Month: October 2021

Weather News – Severe thunderstorms hit South Australia …

18 hours ago · Lightning, giant hail and heavy rains have hit parts of South Australia, causing flash flooding and damage across the state, forcing the closure of a number of schools. A severe thunderstorm warning for the Adelaide region has been cancelled, but a severe weather warning for damaging winds remains in place for most of the state.

—————————————————————————————————————

This was the result of the thunderstorms that battered the state  all day Thursday and well into this morning (Friday) I  had a generally sleepless night during the gale force winds worrying about the two trees outside. As it happens they – thankfully – survived. I say thankfully because if they came down they would cause considerable damage. I am desperate to have them removed but I can’t find anyone willing to do this or that have the necessary equipment to do this. Early morning it was reported that  schools had damage to roofs and had to be closed and currently there are some 30,000 houses without power.

The hail storms were severe with some hail as big as gold balls, causing major damage. There is advantage in living in the arid lands – the weather gets ” grumpy” at times but is really nothing in comparison to what they get  down south. We don’t get the hail – which is something to be thankful for. Over in New South Wales and Victoria the storm front caused havoc with roofs collapsing under the weight of the water and the massive hailstones. The storm drains were unable to cope leaving the water no where to go but into houses and businesses. Over there they were talking 100,000 without power. Car repair people will be working for a long time to repair the damage caused to cars by the hailstones

Yesterday afternoon before the storms hit I removed everything I could from the back garden, including the removal of the canopy of the garden swing, which in  a good wind acts like a sail. I brought  Benji’s chair and stored it in the garage along with  all of the seat covers.  It is now 07:30 and as I look out of the window I can see that there is not even a breath of wind. A lot of damage across much of the state and I expect the clean-up will take some time. There was some wind when Benji and I went for our walk at 6am, but now – nothing.

Just shows you how the weather can make a liar out of people. Less than five minutes since I wrote the above sentence and it’s raining and a wee bit windy  LOL..  I have noticed that the rain is not falling down, well, yes, of course it is,  but it’s almost horizontal. If it gets any heavier I’ll have to go out and move things that I put under the carport for protection – I did!

The rain continued off and on for much of Friday but by the  mid afternoon it had cleared and Benji and I went for a drive then a  wander through the Ada Ryan Gardens. We didn’t stay too long since there was a  little bit of a wind – nothing much, but it was cold.  This  morning, no sunrise to speak of –  one minute it was quite light, next the sun was in the sky — no beating about the bush this morning.

Don’t think I ever mentioned that Thunder and Lightening doesn’t seem to bother Benji at all. I bought a Thunder Shirt for Chienna but it really didn’t help her all that much.  Thunder crashes and  Benji barely lifts his head. No idea what he would be like outside, but I’m not willing to find out  :o)

From late on Thursday to the early hours of Saturday, we had a kind of role reversal. I was ill and Annabell had to attend and worry about me.  I had severe pain in the upper abdomen and felt bloated.. I told Annabell I was ok and could manage the pain and that she should go to bed. At 4am on the Friday it was bad so I left her a note and went to the  A & E at the hospital. The nurses gave me some Panadol and some Gaviscon , took blood pressure and blood tests and another test. The nurses asked me to stay until the morning doctor came in. I asked when that would be and was told ” About 08:30″  It was now after 6am and I was anxious to get home to make sure Annabell was ok, so I signed myself out. They did give me information and a report of what they had done and advised me to see my doctor as soon as possible.

At home I sorted out Annabell’s breakfast and had a sip of water. I left the house and took the reports to the clinic and made an appointment for 12noon. When I got home again, Annabell was up and worrying about where I was. I helped her as best I could and at 11:30 we went to the doctor. I explained everything to him and outlined where the pain was and the intensity. After an examination. He called the hospital and spoke to the resident doctor and  asked  for emergency  scan of the abdomen and blood tests. He said that  with the information he had been given he was concerned about Peritonitis. The blood and other tests were fairly normal, and the scans showed nothing amiss anywhere, what was causing the pain was a mystery  but the Resident Doctor figured it out. He had seen the  large scar on my abdomen and asked what it was and when it was done. I told him it was the removal of my gall-bladder and it was done in Scotland many years ago. It seems that even after

the removal it is still possible to have  Gallbladder pain because the bile ducts are left intact and they can block giving the same pain as if it was coming from the gallbladder. I was given medication, a script for  additional  medication and  released with the proviso that if the pain gets worse, I should come back.

Well, the pain did get worse and Annabell advised me to go back to the hospital as the Doctor said. I refused. My reason being that I did not believe they could do anything to relieve the pain that they didn’t do when I was there.  By late Friday night I was exhausted and despite the pain I lay down. I fell asleep.  I woke hours later and the pain was much less. I put out the light and went back to sleep. I  woke again around 7am Saturday and the pain was gone. There was some minor discomfort but no pain, but, sadly enough, I didn’t feel well enough for a 2.5 mile walk, so no Benji walk. I took Annabell to the supermarket and I bought  tins of soup – not cream of – just ordinary soup.  Although not overweight, I decided to go on a liquid diet for a few days to help things along. I also bought something I have not bought for  many years – a Hot Water Bottle. Well I figured if it was gallbladder type  pain I would treat it the way I did all those years ago.  I just thought it

was an “Old Wife’s Tale”  that actually worked, but it turns out it is recognised way to relieve internal pain and called ” Heat Therapy “. Of course, I suspect you knew that, but I’m a slow learner. I just had this idea in my head that you can have an organ removed but  years later it will come back to haunt you.

Anyway, I am well and have recovered. Annabell not so much. I think I gave her a bit of a fright and for that I am sorry. I have managed to get out with Benji  yesterday and today, so he’s ok. I also take Annabell for her tests today, so just as well I am recovered since the next two days are going to be busy. As for me – well I am good. If this were not so I would not say it. Just have to be careful for the next few days.

Saturday – the first day of the long weekend and the last day before we do the time manipulation.  It began in 1916 during WWI  in an  effort to save fuel for the war effort and although that ended with the conclusion of the war, it has been on and off through different patterns ever since until we arrive at the present effort of measurement. My understanding is that there is a push in some quarters to “spring forward” and never fall back. That would be interesting although I  Imagine it would throw up all sorts of concerns that we never thought of and I read somewhere it  could mean sunrise at 4:10 am. Not sure if I like that idea..

Overnight we did have the rain that was forecast and the rest of the day has been fairly  reasonable – about 24c. I got out this morning with Benji and our morning walk was quiet and peaceful and the 6:30am half light is just fine. Annabell is starting to settle back down again and she is  much better today. Thank you for all your kind thoughts.

Sunday: Strange day today; Benji refused to go out for our morning walk. I was all dressed and ready to go but he refused to move out of his bed. I put the lead (leash) on him but he still refused to move, so I just let him be and got undressed again. Well, it was pitch black and he – like me – had also lost an hour of sleep. Church was quiet and we had a short service. I just hope that things will return to normal if and when we  remove the mask restrictions. After church and lunch I did take Benji down to the Jetty and the foreshore. The jetty was good and I actually got to see the dolphins. First time I have ever seen them.  On the way back we passed the food carts and much to our surprise the pelican

was standing there waiting in line. The pelican has been around for some time and it’s good that  it remains now that the Black Swans have gone. With the council closing down the  foreshore cafeteria, there is a proliferation of food vans around the jetty area  It was an interesting day.  I had intended to go to the Wetlands but that area seemed to be pretty crowded as I drove  by, so that’s why we ended up at the foreshore. I was just a tad miffed mainly because the lack of the morning walk threw my  step total out of the window for the the day.  I’ll have to try and compensate sometime during the week.

We have- or rather I have- changed our going out time in the morning from 6am to 6:30 am. This mainly because it is still very dark at 6am but by 6:30 it is getting light. Can’t think why – going out in the early morning dark never bothered him before. Well, he is getting older and it will be his 11th birthday soon. Perhaps a  2.5 mile walk first thing in the morning is getting a bit much for him, but he walks well enough and it does not seem to bother him as long as he has his “stops”.

Annabell had a bit of a “turn” at the ladies coffee night. I was called and went to collect her. I took her up to the hospital but not only was the A & E crowded, the hospital had called a ” Code Blue” At the time I had no idea what this was, so I found out that it can mean a Cardiac  Arrest. As a  result there was no doctor in the A & E. I took her home and didn’t have a lot of sleep.  Anyway, to cut short , did get her to see her own doctor. and now I have to take her to hospital and Medical Imaging to have a CT Head Scan  and a US  Carotid scan. Presently she is good and the “turns” were very short but we still need to have them checked, but otherwise, she is  ok.

I have just completed a survey for WordPress and I did  kind of mention that I do not like Blocks and  finding it getting harder to remain with Classic. I don’t suppose it will make a difference, but at least I’ve had a say – which is something.

Annabell has not been the best the last few days. Actually since we returned from Adelaide she has been quite tired. I think all the stress and the running about over the five days took a lot out of her. Certainly I  did the physical  running about because of the  intransigence (not the term I really want to use) of the hospital pharmacy but she did stress about it. I think the entire five days were quite stressful for her. Also, what I didn’t mention – because I thought it unimportant – is that on the drive down and again on the drive back, any food that we bought we had to eat in the car. This was because the government regulation had closed down the seating areas. But then, even before the pandemic I was eating in the car when driving to conference anyway,  so I really never gave it a lot of thought.  The other times we drove down, there were no restrictions and we could sit down and eat in comfort. Little things that tend to add up. However, I will keep a close watch on her over the next few days.  You might wonder why this photograph again, well I put it in Lightroom and brightened it up some so that the birds are much clearer.

This coming Sunday,  3rd October, the clocks move forward. Bother – I thought I had another week before I loose sleep.. Tomorrow, however, is the last day of winter, so once we get through the rain

we should start to have some good warm days and Benji and I can get out and about – depending on Annabell’s health. But that apart, there are only a few places within easy reach that I can take him. The farthest place I will go is the lighthouse, which is a half hour drive away and given the present circumstances, that’s about as far as I am willing to go. In November I have to go  to  the Quarterly Conference, but that’s only an overnight stay.

This weekend is a long weekend with Monday being Labour Day. Not really sure what happens then but off-hand, not a lot. It falls at the start of the Term Holidays so people are more interested in getting away  to wherever it is they are going with the children, rather than hanging around to wave a flag at something.

I am not actually cracking up – well at least, not more than usual. It may  seem that way when people encounter double posts. Well the reason  is that everything around here is so slow and posts seem to vanish. So I post, go away for several hours and come back to find that my post seems to have vanished – again – so what do I do?  Well, I write another post and almost as soon as I press “send” the first post  from several hours ago, suddenly appears. So we now have two posts, one after the other, saying almost the same thing. Yes, I understand, it is irritating but if you can bear with me for a little while – say 17 – 25 years – I have faith that the government will eventually sort out the National Broadband System that many of us hate.  I am not joking when I say that Dial-up was better!

Benji is well. Because of the rain, we have not been out much these last few days. Certainly, we do not get rain such as they do  in New South Wales or even in the lower areas of the Peninsula here but it’s still wet and still restricts what we can and cannot do outside. The most  annoying thing is that  a  bit of rain and the weeds take off like wildfire. I have just spent half the morning pulling up weeds. Anyway because of the rain Benji and I have not been out as much as I would like. Rain is forecast for this long weekend, so probably not a lot happening..  I meant to ask my Fav Ninja how she enjoyed being on her own for a few days whilst mom and Norman were at the gathering.