Tag: Australia

Looking Back – Looking Forward

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
New Planner/Binder
New Planner/Binder (2015/6)

For more years than I care to remember I have used ring planners. For a period I went through the Palm Pilot craze but in the end I came back to paper and ringed planners – mainly Filofax. Of course my planners did not survive the move from Scotland to South Australia being limited in what we could bring (weight) However,  like much of our things they were packed in Tea Chests and stored in my Father-in-law’s cellar. The idea was that once we were settled we have the teachests sealed and shipped out to South Australia. Sadly after we had been here a few months and were starting to settle down,  my in-laws house was broken into and most of the things from the cellar were destroyed or stolen, that also included all my photography equipment and the photograph

albums. The photographs were of no use or importance so we suspect they were dumped in the  nearest safe trash bin. Very little of the crystal and none of the silver we had been given as gifts remained. None of my  planners remained. The thing that upset us the
most was not the glass or silver or photograph equipment, but rather the photographs themselves. We have no photographs of the
boys as babies or little children other than what we have  taken in Australia. Before we left Scotland Annabell and I took the boys all over the country and took photographs of them at various places, Fort William, Loch Ness, Stirling Castle, Edinburgh Castle and Mons Meg, Sweetheart Abbey, Jedburgh Abbey, St. Giles Cathedral, Elgin Cathedral,
scandaDornoch Cathedral and Dunblane Cathedral, Paisley Abbey and Dunfermline Abbey,  Bannockburn and Robert Bruce, Duart Castle, Loch Earn, The Rannoch Moor, Glencoe and, of course, Glasgow Cathedral and other places too numerous to mention.   Photograph of Annabell’s family and my family – all gone.

Here in Australia the Palm Pilot was the thing so I went through a Palm Pilot phase and I think I still have a couple hanging around somewhere. But I tired of that and went back to  Ring Binders again. I have been there ever since. Generally I used a Filofax and did so up until a few years ago when I  started to use  an Organizer from a Dutch company called Van der Spek. Generally I change my Organizers/Planners every two years and I have just ordered my third  Van der Spek and for the very first time ever, I have chosen something that is neither black nor brown. I have chosen a colour called  French Blue. People thought I was being silly when I asked what colour/shade French Blue is as there are so many shades of Blue. All I got in reply was “Blue” which didn’t really help.  It should be here in a few weeks and I am anxious to see what it looks

Been a long day. Need rest!
Been a long day. Need rest!

like.

This time last year I had great hopes for the coming 2016. I had lost both Chienne and The Man and there was still much sadness there but there was Benji and I looked forward to life with him.  I  suspect one day I will get out of the habit of referring to him sometimes as Chienne. There has been much sadness in 2016 but there has also been joy and I will see the year go with mixed feelings. My one shining light has been Benji – as it should be. I have lost friends this year, some fur-friends, some human friends, some who have passed and some I have just lost and they are the saddest of all. But I have also found new friends and that helps with the sadness of loss.  Again I look forward to the coming year and hope that 2017 will be a better year, but like all years there will be a mixture of joy and sadness, laughter and tears,  but we need them both, one to balance the other,  and all we can really hope for is that the joy will be more than the sadness and the laughter greater than the tears.

I have no doubt that there will be other posts between now and the end of the year, but for now, I want to say thank you to all of you for being here and for your lovely comments and conversations. I hope we can share 2017 together.

The sands of time are sinking.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
The town from The Hill
The town from The Hill

One of the things I am happy about it that I don’t have to be responsible for the minutes of anything now. I have the luxury  of being able to  do things because I want to, not because I have to. I’m not running about the place as I was last year – well last month was exceptional.   I have started reading again now that I can sit down for a bit. I also have a new camera, which I  have difficulty using, so I have decided to join the local photography club. I like taking photographs and I am reasonable when it comes to editing, but  would like to get better. I went there for the first time and had to do a “show and tell”and put a couple of my photographs on the big screen. On a scale on 1 – 10 with 10 being the highest,  I scored 5.6, which I suppose for a rank armature, is not three bad

I have no idea what to do in the garden, short of hiring a flame thrower to get rid of the weeds. With all this rain

No - not part of a river - our new wetlands
No – not part of a river – our new wetlands

they have taken off something fierce and weed killer is about as effective as using a water pistol to put out a house fire. When things settle down and the weather is a bit less inclement , I might get a backhoe to take off the surface. Once I get that done I will lay down weed matting and decide what to do after that.  Probably turn it into an gravel garden with a round house in the center (Hexagonal Gazebo)

Over 70 firefighters from Australia and New Zealand flew out to the USA to help  with fighting the fires in the  Western States,  particularly California I believe. I think it is brilliant that  countries with  forest fire problems  work together to assist each other when the need arises – such as now in the USA. A few years ago there were firefighters from the USA, Canada and New Zealand came to help in Australia.

I spent a good hour at the wetlands taking photographs. The wetlands looks a bit rough at the moment but new paths  have been put in, a new parking area with the possibility of a tea-room shortly,  restrooms, including a disabled restroom, ramps for wheelchair access and a barbecue area.  New fencing installed, a bike track round the entire area, new trees and shrubs planted, so, when everything grows and starts to get a bit of greenery around the place it should be really nice. An excellent area for a picnic. When I was down there, there were walkers  and mums with babies in prams getting ready to go for a stroll. Never really looked at the rules so I’m not sure if dogs are allowed – even on a leash.  The total area is 24.6 hectares with over 8 hectares of artificial lakes. One of the  better projects of a Council that is out of favour with a lot of residents.

Five months – that’s what I have left on my current site, then I have to renew with WordPress. If it were now – this week – I  think  I would be doing a MASH = Goodbye, Farewell and Amen. However, as it is I have from now until January to decide – renewal is in February.

A lot has happened since Christmas. I look out of the window and get depressed looking at the sea of weeds and I definitely think hiring a backhoe and driver is the answer. With regards to weeds, I am no orphan around the town in that regard – many people have been complaining about the massive growth of weeds. Then the weather people tell us that we have had our average rainfall for the year. What they don’t say is that we had a long dry

Weeds - I hates them precious!!
Weeds – I hates ’em precious!!

spell then the average for the year over a few months, hence the  huge amount of water in the wetlands (storm water runoff)  and the  massive spurt of weeds. Even in the church grounds it’s a fight to keep them under control at the moment.

“Aye, aye the year’s awaking, the fire’s among the ling”

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Winter is slowly loosing its grip and we are starting to have a few warm days in the north of the state. I did, however, spend a few days in the city for a funeral. The funeral was of a dear friend of ours  who helped our church look to the future when everything around us looked pretty bleak and people in Adelaide gave us three months (if we were lucky) before we would have to close the doors. That was twelve years ago and here we are, through God.s grace, still flourishing. Adelaide is a strange place and unlike the other major states, South Australia is a one city state – 77%  (1.3 Million) of the population of 1.5 million, live in and around the City of Adelaide, so Adelaide people were not really not too concerned about a small, relatively unimportant, country church. They still are not – something that was brought home to me at the funeral judging  by the remarks that were made.

Brian was one of the very few that were willing to travel the 400 klms from Adelaide to help us out. The current hierarchy are still not interested in travelling north and believe that having to come up here  once a year for a meeting is an imposition that they can do without. We have people who, regrettably,  tell you what hey think you want to hear which may not necessiraly be when you need to know. We will miss Brian and there are not many of the few left now and those of “The Old Guard” that are left are piling up the years. Brian was in his mid 80s.

With the warmer weather starting to come in I should be able to get back out and get some work done. The trial has been the back garden and the trees, which, because of the constant wind, has been a nightmare to keep tidy. I must also get the front finish off and the driveway water blasted clean. So, as the weather improves I have a lot of work ahead and  “she who must be obeyed” has decided that the inside of the house could do with a lick of paint.  I really don’t know how I ever found time to go to work.

It’s not even halfway through winter and I’m over it.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
The Christmas Plant.
One of my Plants – this one was given to me as a gift.

Australia, like Florida, is generally associated with  sun, sea and sand and fairly laid back lifestyle. Much of the time this is generally the case but these last few years have been a trial and our weather has been very strange. We had some hot weather for a couple of days last “summer” and the same the “summer” before that but we have not really had what Australia would call a “summer”.  It wasn’t so long ago that I was saying that I was not too fussed about the heat and looked forward to weekends and barbecues. My barbecue  has cobwebs on it at the moment. I only used to a few weeks ago when we had a gas failure and no gas for four days so I cooked everything on there barbecue. The long warm, sunny evenings sitting outside with the laptop and a glass of wine- seem like something from another time and place  We have unprecedented rain and flooding and only last week two mini-tornadoes struck Adelaide causing a fair bit of damage.  Cold, wild and wet and this is global warming??? I think we should re-write the Song ” I come from a land down under, the place of rain and snow and thunder”  Raining Monday and a good part of Tuesday. It’s Wednesday and thus far it’s dry.

I  have to head off down to Adelaide this week. Normally I would call the Dog Rescue and see if there is any dogs requiring transportation and take them down with me, but this time, it’s not my car so I won’t be able to. I might try and organise a trip to Adelaide the following week – at least an overnight trip. Tomorrow I will get the Standard Roses and  plant them as soon as I get back from Adelaide.

Freedom is a noble word!

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
The Maltese Terrorist

Tuesday the bark was removed and it was my intention to go out and start the tidy up and levelling off. However, in the morning it was blowing a gale and in danger of creating a dust storm so I decided not to add to the problems by stirring my stuff up . I had to go out for a little while and when I came back I was horrified to see that the wind had blown open the gate. Chienna was still there but the little man, my Maltese,  was gone. I secured the gate and took off in the car to drive around the area looking for him.  Couldn’t find him so I came home, only to see him walking, unconcerned, up the driveway. I stopped the car on the roadway and went over and lifted him up. I was just so relieved to see him.   I picked up herself from her meeting and took her to lunch – then the heavens opened up and we had a real good thunderstorm. Got back to the house and Chienna was going gaga. I had to medicate her to calm her down. The thunder terrifies her and the medication from the Vet is to  relief the stress and calm her down. We find half a tablet is enough – poor thing. The thunder lasted well into the late evening.

The storm cleared and headed off to wreck havoc in Adelaide – or so the news tells us. Tomorrow is forecast to rain so I don’t know when I will get back into the garden and get things cleared up. A less than good summer and now an Autumn that seems to be headed in the same direction – cool and wet. I’m a simple person and I really don’t understand such things, but the weather institute tells us that the last two years are the coldest Australia has been in ten years – they also been the wettest, but overall we’re getting warmer. All very confusing. Interesting though that Wednesday lived up to its name ‘Wet Wednesday”Now for the cleanup and redoing.

If  it stays dry I should get the trailer filled this afternoon and  get it ready to get off to the dump tomorrow morning – early – like opening at 8:30. I try to get in as early as possible when I am on my own because I am not really good at backing trailers. I’ll do the final measure for the edging shortly and order that for tomorrow after I clean the trailer. Should be another busy day.