Good morning, friends.
I do hope this finds you all well.
What can I say? It has definitely been a trying seven months for us over here in Canterbury.
First of all with the September Quake, which left us pretty darn rattled. The Canterbury spirit came out in force, and got back into it, I managed to get back to work in the city only a week after the event.
Then we had Boxing day, which closed a lot of the buildings in the city again, not to mention the constant unnerving aftershocks, practically every day.
By February, things were beginning to get back on track, {I even posted on The Blog!} our work was back up and running, more people were returning to the city to shop. 'Brilliant!' We thought, 'Definitely down, but not out!'.
My working week tends to start on a Sunday, and that Sunday I had a very odd feeling. I did not want to go to work, at all. I shrugged it off, thinking I was just tired from not getting much sleep, but the same happened on the Monday. I thought it very strange that I should still be so negative about going to work, I slept pretty well the night before, I wasn't tired at all.
I awoke on the Tuesday, and it was an odd day from the word go. The air felt heavy, and my feeling hadn't subsided. 'Maybe it's just one of those weeks' I thought to myself.
Work was pretty manic that day, our first day of having two testing rooms running - lots of patients!
In the middle of booking an appointment for a patient, she swore down the phone, not in an aggressive way, but it took me a moment. "What the f**k?!" for a split second I thought she was swearing at me, but then it hit, The phone went flying out of my hand, and I almost followed it across the desk. I will never forget watching a lady in the street throw her arms up, and scream, trying to run, but stumbling against the moving street. The glass above the store broke in what seemed like a chain reaction, a shower of glass fell in front of the store.
I held myself up between the desk and the drawers, and somehow managed to make it to my Boss and a Co-worker who were close by.
"Its a big one!" My boss yelled at me over the rumbling, and the creaking of the building. Her face was white, and we all stood, holding each others arms for stability against the shaking ground.
It seemed to last forever, when it subsided for a moment, the Optometrists and patients poked their heads out of the door, everyone was in a state of shock. "What just happened?" they asked, [neither of the Optometrists were Christchurch Locals]
You could hear screams, and dust began to drift down the street. We didn't need to tell them.
The shocks kept hitting, but we couldn't decide if we would go outside in the street, or stay in the store.
We eventually decided that we just need to move, we need to get out of the city, away from buildings. I made a mad dash down the back of the store to get my phone and bag, and grabbed whoever else's belongings were on the pegs.
Thankfully, throughout all this drama, I saw Laura and her Husband. It helped knowing that they were okay, one less person to frantically try to get hold of on overloaded phone lines.
We followed the evacuation down to Cathedral Square. My Dad managed to ring me, and I broke down at his voice, and the sight of the Cathedral.
We then got evacuated to Hagley Park, where we stayed for about an hour, unsure what to do. We then decided we all just wanted to get home, so we walked. We went our separate ways, and I walked for about three hours out of town, and my Brother managed to pick me up on the way out of the city. We were very lucky to be living out of the city at the time. We had power and water come straight back on.
At home I had the best cup of tea ever. I couldn't stop crying for hours, if not days. Every time I saw or heard something on the news, It would make me cry my eyes out. An absolutely terrifying experience, one which I wish never to experience again!
Well, I apologise for that post going on for a while, It became a bit of a rambling mess. We will try to do some blogging, but between Wedding Planning, and all the Post-Earthquake drama, its hard to find a moment to sit down with my beloved, never mind sit down with the lovely Blog and fill in a post!
I will however, try my best. =]
On a more cheerful note, have an inspiration board!
Autumn has definitely arrived. {Already?!}
So I have made a cozy board of Wedding inspiration for you today!
Biscuit and Copper. {with dusky blue highlights}
