Adelaide – Page 12 – Edgar's Page

Parole, Fires and Roundabouts

11/02/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

So Schapelle Corby is to be released on parole. I have always believed in her innocence and it may well be that I am just Naive, I really hope that I am not proven wrong. Since the very beginning I have always felt that she was not guilty and that her father and brother had a lot to do with this. For nine years now, she has been a feature on Australian News and Television and when she is released and the media frenzy dies down and moves on to its next target, I really hope she will be allowed to serve out her parole in relative obscurity, but I guess there is little chance of that happening for a long time.

The Bangor fire broke containment lines and caused alarm and panic, but the tireless work of the Firefighters have brought the fire back under control and within new containment lines being stregthened. What a strange place Ausralia is, one third burning, one third in severe drought and one third relatively normal – or at least what passes for normal in Western Australia, although to be fair, they do have the occasional Severe Clyclone to contend with.

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

Adelaide people say that our little town is boring and I expect they have the truth of it – we don’t have a Nightclub Street where alcohol fuelled violence is a normal weekend event, we don’t have complete strangers walking up to other complete strangers and “King” punching them for no apparent reason and causing serious injuries, we don’t have police pursuits screaming through the streets, women can still walk the streets, with dogs or power walking or just walking home and most damming of all, we have never had retards street racing through the town, running a red light and killing a mother and her baby. Yes, I guess we are a bit of a bore, really. All we have is just high youth unemployment, high absenteeism from school, break-ins to cars, vandalism and graffiti. Nothing much, really. But all that aside, the real major topic of conversation, in the local press and on Facebook, is that we have a council which seems to have an obsession with roundabouts – it’s sticking them everywhere – like ” Have roundabout plan – Will travel” I mean it’s not as if they are significant, like the roundabouts at the main shopping centre, which directs the traffic from four major roads, these are little piddly things. Still, Adelaide has them everywhere so I suppose we should too. But how boring is that when traffic flow and roundabouts are the major topic of conversation? It’s a worry :o)

I think my Ford is not a well girl. After passing the area of the fire on the way home from Adelaide at the weekend, she started jerking as if there was an interruption to the fuel. Normally I woud have looked at the feul filter and changed that if necessary, but on this engine, I don’t think I have one and if I do everything is so sealed I have no idea where it might be- heck I can’t even find the air filter. I think I will have to send her for a service before I have to go back to Adelaide in a few weeks. Well, yes, she needs a bath, but that’s cosmetic, not internal.

Adelaide, Driving and Bushfires

09/02/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Friday Adelaide:

The run down to Adelaide was quiet and uneventful. The temperature was 38c and it was hard to get out of the air – conditioned car at times :o) I managed to get all the things I wanted done and was able to get repairs to my Filofax. It’s close to 25 years old and with TLC it should be still going in another 25 years.

Rundle Mall was most entertaining, despite the heat. I always like the buskers in the Mall. I had been asked to get a couple of things but in that I failed – out of stock. Of course it was crush room only – half the Mall is being dug up again so there were narrow walkways at either side of the construction areas. The fellow in the photograph is quite real, I had to crane my neck just to talk to him. Lots of people were taking photographs with their children standing next to him. Actually, If you really look at the hands, they don’t really match up with the size of the person, so, although I was not about to ask, the person was real enough, but I don’t think the height was. But regardless, he was walking well and it really was well done – however it’s done.

Tomorrow the temperature will be 42c and I will be driving in the hottest part of the day. By the time the meeting finishes, I do not stay for lunch, and I get on the road again, it will be well after 1pm. Of course that’s depending on several people not talking for as long as they generally do.

Saturday -Adelaide

Head off to the conference this morning. It’s only 7:10 am and already there is a bit of heat in the air. As I said yesterday, I hope the “hot air” is kept to a minimum and I can get away at a reasonable time. All very good and I was on my way home by 12:40. From Port Wakefield onward there were constant warnings about the fires off the Main Highway. I was concerned when I saw the smoke cloud from far off and knew that I was heading in that general direction. Beyond the Tin Man there were police cars and emergency vehicles and several ambulances. We were safe, but that is the

nearest I have ever been to a bushfire. The emergency services on the car radio were informing people to be ready for evacuation and that the fire had breached the containment lines and was now out of control and the flames were now visible as it sweeps towards the National Highway.

Sunday – Home.

This is now the worst fire since Black Tuesday when the Mount Remarkable National Forest went up in flames and threatened the towns of Wilmington and Melrose not to mention the fuel depot at Mambray Creek. Unfortunately Wilmington as well as Warnertown are both in the firing line. The fire can now be seen from here as it lights up the horizon on the other side of the Gulf.

Medical Tests and another Road Trip

02/02/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Australia’s National Highway 1 was created in 1955 and is the longest National Highway in the world. It circumnavigates Australia, linking all the mainland Capital Cities together. It is some 14,500 klms. long, the nearest being the Trans-Siberian Highway followed by the Trans-Canada Highway. We are not part of the National Highway Grid. We join the Highway 60 klms Northeast of here and then travel along its route to Adelaide. I said once that I would like to drive the National Highway, going where I felt like going and stopping where we felt we had driven long enough for a day. Sadly that never happened and with the state of herself’s health, it probably never will.

The garden has not quite been abandoned and I still have to go out every few days to sweep up 6 million tons of leaves – well, ok, perhaps not quite that amount it just feel like it at times. There is no point in planting anything at this time because the ground is much too warm and besides, I think it’s much too hot to be spending hours out in the sun. All I am really doing is sweeping up and keeping up the watering as much as I can. I have already lost a number of plants, including the Hibiscus, despite watering and mulching.

20140201_133847 — The girls at the Barbecue

The RFDS simulator was set up in the Reserve from 9am – 4pm and we were fairly busy. However, I had to leave about 1pm to take herself to the hospital for tests. Likewise with Friday, busy, but I was with herself at the hospital – this time for a stress test – which was a failure. Not that she failed the stress test, but that she could not walk at even the slow speed that they wanted her to do on the treadmill. The test was abandoned. But we did go for chest x-rays. Saturday and I spent all day in the Woolworth Carpark with the simulator and a barbecue. Both areas were very busy and it being a hot day, Woolworth were good to us providing cool drinks and chilled watermelon.

Today the unit is down at the foreshore but I believe that due to the extreme heat it was closed down fairly early. Tomorrow ( Monday) it goes back to Adelaide. Four days and we were very luck to have it out of Adelaide for one day,let alone four. It is fully equipped and is a training unit for medical personnel new to the RFDS.

On Monday (Tomorrow) I take herself back to the doctor and see what happens next. In essence, nothing much can happen until the Specialist gives his report, but we’ll see what transpires tomorrow. On Friday morning I set off for Adelaide and will be away until late Saturday. I will have to keep an eye on the weather because I really don’t want to be driving 400 klms in a 43c heat. True the AC is pretty good, but that’s not really the point. It puts a fair strain on the engine. However, I will take an extra container of Coolant and a container of water, and if it is hot – no long sections – frequent stops. Of course I generally have two stops anyway, The Tin Man and Port Wakefield. From Port Wakefield into Adelaide it’s four land motorway all the way. But that’s good Adelaide only spends money on roads that benefit Adelaide – country roads generally get ignored. Oh well, election in five weeks.

Dogs, Hospital and The RFFDS

30/01/201430/01/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

This is the Australia Day long weekend, which means that, other than supermarkets, most places are closed until Tuesday. I took herself to the doctor on Friday and he has ordered blood and other tests to determine where we go from here. We should have the results in a few days. Our fire crews came home on Friday night after ten days away. The fire is still burning but our crews were relieved by crews from another area, so they can have a bit of a rest. The temperature has calmed down a little and at the moment it’s about 34c and expected to climb to about 42/42c during the week. Hot but bearable. Thankfully last week was rare and we really do not get extended temperatures of 48c. However, what we do still have is the wind and that is keeping the flames going. Fortunately I do not have to travel to Adelaide since the smoke from the fires is causing a few problems on National Highway 1 – our main road in and out of here.

I visited the Vet on Friday morning and asked for a repeat of the flea treatment for the dogs. We have never had fleas before but because of the hot dry conditions this year, there is a lot about and many people who never had the problem now have. However, I got on top of it right away and for the last three months I have been treating the dogs with Frontline. I didn’t wash their beds – I dumped them and bought new beds. The raised beds and the dog houses, I washed with an antiflea treatment. I took the Man to the groom and she found no sign of reinfection, but me being the sort of paranoid person I am, decided to extend the treatment for a further three months. One pack set me back $96 -that’s about 48 pounds. I will be down in Adelaide in early February and I know where to get Frontline for half that price. But then. I wont really need it but it’s good to know for the future. I also discovered that I can buy the packets on-line.

We brought the RFDS Simulator back, which was fun and a bit novel judging by the looks we were getting from other drivers. It’s here for the next four days and we will certainly make the most of it. Our main sponsor for this year – Woolworth – are organising a barbecue for us and we will have the simulator at their carpark on Saturday. It is a fully equipped training model laid out with the same equipment that would be in the aircraft.

This afternoon I take herself to the hospital to see the specialist. The telephone call came through yesterday when I was out of town and although it it short notice, I don’t mind in the least because the next appointment woud not be until March. The specialist will complete his report and we will know on Monday of next week what is to happen.

Lost in Cyberspace – again!

24/01/201424/01/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

By look looks of things we might have sorted out the email system this time. The emails that arrived two days ago are still there and nothing has vanished into cyberspace. So that’s good because I am expecting some emails from Adelaide in the next few days and they are important and I cannot afford to lose them. I have a gmail account, which I rarely use, mainly because of the problems in changing my email address on so many different official forms.

I did say that the immediate danger has passed for the moment but there are still two fires burning out of control in inaccessible bushland. Large areas of New South Wales and parts of the Grampians are still a concern. We still have the one on the other side of the Gulf and that is almost contained.

Herself is unwell – anemic and very tired – and she is still loosing blood and we don’t know how or why. I really hope it’s not something that is in any way, shape or form, related to the MRSA. It’s been five years this year since that horror ordeal. I don’t want her to go through anything like that again. It may be something as simple as the blood transfusions, which we did three years ago. I hope that’s it and not something more sinister. If it is transfusions, the doctor makes arrangements for her to go to Day Surgery at the Hospital where she will spend most of the day. I have made the appointment for Friday so we’ll see what happens

This on-going mail problem is really bugging me.

***Insert yelling and fearful curses*** – The mail has vanished again – everything over the last three days has just gone – not deleted – just gone – as if it never was. It’s not in the recycle bin and it’s not in the deleted files folder, it’s just *poof!!!* gone. I have directed mail to the AppleMac deleted Outlook from this PC. Everything should now go to the Apple. I am sooooo frustrated – I thought we had solved the problem. I have told Herself “do not NOT upgrade to Windows 8 – stay with Win. 7.” I just couldn’t believe it! Where is Sherlock Holmes when you need him?

It’s raining – actually it’s been pouring for most of the night. All we can hope for is that the rain is not just localised and that it is raining on the other side of the Gulf, which will help to contain the fire and perhaps allow our own fire crews to come home. Fire Crews from all over the region are there, including several of ours. It was reported yesterday that the fire had broken through the containment lines, but was being brought under control again. This rain should help- this fire has now been burning for a week or more.

I took the dogs out last night and I thought the sky looked a bit suspicious but I felt we could have our walk and be home before anything happened.
We didn’t make it and down it came when we were on the homeward section. Tell you what, I had carried the Man going out, but he was leading the charge and tugging on the way home, particularly the last 200 yards or so. He dislikes being wet.

Heat, Fires and the RFDS

17/01/201417/01/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

It’s 4:35am and I am sitting here hot and sticky. The temperature has been hovering around the 46c mark for the last few days and will continue for the next few days with a cool change coming in at the weekend. I was in bed at 11pm last night so I guess five hours or so in this heat is fairly good. I do not have an AC in my bedroom, only overhead fans – which I find are only really effective in moving the warm are around, not really cooling it. Still, it’s better than nothing. The Man finally crept out from under my bed at 10pm last night. The dry thunderstorm (no rain) sparked off a number of fires (200) in South Australia, one of which is only about 50 klm. east of the city. Water bombers have been brought over from NSW and Victoria to assist. As the high temperatures continue the possibility for bushfires increases., but I have to say (although Chienne would not agree) the light show last night was quite spectacular.

This is not ours, but it gives you an example.

I bought three Pencil Pines when I was in Adelaide, but because of the heat I have not planted them. They should be safe enough remaining in their pots under cover and well watered until I can get them out. Normally I would do it at the weekend once the cool change comes in, but this weekend I am busy with the Royal Flying Doctors and fundraising. On the subject of the RFDS, we are bringing a 10 meter simulator into town at the end of the month. It’s coming from Central Operations and we will have it for four days, so we will make the best use of it we can. With 557 landings here in the last 12 months, I think many people would be interested to see what the inside of an RFDS aircraft looks like and what range of medical equipment it carries. We can’t take an aircraft out of service, so the simulator is the next best thing.

There are still fires burning out of control across parts of South Australia as the temperature shows no signs of letting up at the moment. Some places further north have recorded temperatures of 50c – and – would you believe – 11 incidents of people leaving children in a car and 4 of a dog left in a car. True one of my dogs will be in a car today, but the Man will be with me and you may be certain that the AC is on at full. We will only be driving for about ten minutes – to the groomer – and a further ten minutes when I collect him.

When I was a boy I went camping, fishing and hiking in the Scottish Highlands with my Dad. After my Dad died, I went off hiking on my own and an kept up the fishing. No. 3 GF came hiking with me but we are talking about the late 1960s in Scotland, so camping was out and we stayed in B&B – separate rooms, of course and if I went in to see her, the room door had to remain open. Even better – she liked Sinatra!! I get slightly amused with the term “relationships”because we never had “relationships” which seems to me to be a fairly modern term. You either had Boyfriend or you had a Girlfriend – there was no relationship – or what moderns would consider a relationship. Yeah, but what about the 60s, Woodstock, Hippie Generation, Free Love and all that – yes certainly in America, possibly even to a small extent in England, but in Presbyterian, Conservative Scotland – I think not!?! After herself and I were married we went back to the Highlands and the mountains for a few carefree years before the twin adventure dampeners of mortgage and family. After the first son was born we did spend some time in the North and my family looked after the child. When he was about four, we introduced him to Loch Earn. We even took him out to Rannoch Moor for a walk. Not really knowing much about Australia I assumed that I could go for long walks and to off fishing. The bulk of Australians fish from the Jetty and that really didn’t appeal to me. The nearest river was the Murray – about 100 miles away and the nearest trout fishing was in the Australian Grampians which are cold enough for trout. I didn’t get used to the flies and still have not, but I missed my highlands so at weekend for the first year or so we were here I very selfishly took off to the upper Flinders Ranges. It wasn’t too bad walking through the SA High Country because we seemed to be out of the way of flies. I don’t think I will ever get used to them.

Road Trip, Adelaide and Fire Bans

13/01/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The drive to Adelaide was uneventful. The temperature was about 35c, but I did leave at 7am so I avoided much of the heat. I arrived in Adelaide at 11;10am – from Adelaide out to where Alan is took me

This is me. Obese I am not. Just thought I would get that out of the way.

– via the South Road – from 11:10 – 12;27, which is when I parked the car. I had spoken to him fairly regularly – every few days – but I was unprepared on how frail he had become. Having spent some time with him, I had a much better understanding of why the Medical staff were against him being in a car, without oxygen, in a 44c heat for nearly six hours. Anyway, I did spend some time with him chatting with him and bringing him up to date on herself and the boys, Trish and the girls (Trish is Andrew’s Partner and the girls are hers). He spends nearly all of his day in a chair, hooked up to the oxygen and watching television – which means, the conversation was fairly one sided. I wanted to get back into town and spend some time there, so I only stayed for about an hour or so. I should be going back down in early February so I’ll try and take a run out to see him again. Certainly it’s a lovely place – I mean it REALLY is a lovely place and the staff are very helpful, but that being said – it is still a Nursing Home and he wont be coming out of there until …….

Making my way back into town I stopped off at the Garden Center and bought some new plants. I bought three new pencil pines for out the front and two new hibiscus for the back to compliment the native hibiscus. The colours should should provide a good contrast. I did some shopping in town and went into the Optus Shop and upgraded herself’s phone. Apart from other things, it was a long day but still not over yet. I made my way to the hotel, settled in and parked the car. I walked up to the main road and caught a bus into town and walked to the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) – a fair distance. Considering I have been suffering from a condition called “Plantar Fasciitis” it was not a very pleasant walk. A friend of one of the elderly ladies in the church had an accident and was flown to Adelaide. I said I would go visit her when I was in Adelaide. I arrived at the RAH and asked where the lady was only to find that she has been flown back to the local hospital the previous afternoon. I was not really overjoyed at the walk back to the bus stop. I am glad that she is back home ( well, sort of) so she can have visitors. That was good – the walk back to the bus stop was not. It was a hot sticky night so thank goodness for air

conditioners. How did I cause the damage to my foot – well I saw some jobs that needed to be done and went out to do them – “Wont take long ” I thought. That being so I didn’t bother to put on work shoes but spent the day climbing up and down ladders wearing sandals. Ok so it took longer than I anticipated, and whilst this may not be the exact cause, it certainly didn’t help. And if there is anyone who feels the urge to berate me for not wearing the correct footwear for the job, please don’t – my doctor has done it for you :o)

This week in South Australia is one of extreme heat. It starts today with a temperature of 39c – 42c Tuesday – 44c Wednesday – 43 Thursday – 44 Friday and then a cool change late Friday afternoon. Saturday we drop down to the high 20c/ low 30c. The Emergency Services and the hospitals are on stand-by as the sun bites and humour takes a back seat. There is a total fire ban across the State. One person asked me today what I was going to do to keep cool and I said that I would probably curl up with the dogs on the ceramic tiles in the laundry. I don’t think it registered…

Arid Lands, Animals and Bugs.

23/12/2013 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

It had cooled down a little when I left to travel to the gardens, thus it was quite a pleasant drive. I spent some time in town first, bought some pens and a M&M Dispenser. Fill with M&Ms and it’s ten cents to turn the handle for a small handful of treats. Ok, so it has no practical benefit, but it’s fun. I had lunch at the Gardens and bought four new plants. I bought two new native Hibiscus. I will plant the native Hibiscus next to the present one. If I can get a normal Hibiscus in a reasonable colour it should make a nice contrast. I also bought two native bushes which should do well and tomorrow I am going to buy three Pencil Pines to replace the three almost dead rose bushes out front.

Whilst it has been hot and sticky up north there has been wild weather in the lower part of the state with the emergency services working flat out to cope with the calls for help. Trees have come down on houses, and also brought down power lines. At one point about 60,000 homes were without any power. Some shopping centers had to close. At this time, power has been restored to all but a few thousand houses. The interesting thing is that almost all of the trees than came down in the suburbs were Gum Trees – isn’t that surprising.

I think every city has its iconic statue and Adelaide is not exception. Some places have bulls, or Rio’s Statue of Christ, or a Giant Buddha – Adelaide has pigs. Yes

, four bronze pigs in the major shopping center of Rundle Mall. They have been there for as long as I can remember and although they do change location from time to time, they are always somewhere in the Mall. Kids love them and have their photograph taken sitting on one of them. So, Rundle Mall, The Mall’s Balls – The Fountain – the Four Pigs and now a “statue too far” a Giant Cockroach. You think I am joking, don’t you? Well, I’m not. Close to twenty years ago Adelaide took over land off the Port Wakefield Road, well away from Adelaide itself, and made plans to create a landfill for Adelaide waste. The local landowners objected and protested, but it was done anyway. One landowner created a series of statues in protest of this waste site and one of the statues he created was a giant cockroach. There is a range of statues representing the protest and over the years they have become a feature we look for on the drive to Adelaide. One of the statues went missing and petition was put up to find

it and restore it. It was found in a scrap yard and the yard owner sold it for two cases of beer. It has been repaired, but where to put it until it can go back to Port Wakefield Road? Oh… I know, let’s stick it in the busiest and most popular shopping precinct in the City of Adelaide! Hey, it’s a cockroach, it’ll be fun – everyone likes them, right?? Perhaps it’s just me and it’s only a bit of harmless fun, but I can think of many things to place in a busy shopping precinct and a Giant Cockroach would not be one of them.

Meetings, South Road and Rescue Dogs

10/12/2013 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I have to say that I have attended some really good meetings – unfortunately this wasn’t one of them. I didn’t get back home until 8pm last night, so it was a very long day. If the meeting had gone any longer I would have had to try and arrange accommodation again since I wont drive the road home in the dark To drive for 380 klms on country roads in darkness is not my idea of fun. The meeting started at 9am and finished at 2:30pm. My favourite American President was Ronald Reagan and I always liked his “Government is not the solution to the problem, Government is the problem” I’ve paraphrased that on several occasions.

Life in this little corner of the universe is never really dull – Friday 34c / Saturday 33c / Sunday 42c / Monday (today) been raining since 2am, temperature is 18c and it all started with a natural fireworks show that lasted for about half an hour and set Chienne off. I sat up with her until things calmed down, but the rain was pretty heavy for a while so it took a little bit longer than usual for her to calm down. It’s now just after 7am and still raining – and before you ask, no I have not been awake all night, I did get some sleep.

It rained for a good part of the day and there is more rain forecast. I think someone forgot to tell Mother Nature ” Hello – it’s summer!” I mean, only a crazy person will look forward to a 44c day but 30-33c is quite acceptable. Having said that, I see from news reports that the Northern Hemisphere is getting some pretty rough weather at the moment. But here I am wearing a pullover because it’s not all that warm, and because of Adelaide and rain, I have not had the dogs out for walks for a few days.

The South Road is still an on-going building site but I must be getting used to it because I did not get. geographically misplaced despite navigating through it not once, but twice. The drive down was excellent – good weather and quiet roads until about 10k out of the city and the traffic coming out of the northern suburbs. Considering what was on in the city I was surprised to find that the place was not quite as crowded as I expected it to be. I didn’t really stay in the CBD for all that long and moved out to the suburbs so I have no idea what the city center might have looked like when the Cricket match ended and 33,poo people poured out of the Adelaide Oval. When I was out at Tea Tree Plaza I happened to look in a “Pet Shop”. No I was not contemplating buying a dog and I wouldn’t buy one from a pet shop anyway. I was just curious. I have to say that the puppies looked really well fed and looked after = beautiful little things = but the prices shocked me. A Cavoodle, which is a cross between a Cavalier and a Poodle, was being offered for sale at $1300. Ok, so I know nothing about prices and perhaps this was

Dogs are considerate and helpful like that!

“average” I don’t know, I just thought that it was excessive. We only have one pet shop here and since I have never been inside of it – or outside of it for that matter – I have no idea what prices are. The general perception is that pet shop puppies come from Puppy Farms or from back yard breeders, but I still think people will go to a pet shop before they would go to the pound and look at a rescue dog because they feel that “if it is as good a dog as you say it is, why did the owner throw it away?” Unless you can answer that with some degree of certainty, people will go to pet shops and buy a puppy.

CupCakes, Organizers and Adelaide

04/12/2013 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Well so much for plan A and a rest between 15th December and 26th January! During the After Pageant Fare last night I negotiated another function on 28th December – for about 600 people. I actually didn’t want to but it was an opportunity too good to let slip away. I will take this to the meeting in a few days and see what they think. Friday morning and I head off to Adelaide. I have to do a couple of things for herself, which will mean going into the construction site generally known as the South Road. I had hoped to avoid this area by going in the opposite direction, but herself doesn’t generally want anything in Adelaide, but this time she does. Never mind, keeps me from getting bored. I have also been asked by another lady if I would get some glitter pens for her daughter at Typo, in Rundle Mall – actually, they have a place at Elizabeth.

This is the Malden, the Binder I currently use - at least for the rest of this week anyway.. — This is the Malden, the Binder I currently use – at least for the rest of this week anyway..

It will probably come as no surprise when I say that I use an organizer to keep track of everything. It would be really good to say that I remember most things, but the sad truth is that I don’t. I have to write things down. I use a Filofax and I have done so for many years. My current Filofax is a Malden Personal, which I have been using for a couple of years. I have a Cuban A5, which lives on my desk and that’s used for the dogs (Vet, Groom, Medication) and for church information. I have two binders on the go at the moment, the Malden and my old Scanda. The Malden replaced my Scanda a few years ago but I kind of missed it, so, I am going back to it next week. Why not now? Well my inserts don’t start until Sunday 8th December so until then I have to keep using the Malden. Once the 8th passes, I can go back to one Filofax again. the Scanda.

There is an old saying that “You should be careful what you wish for” – we had a pretty loud and bright thunderstorm yesterday. I had been using the thunder shirt as a tray (as suggested) and when the thunder started I talked to her and told her what a big brave girl she was and put the TS on her making sure it was pretty firm. But all was to no avail and she still stressed out. To calm her down I gave her 5ml of ACP (Half of a 10ml tabled) Poor thing, but I think her behaviour is ingrained – as Herself suggested – and I don’t think the TS is going to help in this case. I don’t like to medicate her because it takes quite a while for the effects to wear off. I have not had the dogs out since Friday – Saturday I was at a RFDS Function, Sunday we had the thunderstorm and tonight I am out again at the RFDS Meeting.

The meeting – collectively – decided not to continue with the function on 29th December. We have had a very busy six months and I think everyone was looking forward to the break. That’s fair enough and I’ll write to the organisation, thank them for thinking of us and politely declining. I was given a recipe for Mint Chocolate Cupcakes and I thought it would be good to try – that was until I priced the ingredients. The Coconut Oil alone was $22 for 12 oz, then there was the Shredded Coconut, the Peppermint essence, the Dark Chocolate. Very expensive cupcakes. I had a try using Shredded Coconut Honey and Peppermint (which we already had) to make a filling paste but herself thought the end result “too rough a taste” perhaps might be better if I put the coconut through a grinder first and broke it down further. I’ll have a play when I get back from Adelaide.

It’s 4:30am Wednesday and I am up and awake. Rain was forecast – never said anything about thunder.I tried to tell Chienne that it’s not my fault, but I’m not all that sure she believed me. It’s not all that loud so I expect it to pass soon. Two thunderstorms this week is unusual.

PS; Grind the coconut down finer and mix with cream cheese and peppermint essence – that might work.

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