Well, I don’t quite know what is happening with Word Press, but I will give it another try and see how we get on. Nothing much has changed since my last post.  I think I already said in the last post I wrote that I have returned to the RFDS and the Camera Club.. I am also getting more time out and about with Benji. I have also been back to Quorn several times to take photographs of the Steam Trains.  There are two Steam Trains  with the Pichi Richi Rail Preservation and in the whole four and one half months that Annabell was in Quorn, the steam trains didn’t run – only the diesel and I have  a good photograph of that.  In early November the Camera Club and looking at a weekend in the Flinders Ranges for a photo shoot. Depending  on  one of the boys able to look after Benji for a few days, I might  go with them on that  trip.

Benji and I spend a lot of time at the Wetlands. We now have three pair of swans and the single lonely one. His/Her partner  was

removed from the Wetlands after some “accident” and was never returned. Swans mate for life, I believe,  and the remaining single swan will not leave the area, so instead of having eight swans we have seven. We also have an odd assortment of  bird life, including ducks and wild geese – and, of course the usual assortment of seagulls.

I have also gone  out with Benji to the Lighthouse and Douglas Point. A good drive and pleasant weather. On the subject of weather,  being early spring, the  mornings and nights are cold, but the daytime temperature is generally  warm and sunny – for example the daytime temp is currently 28C and a really nice day. Today was a good day at the Wetlands and Benji enjoyed his ice-cream at the end

of our walk.

Yesterday was also good and I drove with Benji to Quorn  because the larger of the two steam trains was running and I wanted photographs of that. It was only running between Quorn and Woolshed Flat and I took the photograph  there and didn’t go on to Quorn. I regret that decision now because I would have closer and better photographs of the engine and the train itself at Quorn. Woolshed Flat is a private area and the photographs I took were taken from the roadway. However, the Explorer will be running  most of October and next Sunday – for one day only the ” Coffee Pot” a small steam train will also be running on the same day as the Explorer so I might just go up north for that and photograph both. The Coffee Pot is a special train and it is for ” Adults” NO not that meaning – “Grown Ups” probably a better choice of words – with ” Welcome On Board cocktails a three-course meal at Woolshed Flat with  the choice of wine.   There has been a relaxing of the Laws so I can not only take Benji with me       ( which I do anyway) and with the relaxing of the laws, I can let  him out of the car – not just in Quorn but also in the Flinders Ranges National Park – BUT strictly under control at all times. For me it’s a no brainer since I  clean up after

him anyway.

Given his age, I take Benji out in the stroller every morning and when I go to the Wetlands. He

is getting on and will be 15 next Birthday. I was taking him out walking for a short distance after the evening news but I find that he is dragging and doesn.t want to walk until we turn for home and he takes off with unexpected bursts of energy. This is happening too often so I am reluctant to take him out in the evening. It’s not a long walk in the evening – about 7 or 8 minutes there and the same back, so at the very most it’s a 20 minute walk. But if I go out without him, he stands at the window watching me and looking deserted and he either stays there until I come back or he knows when I am coming back because he’s at the window when I walk to the door and that makes me feel bad.

Our major employer is in trouble and we don’t know what is going to happen. It is not only of major importance to Whyalla and South Australia but also to Australia itself. It is Australia’s  second largest steel-maker – after Port Kembla in New South Wales. This steel mill is privately owned by a man called Sanjeev Gupta and in Australian Terms he’s a “Gunner”   This is an insult.. What it means is that all  you get out of him is ” I’m gunna do this and I’m gunna do that”  and really , nothing much gets done. He hasn’t  paid his contractors but he just spent $12 Million on an apartment in Sydney and $18 Million on a place in London. So, we really don’t know what is going to happen and the state government is getting concerned because they cannot allow this plant to go to the wall. It is a major part of Australian Trade and Gupta knows that… It’s a  worry.