Month: July 2014

Adelaide, Games and the Man

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
Glasgow of the Commonwealth Games.
Glasgow of the Commonwealth Games.

I had been telephoning Alan every couple of days to have a quick chat and see how he was. I tried to call him last week without success. This worried me a bit so I called my niece and was informed that he had had a major stroke and was moved to the  HDU at the Flinders  Medical Center. I called the Flinders a little while and was told that he is not good. I  think I might be heading to Adelaide soon. If he is still with us, I will drive down on Friday anyway and see him. I cannot get away before that because I am contracted for the week and will be out of town – not out of touch, just out of town – until Thursday afternoon. Herself cannot travel –  John is in Florence so it will be Andrew and I that will attend when necessary. He’s had such a poor time over these last few years, not being able to do anything , hooked up to oxygen and watching TV all day. He’s six hours  and over 530 klms away so getting to see him is not easy, but I have been calling him and chatting to him a couple of times each week.  On Monday night I got the call that I had been  expecting, but not quite so soon. Alan died on Monday evening. The remains wont be released until tomorrow (Thursday) and the funeral will be organized for Monday early afternoon. It will only be a small funeral for family and Monday afternoon is to give Andrew and I time to drive down. Also we have to get back on Monday night because I have to take herself to her doctor on Tuesday. I will be home all of next week then I’m out of town again, then down to Adelaide to collect John from the Airport. At the moment he is in Florence and will be heading off to Berlin and Munich next week to start a tour of Northern Europe, a cruise on the Danube and then home.

The first two days away were fairly good but today the weather closed in again and it rained for much of the day. As far as I can see, tomorrow wont be much better, but at least that’s the last day for the moment.

Hmmmm.. :o)
Hmmmm.. :o)

Thankfully, home but getting ready to head off to Adelaide for a funeral. The day and time has been changed, which rules  out Andrew. Herself has had to change her hospital appointment.  This means I will be going down on my own, and it’s at Hackham West, an hour+ out of Adelaide. Of course I have been offered a bed for the night but I am yer aktual weirdo who dislikes staying with people. Going down to Adelaide people offered me  a bed for the conferences, but I never took up any of the offers so they understood and stopped offering to put me up.

Tomorrow I head off to Adelaide for Alan’s Funeral. I believe it is going to be a quiet, private family funeral – which is probably best. I’ll  stay overnight in South Terrace, I think there’s a nice park bench there, and  travel through to the funeral on Tuesday. I have booked two nights so I’ll leave early Wednesday morning and be home just after lunch. So far the weather looks like – Monday dry and sunny – Tuesday, Wet – Wednesday, dry and sunny. If it’s a nice day on Thursday I might go over and attack some more of that vine. I can see the main roots now, so once I cut away more of the actual vine I should be able to get to the roots of the thing. That would be good and probably help.

I have not seen a lot of the Commonwealth Games and when I did turn on the TV all I did see was talking heads and repeats of repeats, so I kind of gave up. I think Australian Television works on the theory that if it’s worth showing once, it’s worth showing forty times.

The Man is  well and as soon as I get back from Adelaide we are going to order the wheels for him. I took them out the other night and I carried him most of the way. I asked about his medication and the Vet says 1 half tablet per day is enough for his weight. He sleeps a lot and when hes awake, he eats – boy does he eat, but he never seems to gain any weight. I sort of envy that  :o) Chienne is fine and doing well. She came in and slept with me a couple of times, but like the Man she prefers her own bed. John is heading to Berlin and Munich. Was not impressed with either Rome or Venice.

The rain it falleth on the Just!

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
A wet Wakefield Street
A wet Wakefield Street

I was down in Adelaide for a  meeting on  Wednesday and it was cold, wet and miserable.  Here in the north we  get rain, but nothing in comparison to Adelaide, or, indeed,

A lovely day In Adelaide :o)
A lovely day In Adelaide :o)

the lower parts of the State.  Despite the weather we had a good, productive meeting and a very interesting presentation by the Unitarian  Druze  Community. Dr. Klee Benveniste, of the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation was invited to make a presentation at the next meeting.  Dr. Klee declined  since the next meeting will be on the 8th October, which is the beginning of Sukkot – a very busy time for all families within the community. She did, however, agree to  make a presentation at the first meeting of the new year.

My son was part of a tour through Spain and Morocco and  in their itinerary was a visit to Casablanca. Also they were to have lunch at “Ricks” but they arrived there during Ramadan and all places were closed – actually the Western Owned places were not,  so they had to go to  McDonalds. Halfway  around the world and he has lunch at Maccas  :o)  Anyway, he’s out of Morocco and I believe he is in Lisbon for the next two days – Salamanca, Fatima, Madrid and that’s the end of the tour. He then heads off to Rome and a tour of Italy.  After Italy, Berlin, then Munich and a tour  of Bavaria. He’s a busy wee boy  :o)

When the weather permits we are still working on the clearing of the growth at the other house. It’s a mess. I think the owner had plans to look after things and control them because we have discovered steel supports and training wires, which, do not do a lot of good to the brush cutters. We’ve had to go in there with bolt cutters and try to take down the wire we can reach/ At the moment, because of the weather, not a lot is being done/ We probably wont get a lot done this week either. I haven’t got much done in the garden either, which, by the way, has become  weed infested with all the inclement weather we have had of late. Also it has been very cold and damp into the bargain.

Had an email from John in Rome and he says that he is not impressed. The hotel is good and he is only about five minutes walk from  the city center and fifteen minutes from the Vatican. He says that everything is depressed and unkempt looking and the famous Trevi Fountain is covered in scaffolding. The poor quality of the water has caused a fair amount of damage.  He believes that Casablanca in Morocco was much nicer looking – and cleaner. Tomorrow he starts his tour and he will be in Rome, North Italy and Austria. Me?? I’ll just be glad to have him back home safe and sound.

The man is sleeping a lot but I believe he is comfortable enough and the three inches of foam is helping. When he is awake he is very lively and active and he eats like a horse. Although, he is still OCD with his

More rain in Adelaide
More rain in Adelaide

wandering around my legs three times before he eats. I also find that the little platform I made for his food dish is helping – not having to bend down so much and I still hand feed him his stick treat, which I break up into little pieces for him. I know, I’m a sook  :o)

I couldn’t take a video of the rain and the raindrops don’t really show up in a photograph, but at least you can see the effects of the rain, so that should help to remind you (CDL) of what rain looks like. All of these photographs – and a bunch more – were taken during my recent visit to Adelaide. You have no idea the looks I got doing this – I mean who else but an idiot will walk out of  shelter to take photographs of rain and wet streets.   Oh wait – he must be one of those country bumpkins from up north!!! Although, this particular country bumpkin spent half his life growing up in a city that was older. bigger, bussier than Adelaide  but there you are, that’s in the past. But take heart, in a few short months, you will be into your Fall and we will be heading towards our summer and temperatures of 100 plus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Travelling – Home and Away

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
This is what rain looks like...
This is what rain looks like…

Was down in Adelaide for two days and saw my son off at Adelaide Airport. He is flying Emirates to Glasgow, staying in Glasgow for a few days then to London and the Eurostar  to Paris.  He’s a week in Paris then on to Madrid, Granada, Fez, Marrakesh and Casablanca.  He will be touring Italy before ending up in Germany where he meets up with engineers – of course!  Last I heard – a few days ago – he’s having a ball. He can only message when he can get WiFi.  Anyway, he’ll probably bring me back a T Shirt  :o)   Ah the good lad did take some photographs of Napoleon’s Tomb for me  :o) Adelaide was cold, wet and miserable and driving through the rain on the Port Wakefield Road – in the Dark – was not my idea of fun. It has been cold the last week or so and I have had the fire on most nights.  The

A sledge-hammer would do the job just as well!!
A sledge-hammer would do the job just as well!!

Man sleeps a lot now but he still seems ok. When he is Awake, he eats well and runs around the house.  He falls a lot but he just gets up and carries on as if it’s normal. It hurts me more than it seems to bother him. I have built a little platform for his  food bowl so that he does not have to bend  down  too much to eat. I also went to the upholsterer and bought foam to put under his bed so he has a sort of cushion, which, we hope, will make tings a little more comfortable for him. Goodness, who knew that foam was so expensive, but  if it  helps him to get a bit more comfortable, that’s all that’s  important.  When he is sleeping in the evening, Chienne and I slip quietly out and go for a walk.

I have been helping to do more work along the back fence that I spoke of a while ago. The Bougainvillea is gone but the vines are proving to be a major problem. Some of these are so thick Tarzan would be proud of them. I head off back to Adelaide on Wednesday for a meeting Wednesday afternoon. If I drive down I would have to stay overnight and I would prefer not to, so I will do the same as I did last time – take the early morning coach. Still gives me time to do some shopping in town before heading home on the last coach.

I don’t know what the situation is in other places but here continual pop-ups are driving me to distraction. No matter what I do I cannot get rid of them. I have a pop-up blocker in Firefox and one in Windows 8 but they never stop. I have even had  pop-ups and a win lots of money sort of survey from a New York Lady, who likes Butterflies and  watches Cricket. In a little while I am going to shut this computer down and have it removed for a bit and put the AppleMac back in its place. I hope that Apple, with its different system, is not infested with these things because I am starting to get really annoyed.

Well,  here we are – returned  to  the Apple again. I’m starting to feel like Eve, can’t resist an Apple  :o) Actually not really true, I’m more of a Samsung person. But anyway, the AppleMac seems to be pop-up free.  I think the next desktop computer I get will be an Apple and not a PC

Have not heard from John for  nearly a week but he did say that this would happen once he crossed into Morocco. Not all that good with WiFi in Arab countries.  On Monday he will be in Seville, so I hope to hear from him then. As far as I know he is enjoying himself and he is with a good tour group.