Adelaide – Page 10 – Edgar's Page

The Man, me and sleepy-time.

11/11/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The first “real” fire of the season and it claimed a life. A major fire burning north of Port Wakefield was brought under control but at the cost of a life. Is not a good start to the fire season and despite the odd rain, if has been very dry, so it’s not looking all that good. I almost had the best sleep in weeks – almost. He finally settled down just after midnight and I went to bed. I went to sleep and was sound asleep when he decided to start yelping at 6:33 and woke me up.” I could have been a contender – I could have been somebody”- I could have slept until at least 7:15. But no! Duty, in the shape of the Man, called at precisely 6:33am.

Here, in the North, we may not experience the problems that the south has – we don’t have floods and we don’t have serious gale force winds all that often, but we do have major fluctuation in temperature more rapidly here than in the South of the State. A few days ago it was 34c but up here the temperature can drop as much as 12-15c overnight, which means that you go to bed with a light sheet covering and wake up in the wee small hours just about freezing and scrabbling frantically for quilts or blankets. No – it does not happen the opposite way. Temperature rises are gradual – it can drop from 39c – 24c overnight but it wont rise from 26c – 39c overnight – if that makes sense!! At the height of summer the temperature rises to 42+c and can stay there for days at a time- then the major problem for fire-fighters is a wind blowing in off the desert and swinging back and forth in different directions. Arizona would know all about fighting fire and changing wind direction. However, I also have to say that there is nothing in this area that even remotely resembles a forest – or even a large area of trees and the closest I have ever come to a forest fire was when I drove back from Adelaide last year. In Scotland the North wind came screaming in off the Ice-Cap bring cold, ice and snow. Here the North wind is a hot wind blowing in off the desert.

The Man is not having a good day. I fed him his treat and medication this morning ( at 6:33) but he’s crying as if he was in some pain. I understand that he is a bit scared and has no idea what is happening to him, he is blind and can’t see what is happening around him. There is nothing in this world that I want more than to be able to lift him, cuddle him, comfort him and somehow let him know that I will never abandon or desert him and be always here for him. I touch him, and he tries to bite me – I lift him and he screams and struggles until I put him down. He fights and resists every attempt to help or comfort him and at times I just don’t know what to do. The closest I get to him is when I hand feed him his treat in the morning. My recovery is not helped by him yelping at 3am and I have to get out of bed to attend to him and get him back to his bed again. Poor wee thing…

It seems like weeks since I last wrote anything here and I suspect the reason it feels like weeks is because it is. The “Bug” turned out to be a little more serious that we thought and the swabs threw up a few “nasties” – interesting but not dangerous. I am still tired and unable to do much, but I am recovering and I should have recovered sufficiently to be in Adelaide on 19th & 20th November. I will be down for the Commission – which I have to attend. I also have to attend a conference on 6th December and that should be me until mid-February next year. Because of the lack of energy I have not been able to keep up with much of what’s been happening around the place and with the other members of WordPress. I really must try and get on top of things. In the meantime all I can do is quote the words of the Great Mark Twain “The reports of my demise are grossly exaggerated”

Watching grass and Conference woes.

18/10/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The Man’s health is declining but he is not making it any easier to help him. He resists every attempt to be nice to him and help him. I have stopped taking him out with me because I have to watch him like a Hawk – not for his benefit but for mine. He cannot walk in a direct line but wanders about the place crossing back and forth in front of me or so close to my legs that I have to stop. My fear is that I wont see him because of some distraction and it’s me that will go head first into the roadway. Bitumen hurts! I don’t know what to do. He is not the lovable little Man that we knew and loved and that’s a worry. This is like living with a stranger, one that wanders around in circles. Actually, Chienne walks away from him and goes outside and sleeps in the Dog House rather than listen to him yelping. It’s not a question of medication because he is getting the right medication for his age and weight – he is less than 3 kilo. Despite all his problems at the moment, he is still My Dog and it’s still my responsibility to take care of him – even when he bites :o) My theory about that is that when he wakens up from his sleep he has no idea where he is and no idea who I am, which means that if I try to touch him he may well see me as someone who is trying to attack him and responds accordingly. He sleeps most of the time now so we ensure that his bed is as comfortable as we can make it for him.

I did not go to Adelaide as I was supposed to on Wednesday. I wont have the same luxury this coming weekend when I really do have to be in Adelaide. Fortunately my son is coming with me so he can have a turn at the driving. Apart from the Conference I want to get the sleeve for the Hills Hoist, a cleaner for the driveway, some stationery at Koorong as well as some things for my Filofax at Office Choice. John wants to go to the computer warehouse to get the components he wants to build his computer, so all in it will be a busy weekend. Fortunately, things are starting to calm down and I only have three more days in Adelaide – the coming one – one in November and the last one in December. That should be me until February of next year. If I do go to Adelaide it will be because I want to do something or get something there rather than have to – if that makes sense :o) The trouble with living so far away from anything – and being a One Horse State – our shops only stock a limited amount of “sellable” stationery and other things. Anything out of the “ordinary “means a trip to Adelaide or order on line. Much of the things I want for my Filofax, I have to order on line from the USA (Pens & Leather) or from Filofax U.K. I have, however, ordered a new Leather Binder from Holland – a sort of move away from Filofax – but not a complete break since I will use both, the Van Der Spek and the Filofax although it really wont make all that much difference since I will still have difficulties in getting supplies whatever I do.

Spring is being its usual obnoxious self. We were warm and sunny, then it took a turn for the worse and just as we were getting used to the warmth, it was cold and wet and miserable again – rain and high winds. Still, according to the news this morning, Sydney got a bit of a battering. Then, just to keep us on our toes, the forecast for the coming week is warm to hot with temperatures reaching the high 30s during the forecast period. Nice pleasant weather for driving.

It was a good drive down and traffic was fairly light. We drove directly to Elizabeth and John ordered the things he wanted or needed to build his computer Driving into Adelaide I managed to get to the stationery shop and get the things I wanted, then drive out to Bunnings and get the sleeve unit for the Hills Hoist. After booking into the hotel we walked into town and get some other odds and ends. Nice quiet night at the

hotel. The following morning John dropped me off then drove back to Elizabeth to get the things he ordered. Personally, I think he got the better of the bargain for the day. I think I would have had a much better time watching grass grow. I would love not to go there but there is no one else – and that’s not an excuse, it’s a sad fact. John picked me up at 12:15 and we drove home. It wasn’t until after we were on the road that he told me that a couple of people were trying to get him to talk me into staying for lunch – which I will not do. You can judge how much importance he placed on this by waiting until we were on the road home before he told me.

Holes in the Garden and the Man

09/10/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Two trips to Adelaide in two successive weeks – one this Wednesday and the other the following Friday. I have one run to Elizabeth in November for the Commission and one in December for the Conference and that will be me for the year. I don’t have to move out of town until next February. All of this, of course, depending on no medical trips to Adelaide – although I don’t foresee any. I have spent the last few days working in the garage and clearing that out and this afternoon, after a medical appointment, I will get changed and work on the retaining wall. This weekend – as I said earlier – I have four fundraising events for the Royal Flying Doctors. I’m doing the first one tomorrow and I am not looking forward to getting up at 5am. :o). I may leave the back until tomorrow and do some work out front. The Sturt’s Desert Pea is now past its best and looking very scraggy and untidy so I will cut that back. The Desert Rose is blooming well enough but somewhat untidy. I am, however, reluctant to do anything about it at the moment. I really don’t want to prune it just yet.

The flies have been atrocious these last few days and I have taken to wearing a thing for my hat. I think I did mention this once before but they (the flies) were driving me nuttier than I already am. After I cut back the Desert Pea and swept up I put a new bench in the garage and sorted out the old bench, so now I just have oi tidy up the garage and put things away in their new places and I can get back to the retaining wall. In the meantime herself would like me to shift the clothes line to a new location. I told her I’ll add it to my “to do” list, which I don’t think impressed her too much. I will get around to it – in the fullness of time :o) I have actually I’ve had a look at it and I will have to dig up the unit that holds the clothes line in place. That should not do too difficult. It will simply mean getting a new unit and cementing that one in instead. Piece of Celery (I’m not allowed cake) Still leaves me with the problem of the “crazy paving” and that very uneven surface and unless I sort that out she will still have difficulty using that area. On the photograph it looks not too bad but it is only when you get up close and personal that the uneven nature of the stones becomes apparent – and remember I didn’t do this; it was here when we bought the place. I did look into bonded aggregate but that’s very expensive – even to get the resin and the other materials and do it myself. I’ve thought about rubber matting and artificial turf. Not really sure what I can do here but as it is it is too uneven and thus dangerous for Herself to walk on.

The Man is causing concern in that he has loosing his eyesight faster than expected, he keeps trying to bite me when I touch him, but once I survive the attempts to bite and set him down next to his diner, he eats well enough. I still hand feed him in the morning ( and he doesn’t try to bite me then) and slip in his medication. He refuses to use the stroller and he gets very stroppy when I lift him because the walking is too much for him. I put him down because I consider it much safer to have him on the ground than have him struggle too much and fall out of my arm and onto the hard surface of the road, or the hard ground. He still runs around the house and from time to time he bangs into things – including me. He was outside today and we heard him yelping, on and on so we went out to investigate. Now you may remember that herself asked me to shift her washing line and I was in the process of doing just that. The Hills Hoist is fitted inside a metal sleeve which is dug and cemented into the ground. I had dug the hole but with all the new housing being built around the place, the sleeves were out of stock at all three hardware shops. I was talking to herself when we heard the yelping. At first we thought it was just his normal yapping at a blank wall, but it went on so we investigated and found — yes you guessed it the Man had gone into the hole and could not get out. I mean it’s not a great big hole, but he managed to get stuck in it. Anyway, I lifted him out and as a thank you Daddy, he tried to bite me – again. I am so glad he has no teeth :o) We have put a bucket in it for the moment – until such times as I can get a sleeve from somewhere – probably Adelaide next weekend.

Clan gatherings, gardens and vacations

01/10/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Today is a day of extreme fire danger – hot temperatures coupled with a high wind – gusting at 90-110 kph. It’s just gone 06:30 and already can hear it outside. Yesterday I bought the material for the retaining wall along the back fence. There’s not a lot I can really do with this area so I thought a two sleeper high retaining wall, fill the space with cheap gravel until about halfway up, then finish off the rest of the way with good quality, decorative material. I will not be planting anything in there because the soil in this area is not the best, but I do have some nice, large pots that I will use with good, hardy, full-sun plants – Geranium for starters, then probably some native plants. However, it being Sunday, it is unlikely that I will be doing anything today although there is a lunch at the church after the service this morning, which should be good. The family will be over for dinner this evening – sort of like a mini clan gathering.

Lovely day! Hot with a high wind. Adelaide has had serious trouble with wind speeds at 110k per hour – trees bringing down power lines and several houses have been damaged. The emergency services have responded to about 160 calls and some 14,000houses are without power. As far as I am aware, everything up here seems to be ok for the time being but there has been no let-up from the wind all day. Took the dogs out for a walk but the Man got tired so I lifted him and carried him for a little while. He went back down and walked back home. Was not out for too long. I think it best to keep him walking while he still can, but the stroller is there all set up for him when we need it.

I will be in Adelaide on the 8th October at a Committee Meeting of the West Terrace Trust. Dr. Klee Benvenista, of the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation was to make a presentation but it being the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles – Sukkot – she asked to be excused since she will be very busy and will not have the

time necessary to organize a presentation, but she will make one at the next meeting of the committee. I come back from that and travel down a few days later for a Conference. I love Conference – it’s like being being mauled by a sheep in sheep’s clothing. My son is coming down with me on that trip since there are things he wants to do in Adelaide and he can take the car after he drops me off. This coming week we have four fundraising activities for the RFDS – three of which require getting out of bed at 5am to be ready to serve breakfast for the 4 wheel drive adventure club. This is the October long weekend and they will be here for four days. On the Monday, one group will do the 4 wheel club and the other group will do a second fundraiser at another venue.

The retaining wall uprights have been concreted into place and part of the sleepers put in to give some degree of stability whilst the concrete cures. In about three days I should be ready to install the remainder of the sleepers and start filling the space with old, tired gravel and I have already selected the pot plants – and the big red Geranium that I want. In the meantime, whilst the concrete cures, I’ll potter around in the garage for a bit. I was sent what I thought was a test – a one word test – and the word was “Vacation” I was unfamiliar with this word so I asked herself ( no point in going to Google – herself knows everything) and she seems to think it’s a period where you leave where you normally live and travel to someplace else. I thought about this and it seems to me that since I travel to Adelaide – which is away from home – then that must be a “Vacation”. Yup, that works — I think…. :o)

The Man, Vets and Adelaide again.

07/09/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I took the Man to the vet this afternoon because his behaviour was causing me problems. I have not said anything on line because y áll had enough problems but I have been exhausted when I get out of bed in the morning and The Man is the reason for this exhaustion and also the reason why I extended my Sabbatical. I have been wakened two, three and four times a night – most nights – with The Man just yelping – I investigate and he is standing facing a blank wall and just yelping, or he is staring off into space and bark/yelping. He calms down and a couple of hours later, he starts again Its ‘been a concern and after a while I do get tired and sleep deprived. Ok what I know, – his arthritis is “progressing” he is going blind, he is loosing his hearing and we suspect there is something akin to a Dog form of Dementia. Mustapha (The Vet) believes that he wakens up in the dark, declining eyesight, scared, not knowing where he is, goes outside to have a wee, and forgets how to get back in – poor eyesight in the dark – gets scared, barks for help, not a lot we can do really other than comfort him and make him feel safe. Well, no! On the way home I stopped off at a hardware store and left him in the car with herself comforting him, and bought two fairly bright night-lights. One I will power on tonight and the other is an outside motion sensor light. I really do know what else I can do. He has a bit of a cough so some medication for that, 10ml of Fish Oil and his arthritis medication. So we’ll see how we go from here. And no, nothing will happen to him. It is not being cruel – he is still much loved and It is my responsibility and my opportunity to repay him for some of the fun we have had together over the last 13 years. Well not strictly true, to say that there is nothing we can do Instead of wheels I have ordered a “Dogger”a stroller for dogs. It should arrive sometime in the next week or so and I will introduce him to it when I get back from Adelaide this coming weekend. Ok, I know I did say that I was staying home until the end of September and generally that’s true, but I need to go be in Adelaide this Friday and Saturday, so back to my little park bench in South Terrace.

The Man has an abscess on his bottom and we have been looking after that. This was also a visit to the vet. We have antibiotics and a saline wash twice a day and rather than diminishing it seems to be slightly larger if anything. I will go on for another few days with the medical treatment, then I will make another trip to the vet. I don’t know what can be done, but the fact that he is old and in decline regarding his health, in not an issue, he still needs good quality vet treatment and I want him to have just that – he deserves it. But somethings are working – he has been sleeping a lot better since the night light. He is sleeping through the night and – importantly – I am too!! Such a little thing, like a night light, has made an enormous difference.

When I get back from Adelaide I will spend all next week running back and forth from hospital with Herself. We have appointments every day, except Friday. On Tuesday she is going for an Ultrasound on her kidney and perhaps from all this we can finally discover why she is loosing blood. I took her to hospital last week and she recorded a BP of 235/90, which she thought was quite ok. She worries me at times.
The drive down to Adelaide was, thankfully, quiet and uneventful and I am now safely in my little Park Bench in South Terrace. Ron was a piper in the Black Watch, Highland Regiment. He was one of the Black Watch Pipers that Mrs. Kennedy asked to play at her husband’s funeral in 1963. Her husband, of course, was JFK. This is an interesting story of itself and sometime I will relay it – perhaps in the next post. As far as we know, there is only one piper remaining of the

pipers who were chosen for the funeral.

Oh, the Dog Stroller arrived on Saturday morning but since herself was out with one of the boys. I was still driving back from Adelaide but the postal people left a note on the door saying that it could be collected on Monday. I will do that and I really do hope this will help. At least it will get him out and about in safety and pain free.

Home, for a while!

13/08/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I have been working in my room for most of today and it is cold outside, so much so that I carried the Man’s bed from the other room into my room, where there is a fire. He is curled up and asleep. He sleeps a lot these days. In fact he spends most of the time sleeping, but when he is awake he eats well enough and he still has his stick in the morning. For the last couple of nights they have been in the room with me and Chi sleeping up with me. I just looked over and he is out cold on his warm bed on his three inch cushion of foam Only another eight days and John will be back with us. He is still enjoying his holiday and I believe he is presently in Budapest. I hear the weather over there is quite good at the moment – it’s cold here.

It has been a week since I wrote the first paragraph and I have spent most of my time away from home. I spent Monday to Thursday out of town, came home Thursday evening and set off to Adelaide on Friday Morning. I was at conference on Saturday morning and although I can’t say much about it, I can say that in all honesty it was probably the worst conference I have had the misfortune to attend. I felt a deep sense of shame over what had taken place. So much so that I left before the end, got in the car and drove through the city and up to Port Wakefield (about 115 klms) before I settled down. I called herself from Pt. Wakefield and spent some time talking to her before starting the drive north. Today (Sunday 10th) I am home. Tomorrow I head back to Adelaide and pick up John from Adelaide Airport. Just seems like a few days since I took him down there and yet six weeks have just flown past. However, as a British Politician used to say, “A week in politics is a long time” and I think the same goes for Word Press – CDL has a sort of Kitchen Meltdown. and Rachel has a horrible time in Hospital and I feel so much of a “fraud”complaining about having to do all this traveling whilst people have had “real” problems.

Anyway, I am home again. I picked up John at Adelaide airport last night and we stayed in South Terrace and traveled back this morning. I have the rest of this week off. I have made myself not available so I can settle down for a while. I took some photographs whilst I was in Adelaide. Some should please Jill because they are the two fountains in Victoria Square. A couple of others are the “Porkers” in Rundle Mall. It was a fairly pleasant two days – cold but dry and good for driving. Although John was not so sure – after the heat of Europe he was really feeling the cold. The Man has not improved any and still barks into empty space, which at 2am, is a bit of a trial. I have spoken to his Vet and he seems to think that the half tablet is sufficient for his age and weight. I did look this up and it

The Main fountain, Victoria Square, Adelaide SA

seems that a half tablet for dogs under 10 klo is the recommended dosage and that’s what he gets each evening – half tablet of Carprofen (10mgs) Still, I am not altogether certain that this is helping him as much as

it should. He is not in any way hampered because he still eats and he still runs around the place like a mad thing at times, but the yelping gets on everyone’s nerves at times. Poor little thing !! Most of the time the dogs are in with me – where the fire is. Not too long now and I can start to complain about the heat :o)

Adelaide, Games and the Man

27/07/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

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.

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.

Travelling – Home and Away

06/07/2014 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!!

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.

Travelling, cars and planes

22/06/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

First off – an apology to CDL for ever doubting her! I was asked this holiday weekend to help a friend in his back yard. They have just bought this house and the area along the back of the fence has gone wild – feral even. The previous owners planted Bougainvillea, never cut it, never trimmed it but allowed it to take over. As if that was not bad enough they had also planted a creeper called here in Australia ‘ Mile a Minute” and a vine that’s called ” Clematis Virginiana” masses and masses of that stuff. Cutting the Bougainvillea was a nightmare but it fell quick enough – after it had poked its way through my gloves a couple of times. The biggest problem, however, is that vine – it’s everywhere, over sheds and over the garage roof. We took two full trailer loads to the dump and were still only at the start of it. The vine is quite nice but again it had been left, never cut never trimmed, never looked after and as a result it is invasive. We also discovered that the back fence was badly damaged and will have to be replaced. The weight of all the years of plant neglect have really taken a toll.

I head off to Adelaide tomorrow, stay overnight in Adelaide then head off to Mount Barker for a conference. I will be staying at the Grand Chifley in South Terrace. and depending on what time the conference finishes I may have to stop somewhere overnight and travel home on Sunday morning. I have to be very honest and say I had fully intended to have a “cold” this conference and put in an apology but the place is in crisis and there will decisions made that could seriously alter the entire structure of how things run. There may well be – and probably will be – things touted that we in the north will have difficulty living with and I will oppose them, but once upon a time there was a balance between liberals and conservatives but that balance is gone and I am, in essence, the last of the liberals and I am always outvoted. TeeHee – there’s 14 of them and 1 of me. Why do I even bother going? Good question, but the rules are very clear that every site must elect a representative and that representative must attend the bi-monthly conference. The consequences for not attending for at least three meetings without a valid reason, can have consequences for the representative and the area represented. I am very selective on when I am ‘unable’ to attend and this weekend would have been one of those. Why?? Well, Herself and the ladies are having a big fundraising function for the Hospital Cancer Unit this weekend – Saturday to be precise. There will be coffee, tea, cakes, scones, biscuits, cookies, scones, all sorts of goodies- and did I mention scones. Anyway, I had intended to be here but now, because of the crisis that developed I need to be there, if only to ensure that the rules are adhered to and insist that my objections be noted in the minutes to show people here that I did not sit quietly and allow us to get railroaded. Travelled down yesterday and it poured all the way down. Went for coffee with friends then made my way to South Terrace and my hotel. I had a good comfortable night and sorry to say to CDL it rained for a good part of the night – and cold with it.

This morning I set off to Mount Barker a again the rain poured down and on the Freeway that was not too comfortable. Still made it with time to spare as I write this on my tablet I am having coffee and cake ( don’t tell herself – about the cake) in place called Gawler Street Cafe and very nice it is too. Still chucking it down and the cafe is nice and warm. Will have to drag myself away in a little while and it will be cold — and the

weather is not all that much better.

I just had a look at the lunch menu and it looks good. May well come back here for lunch. Actually I did come back for lunch. Had a nice lunch here and they have a wood fired oven. If I had had more time I would have ordered a pizza. The meeting finished at just before 3pm and I wasted no time in getting back on the road. I wanted to be on the motorway (freeway) and heading home as soon as I could.

Ok that was last week. This week I have just once again come back from a cold, wet and miserable Adelaide. My son has gone off to Scotland and Europe for six weeks and I took him down to Adelaide Airport. By and large the two days were not too bad but the first half on my journey home was up South Road, to the Motorway and then to the Port Wakefield Road, in the dark and rain. Had breakfast at Port Wakefield, by which time it was light, so I and drove home – and didn’t even stop at the Tin Man. John called at 11am to say that he had arrived in Dubai then a quick call to say that he had arrived in Glasgow. He’s looking forward to his adventure and I’m looking forward to having him back safe and well. He’s meeting up with some Engineering people in Munich, so that should keep him happy. Three more weeks and I’m in Adelaide again. Oh Joy!!

The Vet, The Man and Medication

04/06/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

This is the "Younger" Man — This is the “Younger” Man

Well, back from Adelaide, glad to be back home , although I have to go back next week.. I got up this morning to find that Outlook Express strikes again and the mail I was reading over the last two days had simply vanished. It’s not in the trash box, it’s not in the junk box = it’s just gone. I don’t about this happening to anyone else, so I have to believe that it’s something I’m doing – or not doing. What that is, I have not a clue. I know there are a lot of faults with Windows 8 and perhaps this is just another one. So, please, I am not ignoring your posts, I am just having problems with my mail server again. It’s been a couple of months since this happened so perhaps I was getting complacent. But I think the problem with vanishing emails has gotten worse since the change from an AppleMac back to a PC. Having said that I think it is possible that the missing emails could be in the AppleMac so I might set that up and see. It is very frustrating. It was suggested that I move to Google+ and although I have an account there moving over could cause more problems than it would solve.

The Man is not getting any better and apart from problems with arthritis, we now know that he is loosing his sight. I have been hand feeding him and he bumps into things more and more. I have an appointment with the Vet tomorrow so I will see what he has to say, but I don’t think it will be all that encouraging. There is only so much we can do. I really am not ready to let him go if there is any way I can make him less scared and more comfortable. He squeals a lot – not barking – but we can’t figure out why. I noticed changes in him when I did come back home. A week is a long time in a dog’s life – but you know that.

Had the Man at the Vet yesterday afternoon. Struth it was a trying time. He was very distressed and cried (loudly) all the way into town in the car. He cried and screamed in the vet and once I checked in and let them know I was here, I went back outside to walk up and down with him and tried to calm him down. He was in pain and he was afraid. Mustafa (the Vet) is very good and we did manage to calm him down. Yes, he is loosing coordination of his back legs which slip away from him and cause him to fall a lot – yes there is arthritis and yes he is starting to lose his sight. He is on 10 mil of Carprofen, which should help. I did ask about Adequan, which he had not heard of, but he has asked his staff to look for it and he will get back to me. I also talked to him about the wheels and he gave a qualified approval provided that the measurements are correct and it does not put any additional stress on the dog. I told him that the wheels I am about to order – once I have all his measurements – will be made to his specifications and shipped over from the United States. Mustafa seemed a bit more relaxed about that.

The other dogs that I take walking at times.

At the moment he is curled up asleep in my office – with me – in front of the fire. He likes his comfort. I was worried about the fact that he was not eating too well and I was going to mention that until to Mustafa. Herself suggested that perhaps he does not like cooked chicken (horror!!!) Hey it was chicken breasts from the butcher that I cooked and chopped up for him. Anyway, I put the chicken into Chienne’s bowl and she scoffed the lot. I sorted out some other stuff for him, chopped it up finely and he scoffed that, and there was me thinking I was doing the right thing by buying expensive chicken breasts and he turns up his wee nose at it. The photograph is of Izzy and Spike -Izzy is the light coloured one – and these are the dogs I take out walking a couple of times – when I can.

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