekend the chute would jam and the books would get damaged), I went home. I watched last week's episode of Spooks on iView, finished the third book in the Dark Heavens trilogy (not my normal type of thing at all, but compulsively engaging) and had just settled down in front of The Forsyte Saga on DVD and painted my fingernails. No sooner had I put the third coat on than my manager rang and asked me to come in and help to rip up the sodden, filthy with lagoon water carpet.

Everyone was pitching in. Directors, managers, outdoor council staff and library staff.

Wet carpet doesn't smell nice.

No power meant no air-conditioning.

Anne was at the Civic Theatre on Thursday night and raised the alarm about the flood. She and some others came in and moved all the books off bottom shelves and took everything off the floor in the workroom. The books are OK but the shelves will have to be replaced. We've been needing new carpet and now insurance will pay for it! It looks like we won't be open for a while but we'll be back at work on Monday trying to restore order. I think it may be a long haul.... My nailpolish was ruined and had to be removed.

I wasn't sure whether the timing was awful or brilliant but I decided to go ahead with the Stampin' Up! workshop I had planned. Liz had done a lot of preparation and I had made two cakes and bought many Lindor Balls so we forged ahead. Raspberry Lindor Balls, by the way, are pretty disgusting but the peanut butter ones are delicious.

I think it was just what we needed, particularly after such a physically draining afternoon.

We ate cheese and biscuits, lemon earl grey syrup cake (the recipe is here when you scroll past the tart and I highly recommend this cake - the texture is fabulous as it's made with cream rather than butter) and chocolate apple cake. Liz set up a fabulous display of cards - we didn't make these.....

We made a big mess.

Out of the mess came two each of two card designs and a box. I think an evening of food, cards and  conversation was perfect and we'll wish we were doing it again when we're back at work on Monday.

Liz made these lovely little gifts for everyone.

Now, to start thinking about Christmas.