April 2022 – Edgar's Page

Anzac, Hospital, Benji and Cats.

27/04/202227/04/2022 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

A fairly quiet long weekend and a public holiday. Monday 25th April (Today) is ANZAC Day, a day when Australians and New Zealanders give thanks for the sacrifice those in the past made to defend and preserve the freedoms that we generally take for granted today. I attended the Dawn Service at the Memorial Gates this morning and I saw that whilst there were quite a few people there ( a reasonable size crowd) I did observe that there were very few young people attending. At the end of each Service the Australian and the New Zealand National Anthems are played. On the way home, I stopped off at Maccas ( which is always open) and bought breakfast for my travelling companion and me.. I have chicken nuggets in the freezer , but this was Special and he deserved a treat. Besides, nuggets are very useful to hide medicine inside. The pills the Vet gave me to give to him are fairly large antibiotic so I find it easier to cut them in half and use two nuggets,. Just as well he really likes nuggets. At 06:30 Annabell was still asleep – which is good. I did talk to her, briefly at just after 7am then she went back to bed.

During the course of this week I will get things sorted out and ready for our drive to Adelaide on Sunday Morning. My Nikon Camera is needing to be looked at so I have to remember to take that with us as well as the Canon – which I am using along with my Cell Phone. I have decided for the present to use the term “Cell Phone” mainly because it’s much easier than writing things out twice.. The other

day I wrote that I had somehow acquired cats and then discovered that I also had kittens wandering about. I have found that cats and kittens seem to vanish for much of the day then in the afternoon and for most of the night ( I think) they gather to sleep on the park bench. Still haven’t figured out what the nose rubs between Benji and one of the cats, meant although I have been told by someone

that it is part of an animal greeting ritual. Does this mean that Benji and the Marmalade Cat are now “Pals” ? I don’t see it but you never know. I do know the kittens run and hide whenever Benji or I appear. I know where they hide and it’s quite interesting. There is the barbecue and there is the barbecue cover, which covers the unit right down to the ground. This is where the kittens run and hide – underneath the cover. The two photographs, well, all the photographs of the cats are taken through the window. Just as well the window is clean after all the rain and wind we have had these last few days.

A friend has suggested that there is a danger that the adult cats will take off leaving me with the kittens. I don’t think these are feral cats but I will certainly keep a close eye on what is happening. It could well be than the cats are not getting any rest with all the noise from the neighbour’s place. Well, they call it music but we wont go into that..

The hospital (Flinders) called this afternoon – four calls, doctor. nurse, anaesthetist, and the nurse again. We have to go to the hospital here tomorrow for blood tests the results of which will be faxed to Flinders. The nurse did say that she was sending an email to me with all the admission details, but thus far – nothing. Will have to watch for it over the next day or so. We have had the blood tests Adelaide asked for so we will have the scans done a week tomorrow when we return from Adelaide,. Monday and Tuesday look good days – Wednesday warm and dry for driving home but at the moment Sunday looks a bit wet and windy for the drive down.. Still, early days – it could change.

Hospital, Vet, Cats and Kittens

23/04/2022 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Drove to Port Augusta yesterday to take Annabell to Big W. She had tried to get the things she wanted here without success so she thought we could try Port Augusta, Sadly this didn’t happen and she didn’t find what she was looking for. But, despite the delays and the constant speed changes – 110 – 80 – 60 – 40 -25 as well as a convoy, we had a good family outing – all three of us- Maw, Paw and the Bairn, (translation, Mum, Dad and the Child – well, actually a fur-child called Benji) We had lunch at the Port, which I wont say much about, and then we drove back home. It was a nice couple of hours and got Annabell out for a little while and along the way we listened to The Seekers and John Denver, while Benji was quite happy to curl up in the back seat. I did take him for a walk along the jetty, so that wsn’t too bad. The new bridge is coming on well and the approach roads are being sorted out now, so it’a all

coming together nicely. At the end of next week we head off to Adelaide and then the Flinders Medical for day surgery. This coming Tuesday we are confined to the house to await telephone calls from the Nurse, the Specialist and the Anethitist , so that should be a full day.

Sunday morning and we drive to Adelaide. I should like to think that we might have some free time together and go into town and perhaps she can get some of the things she is looking for, but it is unlikely – drive down Sunday – surgery Monday – Tuesday day of rest and telephone calls from the hospital to check that she is ok, Wednesday AM we drive back home. I certainly have some free time while she is in surgery but there asre some things I cannot buy. The thought just occurred to me that we could make a detour at Port Pirie and go into the Shopping Centre there and see what they have

Back in the stroller for a little while.

Taking Benji to the Vet this afternoon. He seems ok but I find him very lethargic and he scratches a lot. I have given him his flea and tick treatment each month so this puzzles me a bit. Of course it might be just his age – he is 12 this year. Yes I know and it is still confusing – the rescue people where we adopoted him from had him born in 2012, which makes him 10 but papers obtained by our Vet say he was born in 2010, which makes him 12. I grew up on the understanding that a dog ages 7 years for every human year, but I don’t think that is true anymore and I am not sure what the current thinking is. — Just looked on line and according to the chart I found if he is 12 he is 64 and if he is 10 he is 56. He is under 20 kilos so he is classed as a small dog. So it would seem that he is not quite as old as I thought he was. If it gets to the point where he can’t walk as far as we do, I will get out the stroller and still take him out in the fresh air. At the vet today he weighed in at 9.4 kilo, which is a bit down from the 10 kilo last visit. The Vet was unsure just what the infection is but he took some blood gave him two injections. He also gave me a course of Antibiotics to give him for the next ten days. Also decided to take him out in the stroller on the long morning walk for a couple of days. Will still take him walking for the evening walk.

This is a kind of “Motherhood” statement “I am a dog person!” This does not mean that I don’t like cats, I just don’t have any and I really don’t want any – I have dogs in my life, not cats. I would never encourage cats but at the same time I would never harm them or cause them to be harmed. So I was more than surprised to find that a cat and her partner took up residence in my back yard and were sleeping on a park bench. This shock was even greater when I discovered that not only were there two adult cats but there were also three kittens. I know, I know, it’s not a good idea to feed them, but the thought of the babies going hungry upset me, so yes, I put out a bowl of milk and some cat food – which I bought at the supermarket. Not sure if I did the right thing but I can’t just let the kittens go hungry.

Der Anfang vom Ende – Perhaps.

19/04/2022 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Childred are invincible and for the most part, immortal or so they believe. We once were children and we believed this to be so. As we grew to adulthood, we began to understand that to all things there is a beginning and an end and generally our first

taste of the reality of life was the death of a loved pet. With me it was a road accident that killed my Westie. The odd thing is in all my years since and with all the dogs I have cherished and loved over those years, there has never been another Westie. The nearest I came was “Misty” a Maltese/Westie Cross.

As we get older we recognise many milestones in our lives. Changes take place and we can – generally – see where a certain change had its beginning. Things are changing for me now and I can point to where these series of changes began – 3am on Saturday the 4th December 2021 – the time and date of Annabell’s Seizure. Yes I expect the information that she had cancer played an important part in the events that followed, but the 4th December was the main catalyst. This is when I began to devote much of my time to looking after her. This has not gone down well in some quarters. I have not neglected what I am supposed to be doing in the church- although I did take time off in the early weeks of her seizure, but a complaint was made to the Moderator that I was not fulfilling the duties of my position . Actually, I think what they really mean is that I was fulfilling the duties of my position and doing all that I am supposed to do, but not doing all the little extra things, I used to do. This is all by a small, vocal and influential minority and a Moderator who lives over 1000 kilometers away from here and whom we have not seen since the pandemic began. Irrespective of

The Easter Bunny and helper at the Shopping Mall

what the outcome will be, I am of the opinion that a way back from here may not be possible. I have no regrets I believe I am filling the promises I made in my Job Description – For Better or Worse / For Richer or Poorer / In Sickness or in Health/ Until Death do you Part.

The weather here has been very mixed.. Over the last week or so we have had better warm and sunny weather for Autumn than we had during the summer. Having taken Benji to the Gardens I have already said that they were being well used – which is great. Over the last two days the weather has not been so good, cold, cloudy and raining. The oddest thing is that when I have gone out with Benji we have missed the rain. I mean, we went out last night for our evening walk and it started raining just as we reached our driveway and shelter.

My Nikon has been damaged. No matter what I do the photographs are very fuzzy. I spoke to a photographer and she tells me that it is

possible that the camera has either been damaged (unlikely) or the lens has. Either way I will leave it aside until I take Annabell to Flinders next week and spend the free time I have at the Camera House in Adelaide CBD and get them to check it out. I think I will have to use the Canon for a while. Of course I used the Canon for long enought until Annabell boiught me the Nikon as an Anniversary Present. Still, that was over three years ago so perhaps it really is overdue for being looked at by a camera technician.

Annabell is fairly well so that’s always good. She finds the mornings “difficult”as she does not sleep too well, so mornings are not her best time. This means that other than my morning walk with Benji, I am confined to the house until she does get up. Once she does sleep, I leave her sleeping. Means- have trip to the shed or the garage – will mobile phone carry!! Advice to me: (by me) In the midst of all of this – Always remember the words of John F. Kennedy “Forgive your enemies, But never forget their names”

Cockatoo, Strange Flower and Ada Ryan Garden.

10/04/2022 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Friday April 8th.

Son John has just called me and let me know that he has had a close contact with a person who has tested positive to Covid-19, so he has to isolate until such time as he can organise to get tested himself. I guess that means we wont be seeing him this weekend. The covid cases continue to climb in South Australia and we are almost 7000 new cases per day, and the socialists want to remove masks next week and remove all restrictions. Civil rights groups are taking the Government to court for its imposition of mandatory vaccinations for certain job groups, police, teachers and school staff and retail staff. We are in a

situation one week before the end of term that schools are having to close down because there are not enough staff to cope with classes with so many teachers and support staff across the state testing positive to covid. They are practtically begging retired teachers to return to teaching to help them out and get them over the crisis. Perhaps if someone could give the socialists a good shake to waken them up to the fact that the previous government put the rules in place for a reason – to keep the people of South Australia safe. Up until now it has. Now with the continued increase in cases, coupled with the removal of almost all restrictions, SA is no longer the safe haven it was. Thanks guys!!

Things are strange. As the rain and rainstorms continue to bomb New South Wales and parts of Victoria with more flooding and much “re-flooding” South Australia has warm, sunny 30c weather yesterday, 32 tomorrow and 34 on Monday. After that we may have some rain, but not a lot. That’s good – a wee drop of rain is good for the garden.

On the subject of gardens, I have been taking Benji to the Ada Ryan Gardens most days. In this lovely weather I would like to drive out to the lighthouse or Port Douglas, but we are thinking about 130 klms round trip. I filled the car up on Thursday and that set me back $117 so can’t do that too often and drive back and forth to Adelaide. However, the gardens are still looking good despite the fact that a lot of the flowers have died, but it’s still a good walk in the shade of the big trees. It being, as I

said, a warm, sunny day, there were several picnics at the gardens and there was also a jumping castle. The barbecue area was empty but there were long tables set up with food and drinks and lots of coolers. The children seemed to be having a great time. Benji and I wandered away to the far side of the gardens and stayed away from that area.. However, I think it is good that the gardens are being used for what they were designed for more often.

The Boy and I comtinue our walks.In the morning we set off in a kind of half-light that brightens up fairly quickly and it’s saylight when we are on our way back.. The evening is dark all the way so I have reduced the distance and the overall time of our evening walk> I don’t think he is too bothered as long as we get out together.

Dogs, Birds and Word Press problems.

06/04/2022 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The run down to Adelaide was slow due to the roadworks and the duplication of the main highway. The drive through Port Wakefield wasn’t all that much better with the bridge works and the access roads still being constructesd. However, what is in operation is good and has certainly cleared the deadly intersection that caused so many accidents – and a few deaths. All of this takes time so we are going to be stuck with these dalays and road closures for quite some time to come. Once we reached the city I was able to stop off at Officeworks and get Annabell the new computer that I promised her. We set the computer up in the room for her to have a look at and yes, I did remember to bring a monitor, keyboard and cables with me. It’s a Lenovo – 16gb Ram with a 512gb hard drive+ 2TB drive. I only took a small(ish) monitor down with us but once we get everything sorted out and set the things up, I will give her a much larger monitor. I did get her to play with my laptop for a bit before a decision was made – laptop or desktop – and she was not too comfortable on the laptop- more used to a keybnoard. So, a desktop (Tower) was the final decision..

We only arrived back late Wednesday afternoon and I have hardly had time to stop. Everything has just been a mad rush since we got back. We also have a tentative date for the next day surgery of Monday May 16th. Although this is the date we have been given, I’m not too sure about it as the day surgery is generally a Friday = but we’ll see.

We have been home for a week now and already I am starting to organise things for the three days and the day surgery in May. Had a call from Canberra about a document they want signed. Seems the document is on its way, I get it read it, sign it and send it back by return post. It has to be there by the 18th April and it’s not here yet. I think Canberra is unaware that the postal service in South Australia is run by the Pony Express. The clocks went back on Sunday so we are back to normal time rather than daylight saving. Benji got a little bit anxious when he believed I should be serving him dinner, but I compromised and gave him his dinner a bit earlier than normal in the new time. I will slowly work it back to the new time..

Currently there are two Cancer Council Lodges – Flinders Lodge and Greenhill Lodge. Annabell and I stay in Flinders Lodge and that’s where I will book for the May trip. This will probably be for the last time since both lodges have been sold to developers and are currently leased back to the Cancer Council. However, the new Multi-story Lodge should be ready for August/September so that will be interesting. I will be sad when Flinders Lodge closes since I will miss the nightly visit by the Sulpher Crested Cockatoos.

At the moment it is unsure what will happen with respect to the Commissioner to the State Assembly and the Presbytery. I have been doing this for so long and part of the reason for that is that there is no one else. We don’t have the qualified person to take over. If we fail to fill the position, then Assembly will appoint one of its members to act on our behalf and that person may not have our interests at heart. The position itself is not too great a burden nor do I mind the driving to Adelaide and back five times a year, but each trip means two days away from Annabell. That’s what bothers me. It is amazing how your mind-set changes. I am like a yuppie ( I said “Like”) I cannot go anywhere without my mobile (cell) phone. I have turned the car round and gone back home because I forgot to lift the phone If I go outside to work, my phone goes with me. If Annabell gets into trouble and calls me I need to get back as quickly as possible. This is why I stopped going to the Wetlands in the morning. My reason tells me that if Annaberll had another seizure. she would not be able to use the phone, I realise this, but it’s not changing what I do or how I think. All very strange.

I am trying to respond to posts but we have gone back to “your WordPress account has expired” then it deletes what I have written. So, please understand that I am not ignoring anyone. Not all posts so it’s like being blocked from certain posts. Decidedly strange.

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