Benji – Page 11 – Edgar's Page

Nearly back to Normal.

06/10/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Some of the blame game and the complaints have started already with truck drivers unhappy with the closure of Port Wakefield. Also the Port Wakefield service stations have lost a lot of

money this long weekend. Anyway, one of the complaints is that the authorities were too hasty in closing down access to Port Wakefield despite the fact that the water continues to rise. The weather cleared and there has been an aerial inspection of the damage to the power pylons. In this area alone there were six pylons bent and twisted like children’s toys and overall there were 23 destroyed or damaged pylons in the system. And just to make life interesting – another storm is bearing down on us and should be here by late Monday / Tuesday with an estimated 100mm of rain – Oh Joy!! However, the bulk of the main storm has now moved into Victoria and New South Wales. On the subject of these two States, South Australia is very, very thankful for the teams of Emergency Workers that have crossed the Border to help us out, assist in the clean-up and give our emergency crews some much needed rest. Considering there are state wide floods in both Victoria and New South Wales, the help is more than appreciated. There is to be an investigation into the State-wide blackout and why 1.7 million people were left without power – some for 25 hours and some still waiting for the restoration of full power – Arrium, Port Pirie, Port Lincoln and Roxby Downs for instance. Arrium is just holding things together with limited power. The way things are going in South Australia these days I think we will soon be singing the Depression Song:

Once I built a railroad and made it run

Made it race against time

Once I built a railroad, now it’s done

Brother, can you spare a dime

When Chienne died last year and it was decided that I would get another dog, I made it clear that I wanted a mature dog, not a puppy. I said about 5 or 6 years old would be good. I looked at this Diego (Now Benji) and he at five – going on six , seemed to fit the bill so I travelled to Mount Gambier to have a final look at him and bring him home. Now I know I have gone through this before but bear with me – there is a point. I adopted him and brought him home and Annabell decided that she should give him his name and chose, Benji. We decided that he should have a birthday, and since we had no idea (no papers-on way) when he was born the date of his adoption was chosen as his Birthday. Last Tuesday, the day before the storm, his final papers came from Victoria and I learned that he was born on the First Day of May 2013. In other words, he was a puppy, really. Not what I wanted at all. But although I didn’t really know the difference, my Vet never corrected me or said anything that would lead me to believe me I was wrong and that he was much younger than I believed. However, the rescue group is a small scale operation and funding is what they can raise, so they wouldn’t have the resources to do any investigation and probably accepted what they had been told. What is for sure is that if his real age had been known, yes, it is very possible I would have passed him over and looked for something else, but the universe has a way of arranging these things and I stopped, looked and having looked long enough, I knew he was for me. I did buy him a Birthday Present for tomorrow so I will still wrap it up and give it to him.

There was a very rare occurrence here during the week. A set of smaller fingers got onto my computer – which I had foolishly left open – and wrote comments on several places. Then, having been found out attempted to delete everything as she had been shown in school. I have no idea where she went or what she did, but I will wait and see if there is any fallout and correct and apologies where I can – if I can.

Sun is shining, birds are singing, trees are in blossom – it’s spring!! And – it be 33c in our little corner of the universe. Blue skies for the remainder of the week :o) This time next week – on the way to Adelaide – will probably rain!!

Adelaide, Bunnings and a Strange Experience..

22/09/201622/09/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I did a little bit of work in the garden yesterday, and also did a lot of sitting down but I am starting to get moving . Just take it in easy stages. It was nice yesterday morning but by 2 pm it was dull, overcast and chucking it down again. It’s not the best start to spring that I can remember. Not much in the way of rain for Adelaide for a day or so – then the next front rolls in. However, not so great looking for Victoria and parts of NSW. Took Benji out for a walk the other evening – after it got dark – not a long walk nor a quick one, just a slow walk to the end of the road and back. How very odd – for some reason I must have pressed the publish button and published the first paragraph of this post – I must be cracking up. I think it must be all this rain that has waterlogged my brain :o)

As I said, I managed to do a little bit of work in the garden before the rain started – not a lot and I did sit down a fair bit, but I did something – which is good. I am also heading off to Adelaide this week. My son has three days off work so he wants to go to Adelaide and has asked me to come down with him. Bit of a break and he will do most of the

driving. This comes at a good time because I wanted to go to Bunnings Garden Center and look for Mandevilla Climbers. I saw them in a booklet and liked the colours so I thought I might try them here. I think our local garden center has some but only in the one colour and I would like an assortment of different colours. Depends if we have time or not. A week or so ago, on another site I follow there was a small discussion on doctor’s handwriting and the difficulty at times of reading it. Not very long afterwards I came across this cartoon whilst I was looking for something else. It appealed to my warped sense of humour. I hope she ( the doctor) is not offended.

It has been bucketing down off and on here for most of the day and according to the news we had about 13mm of rain. Fortunately it looks as if it will be dry for the drive to Adelaide.

It was mainly dry. We did run into a rain band not too far from Port Pirie. That lasted for a bit then it was clear all the way to Marlston in Adelaide. John did most of the driving down and after changing over at Bolivar, I did the driving in town. John attended to his business and I went to Bunnings at a place called Mile End. I got the garden lights that I wanted. I was told that it is too early for Mandevilla – next month is better. I really don’t know what happened after that but I felt a that very strange pulling sensation and next thing I knew I was in the Pet Barn and these Dinosaurs were calling to me. There were three and I felt that it would be so wrong to take two and leave one poor dinosaur all on his own with no one to love. Next thing I knew I was back in the car with a bag with three dinosaurs in it and only a vague recollection of how they got there. I know, you probably don’t believe me – – interestingly enough, neither did Annabell. Well….. I don’t think I dog can have too many toys..

The Bridge, the Hill and a Starship

30/08/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Other than church, I am having a day of rest. Tomorrow at noon I go into the hospital. All being well I should be home tomorrow evening. Yesterday I took Benji down to the wetlands, mainly because I wanted to do a nosy at the progress of the footbridge. I swear the Forth Bridge was built in less time. The footbridge saga seems to be going on forever. It’s close to seven months and I still think it will be elaborate and expensive rather than just a simple footbridge. The two sides have been extended into the pond, then the large concrete supports have been partly sunk which have further reduced the gap, so by the time the bridge eventually goes into place it will only reach across about nine/ten feet. I understand that it will have people

The other bridge at the back of the wetlands

walking on it and people pushing prams or strollers and people walking dogs, but are such large concrete supports really necessary? I mean these things are about fourteen feet tall, filled with concrete and sunk down into the pond. It will be interesting to see how this develops and how elaborate this structure will be in comparison to the back area footbridge. Yes I understand the safety aspects but I still wonder if such preparations are just a tad over the top.

I know I said a day of rest but, Benji and I drove out to the Wild Dog Hill Conservation Park. Managed to save that from being taken over by the Army like everything else in the entire surrounding area. It’s nice that they have a Playpen bigger than some countries. Anyway, we drove out there and I was not all that happy with the drive out there. It is popular and I can understand that – wilderness within easy reach.

However, the road is in a poor state of repair and if they want to retain Wild Dog Hill as a family picnic area they really have to do something about that road. We rattled and skidded and bumped all the way in. Don’t know who suffered the most me or Benji. The place was deserted but the Benji and I climbed to the top of the hill. It was blowing quite a bit so we had to stay away from the edge, thus I was unable to take photographs looking down which would give an idea of the height. I did manage to take some photographs from the top but only when I could get a break in the wind – and some of them I deleted. It was a ‘spur of the moment’ sort of decision to go out there and I could have chosen a better day rather than a high wind day. It has been many years since I was last there and it has not changed any. I remember we used to have evening movie nights and we brought chairs, sandwiches, flasks and blankets – but that was a long time ago.

I did not have the operation today as planned. I got as far as the Theater and it was terminated for safety – my safety. The fluctuations of my heart were just too erratic to allow the operation to proceed. Apparently I had misunderstood the instructions regarding medication before the operation, so now I am home and will take medications and the surgeon can work around that since the procedure will only take about twenty minutes. However, I have to go

Part of the road leading out of the park.

for an ECG on Wednesday and depending on the results of that the operation will take place on Thursday afternoon. I had things planned for this weekend but not now by the sound of things. Oh well, worse things happen on a Starship.

Here, There and Home

26/08/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

MustafaAdelaide;

The Lower Flinders from, Port Wakefield Road

The drive down from home was uneventful and quite pleasant until I reached the Tin Man. I still had the best part of half a tank of fuel but I wanted coffee as well as fuel. Fortunately I went into the service station before I did anything or I would have really been in strife. Their computer system was down

and they could only take cash for fuel and food and I didn’t have more than $10 on me. It is over 150k to Port Wakefield but I felt I had enough fuel to get there. Besides there were a couple of fuel stations between the Tin Man and Pt. Wakefield if I should feel it was not going too well. As it happened, I had more than enough to make the distance so I was able to fill up with food and fuel.

Up until then the drive was pleasant enough but after Wakefield the rain started, a few light to medium showers with a couple of heavy showers in between. Nothing too difficult but it made for an interesting drive to Bolivar. I did some wandering around Adelaide and visited several camera shops looking for an item that I discovered in the very first stop ( Camera House ) is no longer made by Sony and thus no longer in stock. My old Sony camera will probably be put out to grass because the memory card is falling apart and I cannot find a replacement. Probably find something on line – ebay – but I feel when you have to do that and get something sent from China, it’s time to move on. Of course I have my Canon Canon but that’s too big to just shove into my laptop bag and wander around with, so I need a camera to replace the Sony. I did have a look at a couple of Nikon models in Adelaide and I will have a think about

them. I could, of course, stay with Canon, but I want an alternative and Nikon will probably fill that bill. Adelaide in between showers was not my favourite place to be over the weekend and I was glad to get out to Para Hills, attend the meeting, and then head home. I was home for two days and

then drove back down to Adelaide for another meeting – and these should be the last until November. This was the West Terrace Committee Meeting, which only occurs twice a year and unfortunately it occurred when it did.

Home: (Finally)

In the last ten days I have been away for five of them and to say My Man is not happy is something of an understatement. From the time I arrived home yesterday right up until this morning he has hardly ever left my side. At the moment he is not in his bed but underneath the desk at my feet. Perhaps he thinks I am going to take off and leave him again. We did go out for a walk last night so that kind of settled him down a bit. I think he might have some sort of separation anxiety but not knowing his background we can never really be sure. He was five years old when I adopted him last year so what happened to him in these years is unknown. We still have no idea what will happen regards the WaWa in October, and we have heard nothing from Sooah. I feel in a bit of a bind because in all conscience we cannot just get rid of her. Apart from being wrong it would be unconscionably cruel just to dump her somewhere, either with someone or with the RSPCA for Adoption. When Mustafa, our vet returns from Turkey (his mother has been ill) I’l have a good talk with him and see if we can come up with a solution. I haven’t really did anything because it was only until October, but I think that’s a bit of a dream now. The Arrium problems and the State Unemployment problems make it unlikely that they will be back in October – or, indeed, any time soon.

Hospital, Benji and assorted hackers

11/08/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The weather over the last few days has been fairly mild – 19c – 21c which means that I have been able to get down to the wetlands. We normally do two circuits of the wetlands before we head for home. The foundations of the new bridge across the main pond have been constructed and if the foundations are anything to go by the bridge may well be unnecessarily elaborate and enormously expensive. But then again perhaps the two concrete structures are for something different and not for the bridge at all. Photographs when it’s finally built. Anyway, the wetlands was fairly quiet today.

I have been waiting for it to happen and today it did – Benji turned on the WaWa and she went screaming off in fright. Since then she has stayed away from him. I don’t want harm to come to either of them but I hope this stand off continues for a while. The WaWa has adopted Annabell and she just sees everyone as a potential threat to her and it is unlikely that she will abandon that. This means that the respite is probably only a temporary thing.

I will be going into hospital on Monday 29th August and back home by Wednesday 31st August. Probably spend a few days with my feet up and relaxing, do a few exercises and then start to get back out again. I should be driving within three days. I just don’t know how I’ll manage! Me and Benji, dinosaurs and lions, lying on the bed watching the television. It will be a hard couple of days, but we will certainly try our best. I will be taking a break from all fundraising and other work for the RFDS for a few weeks until the repairs to my knee have settled down and I’m walking easily again.

It’s amazing ; a mere 19 million people trying to get on to the web site and it crashed – how unexpected! Who would have thought that would happen? Now the Government are blaming the crash of the Census Web Site on over-seas hackers. But it’s like everything else this government does to save a few dollars. Go murder someone, plead guilty and you can get up to a 40% reduction in sentence for pleading guilty and saving the government the cost of a trial. And this, by the way, overrides the mandatory life sentence for murder and if you look contrite and even cry and say how sorry you are, there is every chance that a good part of your sentence will be suspended – you might even be home in time for dinner. It used to be that you could be fined for making comments that would bring the law into disrepute, but the judges and lawyers are doing a very good job of that on their own without any assistance from members of the public. Man found guilty of abusing an elderly patient in a nursing home. Judge did not apply a heavy custodial sentence because he felt the young man had been punished enough by having his details in public and having lost his job and reputation, so he sentenced him to six months – five months suspended and the remainder

subject to time served in custody, so he was about ten days to two weeks in jail. This is justice, South Australia. The Attorney General has the legal right to challenge a sentence, but rarely does, and even when he does, nothing much comes of it.

Anyway, back to the census – it is believed that hackers disrupted the web site and denied access. Was unable to get on line last night nor again this morning (Wednesday) The whole thing was a shamble. Whoever came up with the idea of trying to get the entire population of Australia on line in the one night and on a single web site, really needs talking to. Oh and BTW, we have a government with a single seat majority – could be an interesting period. The leader of the party and Primer Minister, is detested by a number of his party so it remains to be seen if they can get over that or if their dislike is so great they will bring down the government. I’m betting on the latter.

The Dark, the Ghost and the Rosebush

31/07/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Friday: The workmen came this morning to fill in the trench. That’s all they were contracted to do – they have no idea when the concrete work will be done. Still, at least I can get the car back into the driveway – I think – I haven’t tried it yet. —– I have just been told that the concreting will be done tomorrow, so it will probably be Sunday before I can use the driveway again. I am quite pleased that it is completed now because for the month of August Annabell will be hosting the Ladies Coffee – Tuesday evening and again on the Wednesday morning.

The other news is that I do not have to go to Adelaide to have the Laptop fixed. It has been done. I telephoned the Apple Shop to make an appointment with the Tec, and instead I ended up with one of the Senior Tecs and together we sorted the problem out over the phone. It took a while and I will expect to see a jump in the telephone bill because of it, but whatever it is it will be nowhere as much as going to Adelaide either by coach or driving. So the Laptop is now running El. Capitan the newest AppleMac OS. I am quite pleased about that.

Took BJ out for our walk this morning and by morning I mean 5:50am, and just as we passed a fence we were suddenly confronted by an apparition in white, scared BJ who started barking like crazy ( unusual) and set my heart off racing at a rate of knots. It was only for a few moments before it vanished behind the very large caravan in the driveway. No it was not a ghost, what is was, was the lady of the house out laying towels over her rose bushes to protect them from the cold. Admirable to be sure, but at 5:50 am – still dark, dressed in white ( white dressing gown carrying white cloths) reflected in the street light on the opposite side of the road – scared me half to death! Not quite what you expect at that time on a cold winter. morning. I told a lady in the church today and her comment was “that’s good, John, as long as it was not dressed in black carrying a scythe and an hour glass, you’ve nothing to worry about”.

All completed - just needs to cure — All completed – just needs to cure

The concrete is laid, the area blocked off and all the workmen gone. Looks good and the men have done a really good job. I can walk on it as from tomorrow but not drive on it until at least Tuesday. Busy week ahead – Wednesday I go to the Specialist and hope that he will organise the surgery for my collapsing right knee-cap in the not too distant future. Then I have a day off and of Friday I go see my Cardiologist. I only see him once every four months and there is a good chance that the visits may well be finalised since everything has been great for the last year.

In mid August I head off to Adelaide and will be away for two days. I am no sooner back than I set off again, but this time just for a day, at least that’s the plan. The second visit may also be for two days and that should be me (Officially) until November unless I decide to go down for the weekend and take the trailer with me to Bunnings. Having said that I probably will need the trailer for ten square meters of Synthetic Turf for my plan. I have already started on that and as the weeks progress I will add more to it until I have things the way I want them.

Cuttlefish and Cold Water

09/07/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

As I mentioned in another post, the Royal Flying Doctors Service (Support) were catering for a three day diving course about 3 million miles out of town, in the middle of nowhere, right next to the sea and very little shelter. Man it was cold. Well, ok, a slight exaggeration on the millage, but it was a long way out of town. The dive was organised by the “Experiencing Marine Sanctuaries (EMS) Group” to view the Giant Cuttlefish in their

natural environment and to give people the opportunity to interact with them. The water in this part of the gulf is very clear and most people used a boogie board to allow them to get face down in the water and a snorkel for air. The more adventurous had weights and got down among the creatures – there were hundreds of them. They are a strange creature – weird looking with the ability to change colour at will to attract females. The EMS Group kept trying to persuade us to leave the catering Gazebo, don a wet suit and get into the freezing cold water. Oh did I ever mention that I do not have masochistic tendencies, plus the fact that it was quite cold enough where we were thank you. I actually would have gone with them but not without any preparation – like very warm clothes to change into and a cup of our own hot soup afterwards. They are going to run the course again next year so I may well take the opportunity to go out with them then. Also this is the first time we have been involved with this and we didn’t know what would be required. Next year we will be better organised. Like with the Operators- Advertising was not all that great and on the first day people bought their own food because they didn’t know we would be there. Apart from hot food we also provided, hot tea, coffee, chocolate and hot soup. There were three dives each day – 10am / 12 noon / 3pm. It was cold and colder when the wind

was coming off the water. The Cuttlefish mate in the cold water during winter.

The election goes on and will continue for some time yet. We still have no outcome although it is looking more likely that the government will survive – just – and that it may well have a workable majority although the wheeling and dealing with the independents continues.

I did say that the rain had passed and it has – sort of. It’s still wet but the rain has been reduced to a drizzle with the odd overnight shower, which means that garden work is mostly out for the moment. The army are still here and we have a group catering for them at their camp in Jubilee Park. I don’t have anything to do until Saturday week.

The WaWa continues to attack Benji and Benji will not defend himself. Annabell and I have decided that if Sooah does not return to Australia, then we cannot keep the WaWa. It would not be fair on BJ. The WaWa is a friendly, playful little thing and is all over me when I come home after being out for a few hours. I can play with her and I can “fight”with her, but she hates BJ with a passion. I also have a fear that BJ will snap and retaliate and really cause some serious injury – and that bothers me more than a little because a snap and injury could well change the whole nature of Benji and I really don’t want that to happen. And to make matters worse, Sooah has not been in contact with us so we really don’t know what is happening.

Since writing this Sooah has been in contact with us and we now know what is happening. Her husband is still working on brushing up his English and should be good enough to get through

the English Test and all being well she hopes to be back in Australia by October of this year – or very shortly afterwards. That’s fine and gives us something to work towards. I have also been to see the Vet and sometimes next week we will get the WaWa up there and perhaps see if we can get a muzzle small enough as a temporary measure and protect Benji. Meanwhile we have a water spray bottle to use, also as a temporary measure. We have tried that already and she definitely does not like that.

Raining Still (2)

21/06/201621/06/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

There has been some flooding but the rain seems have stopped for the moment. The RFDS function at Mitre 10 was a loss and our function at the church was reasonable. Not well attended but in the rain I never expected it to be and the fact that the carpark was closed off didn’t help. At the moment I have not seen any reports of property damage only road flooding and the town cut off for a while. Both of my water tanks are overflowing so that’s good. * Diversion* There used to be a saying “if you ever hear that the world is going to end come to South Australia – everything takes 50 years to get here”. Well not quite fifty years but three months at any rate – the time until Father’s Day in South Australia. Sorry if I seem to have neglected to say anything but since Father’s Day does not happen here until September, I forgot.

There is a doctor who writes an interesting blog and in a recent post she said that she is a terrible

nothing too bad and not in town - access roads. — nothing too bad and not in town – access roads.

single parent – the children go to bed when they feel like it, pizza every night, heaps of movies, no bath, no dishes done and sleep in street clothes. I thought I would mention that I was available for adoption, but everyone seemed so serious in their comments and it was a tribute to her husband, that I decided just to select “like”and leave it at that. I thought my frivolous comment would be out of place. I felt like the Joker from Batman “Why so Serious?” or at the very least Frank Sinatra “I tried being serious once, all I could get was construction work”. But the interesting thing was that it was only in reading that post that I discovered that today in Father’s Day in The United States. Yes, other posts came in too but that was the first. I understand holidays and special days that are specific to the USA — 4th July or Thanksgiving — it’s the days we “share”that confuse me at times — Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day in particular because you have a day in the USA, which is different from the Day in the United Kingdom, which is different from Australia. It’s all very confusing – I feel like Paddington “I am a bear of very little brain and long words confuse me”.

Most of the flooding has subsided and the rain has finally stopped. The sun is shining and the ground is starting to dry out. The forecast is for no rain at least for most of this week, but then I believe weather forecasters make things up :o) If the new concrete path at the church is to be done, the concreter will have to clean out the channel and get rid of the water before anything can be done and once it is done it will take at least a week to cure.

The WaWa is still attacking Benji and I believe that none of what is currently happening was ever taken into consideration. With BJ being such a placid and lovable dog we made the assumption that he and the WaWa would get on well together. On that premise I made the promise that I would look after the WaWa for Sooah until she returned. However, the WaWa has been a one girl dog was treated her like a baby, who has now bonded herself to Annabell and sees Benji as a threat. Bj is paying a high prise for my promise.

I have started to put my ideas for the back garden onto paper and I still think they will work. I don’t accept John’s comment that some of my ideas are too big for the available space and I wont accept that until such time as I get to Bunnings and see the things I want for myself.

And as I leave I have to say that it is Tuesday and it is raining again. If people want the rain, please come and collect it. We’ll give it to you free of charge. I would be delighted to swap you for some of your snow, but people in this area would probably kill me if I did :o) By the time summer gets around we shall all be nice and brown – not suntan – rust!!

Raining Still.

18/06/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Well, we survived the first really Major rain storm of the season. Sadly, however, so did that blooming stringy bark gum tree. I felt sure it would fall down – it’s half dead and hanging over the road – but no, it’s still there. If they work the same way as Adelaide we’ll have to wait until it falls down and kills or injures someone before anything gets done. The reason for that is simply if councils decide a tree is dangerous or dead and causing a hazard and decide to remove it, you can bet with certainty that there will be a protest group and demonstrations against the council and the workmen. Just about two years ago when we did feel the brunt of a serious storm, which caused some flooding and widespread damage, trees came down all over the town. Once the place had been cleared up and regenerated the question arose on which trees to replace the removed trees. The council looked over Australia and decided that it would plant Illawarra Flame Trees, ( from New South Wales) which were colorful and more suited to an urban environment than the Gum trees. Two of our council members organised a protest again the council using “exotic” trees instead of the trees that were native to this area. Thankfully we got the Flame Trees. The storm Damage photograph shows part of the main road through town – Nicolson Avenue – both sides of the Avenue were blocked to traffic for a while. The good thing about the Flame Trees is that they will allow other things – like grass – to

grow alongside them. They don’t kill off everything around them the way Eucalyptus Trees do.

Taking the back down to the bare earth had a few problems – it became a sea of mud during the rain storm, so everything is halted until the ground dries out. That means not moving the second shed for the time being. Perhaps by the weekend things will dry out. However, there are two functions one church and one RFDS. I have to attend the Church function but son John is helping to run the RFDS function. The new concrete pathway is being laid out and the cars will no longer be able to access the church grounds for at least a week. That should be fun! Been raining off and on for most of the day. Managed to get out with Benji for a little while between rain showers. It was still raining but kind of spot raining rather than real rain so it wasn’t too bad.

Saturday: Yes, well, so much for drying out at the weekend. If this rain keeps up I’ll go fishing or swimming out back. Yes it is Saturday and yes it is still raining. Not quite sure if this is merely a continuation of the original rain storm, or new rain. Just before it started to get really dark yesterday ( about 3:30) I took Benji out in the car and we went driving to various parts of the area and took photographs of the town shrouded in rain and mist. I also took a photograph of the storm drainage area, which is pretty full at the moment and probably today is in need of its own drainage area. I dare say the developer intends to finish off the drainage area and extend it to the pipeline for the wetlands – in the fullness of time.

Have concerns that both functions for today might be canceled – well the Barbecue for the RFDS at any rate mainly because there is no shelter at Mitre 10 and although the function at the church is under cover ( in the hall) this continual heavy rain will probably deter a fair few people

considering that they will have to walk in all the rain to get into the church since the grounds are blocked off to cars. Nipped down to see how the group were doing at the Barbecue at Mitre 10. Not all that good from what I saw. Just John and the team – no people despite the fact that Mitre 10 have a big sale on.

Winter rain cometh!

16/06/201616/06/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

It would appear that the “Parcel”thing may well have been some sort of scam. What the purpose of it is or was, we have no idea but it

would seem several people across the town received such an email. Anyway, it has been deleted but it seems such a strange thing without any definable purpose. After we dropped Andrew back at his place yesterday, he apparently continued to work on the cleanup after we left. Andrew’s house is an older house – actually it is two houses joined together – professionally done – and he has rooms everywhere inside and sheds and garages out the back, a cubby house and what used to be a home office – similar to mine. There are trees and bushes planted out front and they have been allowed to become overgrown. To the right of the house (left of the main garage) there is a water outlet, which feeds water into a “river” that runs along the front of the house, under a bridge and ends in a pond at the left side of the house. Over the years the bushes have become overgrown, the river is clogged up and the pond is full of leaves and branches. We discovered solar lights and gnomes fishing there. Andrew has not really done much since it’s only in the last seven months or so that he stopped running back and forth to Roxby Downs – the big South Australia Mining Area – ( he’s a Systems Engineer) and settled in to home. So he has this project of cleaning everything up and getting it all back together again. He says he has reservations about getting the water flowing again, but he does want the “riverbed” cleaned up. Me? I would go all out to get the water flowing again, but that’s just me. I had a waterfall here and it grieved me when we discovered that it had deteriorated too much to be put back into use. But I did work on it and turned it into a sort of rock-raised flower bed. But these things are not uncommon here – many people built water features in the days when water was water and plentiful. Most of them would have been turned off forever when water ceased to be water and became a major source of State Government Revenue – and South Australia has the highest water costs in Australia. We also have the highest gas prices, the highest power prices and the highest State Government charges. We are in the process of building the third most costly building in the world- the Money Pit known as the New Royal Adelaide Hospital. But we have a spendthrift government – and I believe Arrium is merely an example of a system, which might not quite be broken, but has bits falling off it. It’s a borrow and spend culture.

I have started to do some work on the back garden. Shared my ideas with No. 1 son and he was not too impressed. He thought my ideas were good but some parts were too big for the available

space. Anyway, I’m working on it. I have emptied and moved the first of the two sheds and I hope to have the second one moved to its new location sometime today. (didn’t happen)

Thursday 16th: That was yesterday and today the rain is pounding down outside and the lightening is lighting up the sky. Rain was definitely on the weather forecast for today. At the moment I can only hear – it is still too dark to see anything yet. And yes, you may assume that we did not go out for our morning walk. Call me a wimp if you will, but walking dogs in the middle of a rain storm, with the accompanying thunder and lightening, does not fit into my definition of a good morning’s exercise :o) However, I will go and check up on the WaWa – Benji is curled up asleep. – as is the WaWa.

To add to the gloom of the place, our Mayor – Mr. Jim Pollock – died and his funeral is this coming Monday.

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