Category: House, Garden and Dogs

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.

I sort of suspected that!!!

We had the family here for dinner for the first time in two weeks – that’s the three boys and Rachel.

So who is Rachel, well she is Andrew’s new love. Andrew and Connor’s mother split up about 17 months ago. In the intervening time Andrew met Rachel. She has been here with him and Connor several times and she is a lovely  young  woman. She is very nice, very down to earth and I can talk to her a lot easier than I was able to talk to Patrica  (Trish) I like her and I would like to see this relationship progress.

One would think that after all the years I have been doing this that I should be able to write a church service and an address without too much difficulty, yet today I was a mess. I made so many mistakes and lost the plot a couple of times. I did not have a good morning! Only a few people have been turning up to service.  The reasons for this is that the Government Rules are that we must wear masks, we must have a 1’4 metre distance

and we cannot remove masks to sing. Because of this a number of people with health issues related to mask wearing will not come to church and a number of people who don’t want to sit in church for the length of time  the service takes and have to wear a mask, also wont come. So, until such time as the government removes the mask issue, our numbers will decline.

A good number of years ago I was in Adelaide. I lived in Adelaide for over three years. Yes I was able to go home  fairly frequently, but it’s not the same. During my time there I was in and around Elizabeth and was active in the church there. Elizabeth church became my second home. So, it was quite a shock to me to be told on Thursday that my dear friend, Agnes, had died. Agnes was the Session Clerk of the church for many years and was not only a great help to me, but was also a good friend. The Elizabeth people were very good and helped to look after me during my stay there.  Being told that she had died, hurt me very much in that I didn’t even know what she had been so ill.

Some years ago, before Annabell became ill, I had to spend the weekend in Adelaide. On the Sunday people asked Annabell where in Adelaide I was staying and were told that      ” John is in North Adelaide’  “Oh so he will be going to North Adelaide Church then?”         ” No”, said Annabell , ” If I know John, he will be in Elizabeth Church”  And she was right – that is where I was.   So yes it was a shock to me to be told About Agnes and my heart wept for all my friends in Elizabeth.  I really wish I could be there with them tomorrow for the funeral,  but it means two days away and  my job is here – to look after Annabell. As it turns out, Annabell is not the best today.

There is no report from the hospital in Adelaide so we do not know what the results of the tests are. I should like to think we will have some information sometime this coming week. I  should also like to think that whatever the results are, we should be ok until the  visit in December. We have advised the medical people in Adelaide that if the units need to be replaced,  the scripts, should be faxed to the pharmacy  here and we will have them filled out and bring them down with us.

Today, (Monday) I went back down to the Wetlands for the morning walk with Benji. An unfortunate decision as Annabell was unwell and didn’t call me because she knew where I was. I was quite annoyed and she should have called me and  I would have come home. For the time being I will  stay in the area with Benji where I can be home in minutes rather than a quarter of an hour away- longer if she calls and I happen to be on the ‘wrong side’ of the ponds.

The drive home was uneventful. A stop for fuel and food at Port Wakefield, which, with all the  roadworks, took us two hours to get to from Kent Town – and it’s only about 125 klms. Still, it was good to be going home again.  I drove through from Wakefield to Port Augusta (285 klms.) where we  stopped again for fuel. I also went into the local store and I don’t know how it happened, but two new toys somehow  got into my shopping basket. It’s a mystery to me !!  The last lap from Port Augusta to home (77klms) was the best lap of all – of course it always is..

Where we stay in Adelaide is at the Flinders Lodge. This was once a regular hotel but it is now owned by the South Australian Cancer Council, along with a second lodge in another part of the city.    They are used as accommodation for cancer patients and their carers/ partners. I am allowed to stay there because I am with Annabell, but I would not be allowed to stay there if, for example, I were in Adelaide for a Conference. However, if Annabell were in hospital and I came down to visit, I would be allowed to stay there.  Flinders Hospital and Medical Centre is a fair way out of the city and the train from Central to Flinders takes about 30 minutes, so if you think about that, all the running around I had to do last Thursday because of the pharmacy, took up a fair chunk of time.

Everything seems to be going well and we should not be back in Adelaide again until sometime in December. Oh I meant to say that our first day in the Lodge I got really excited when I saw a lady guest with her dog, but on talking to her I found out it was a “Service” dog,  and that is allowed. Oh, also, on the subject of “allowed” Feeding the birds is not allowed. I did not know that, so I fed them. I was told  by the staff – very nicely – that they are wild not tame birds and if they cause any injury ( the have big beaks) the Council takes no responsibility. There is a notice in Reception to this effect, but I didn’t see it.

To say Benji was glad to see us, is an understatement. Once the initial greetings were over, he did not leave my side for much of the day. I had difficulty trying to unload the car  :o)

It was good to be home again and I really missed him. Once we were settled and the car was unloaded, I put the harness on him and we went out for a walk. John didn’t have the time to take him out so this was his first walk in nearly a week. He spent a fair bit of time catching up on, and replying to,  his mail  :o) Everything is fairly well back to normal, or as normal as it can be :o)

When I was in Adelaide I managed to get to a garden shop and bought three African Daisy seedlings. I have planted them and looking forward to seeing how they develop. I did water them yesterday and last night it rained. Spring!! You just don’t know what it has in store.  Still not happy with this version of “Classic”  The old version let me know how much I had written – this one does not. Ah Ha – I have found it.

Neither Annabell nor I have had our Covid19 vaccine injections yet.  Annabell was told to wait until after the day surgery and I decided to do likewise so that we both go together. Now that we are home until at least December, we will organise to have this done. Thus ends a most interesting  seven days.

Hmmm. It says ” Classic” but it’s not the classic I remember. Oh well, we will persevere. Today is Monday 13th Sept.  and  tomorrow we head to Adelaide. John will be looking after Benji while we are away. Things have been fairly set out and provided they don’t change anything I have everything organised. Tuesday is a free day – apart from driving. Wednesday we have the clinic; Thursday Tests: Friday day surgery: Saturday a rest day to recover from the Surgery, and then set out for home Sunday morning. All-in-all, a fairly busy week.  This will be the longest time we have left Benji. Generally it has always been just for a few days, but six days is along time  for him to be without His Peeple. Still, I’ll make it up to him  and you never know, a couple of new toys might just slip into the case. Still on about Benji – I can see from the window as I am typing this that he is outside on his new chair getting some rays on his bones…

I missed the cut-off day for the City Council Calendar so I wont have any photographs in the 2022 Edition.  I didn’t do too badly in the four  photographs I put in  to the Photograph Exhibition and my points were, 8,7,6,6. with some reasonably write-up by the judges. I am quite pleased with it all and I’ll see what I can do for the next time.

We have now been in Adelaide for three days with three more to go. We have been for consultations and tests and tomorrow at 6:45am we have to be at the hospital and she is first on the surgery list. Of course, we were last time but it’s still after lunch before we get away. We will stay here on Saturday and head home early Sunday morning. We will be glad to get home. This has not been a great trip and we had quite a run-around from the hospital pharmacy and the doctor had to cancel the the scripts – re-issue me with new ones and I  had to go into the city the following morning to have them filled at any outside city pharmacy. I am not impressed with the hospital pharmacy and neither was the surgeon since these units were necessary for the operation. Thursday was supposed to be a sort of ‘Free Day” but I spent most of it travelling back and forward to the hospital collecting the new scripts, then taking them into town, getting them filled out, at a city pharmacy, then back to the clinic.

I will be glad to get home and I am missing Benji. John has been looking after him and sending me information on how he is.  Annabell will be glad to get back home and into her own bed. The beds here are very comfortable but for Annabell a bit too low.

I did have one exciting time. The hotel is close to the major parklands and across from the hotel is the gathering place of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. On the Thursday evening, after all the running about, I heard a noise outside the door and went to investigate. To my amazement there were not one, but two Cockatoos on the balcony. I grabbed a couple of plain biscuits (cookies), went outside and hand fed them. As I was doing so, a third one arrived, so I was hand feeding all three.  I thought this was very exciting to be up close and personal with wild Cockatoos. Not the greatest of photographs but I didn’t have the time to stuff about with settings. I felt they would take off and I would miss the opportunity. Perhaps later on I’ll put if on Lightroom and brighten the photographs up somewhat. The photograph of Benji is one that John took and sent to me in Adelaide.

Tomorrow is the last day of Winter. Spring begins on Wednesday. Winter is giving us a cheerful farewell with temperatures climbing gently from 23c today  to 34c on Thursday before falling back to 16c on Friday. After that a wet weekend. In essence we are having a taste of what summer may be like ahead of time. I mean it’s generally not as warm as this so early in the season, so it could be an interesting time ahead.

Overall it has been a fairly quiet week and on Sunday, we opened the church again. Social distancing and masks mandatory – even when singing.  The congregation were told by phone that if they were coming it was preferable to bring  a couple of masks with them. We also have a box of surgical masks at the door in case anyone forgot their mask. That’s not all that difficult since I have,  on  several occasions, had to walk back from the main door of the Shopping Centre  to the car because I forgot my mask. Well, I don’t wear it when I am in the car driving.

South Australia is still Covid Free and although we do have some restrictions, we do not, like our neighbour states, have any form of lockdown and, our State economy is recovering quite well, thank you despite the fact that we have cancelled  large population events. Except football – in this state everything revolves around football -I mean, considering what is happening and the crisis in Afghanistan, Chanel 9  opens its MAIN news broadcast with a Football story, only after it has explored that does it mention what’s happening in the rest of the world

Annabell has had a good week or so and over the last week we had two hasn’ts – hasn’t grown and hasn’t moved , so that’s great for her peace of mind when  we go down to the clinic in Adelaide  on the 14th /15th Sept.

The weather, being mild has allowed me to do some work out in the garden and I have managed to plant some new flowers.  The chair that Benji uses to sun himself has seen better days so I decided it was

time the old Papasan chair was disposed of and a new one bought. So that’s what I did. Now he can still go out and  get a few rays but with a slightly larger chair. Actually it is a nice morning and he is out on his chair at the moment.  I can see him from the window. No I do not spoil my dog, I just look after him very well. At the moment he goes out with me in the car and when I cannot take him into the shop, he is fine in the car with the windows partly open – and I time my visit to the shop so he is not left in the car for too long.  In a month or so this will probably stop as the weather heats up. Even with the windows open it would still be too hot for him.

Actually we have not been  for a road trip for a while, so I think we are about due for one before it gets too hot. Also we have not been to the wetlands for a while and have  done our walking in the morning here in our local area. I think I did mention  once before that a single area walk covers more distance than two tours of the wetlands. I did go there this morning ( Tuesday) and it seems that the group are splitting up because some of the ladies are starting  the walking at 5AM  and it is starting to get light at 5:40. But going to the wetlands is good but there is no way I can keep up with them – not with a four foot dog!! – And that’s on his good days..

Apart from the odd Wednesday/Thursday submission, I have not really written much these last few weeks. The reason is simple, I have had to attend to Annabell. These last few