Benji – Page 5 – Edgar's Page

Lighthouse, Wetlands and Spencer Gulf

29/03/2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Friday 22nd. Just after lunch I put a blanket over the front seat in the car, strapped Benji in and off we went to the Lighthouse. It was a lovely day, warm but not hot, so it was a comfortable ride for the 24 miles. Of course, with the air conditioner on it would have been a comfortable ride anyway, but he did what he usually does, curl up facing me and have a nap. We spent some time wandering about and it was good for us to be out and about again after all the hot weather we have had recently.

We came back home by way of the town center and I went into the lolly shop and bought 250gms of sugared almonds, because I knew she had them in for the first time in a long time. I know, but it’s my indulgence and they remind me of my childhood in Scotland – every lovely crunch of them. In the evening, after the news, I took Benji down to the wetlands. It’s been a while since we were there. To say I was shocked is an understatement. The amount of water loss is incredible. With the continued drought and the fact that there is no

water going into the system, this, plus the water going out to water the trees, lawns and plants has really taken its toll. Having said that, it did rain for a bit last night and although it rained for several hours, it was fairly light rain and didn’t make a lot of difference to anything.

Today both Annabell and I are exhausted. The family at the back of us were having an 18th Birthday Party. The father came around and told his neighbours what was going to happen and said he would try and keep the music to a reasonable level. Well, that was a lie right there! He did indicate that they were going to play music, but they didn’t. I don’t know what the heck it was they played but music it was not – it was just a thump, thump, thump. My son follows Iron Maiden, and some other sort of heavy metal and though I don’t like to admit it, it is music – of a sort – but this last night, until 2am was just a continual thump, thump, thump. I almost took a serious dislike when the alarm went off at 6am. I did not have

a good night, but Benji and I went out for our walk in the calm, early, cloud covered morning. Today was the Congregation Annual General Meeting, so church was well over two hours long. I think Annabell is resting – good for her. We go back to the doctor this week and we expect he will increase the amount of her insulin again. At the moment she is not too bad, but the readings are still higher than he would like. ( He did increase the level to 17ml.)

The drought continues to bite in the north of South Australia and over in Victoria. There has also been high and strong winds that have turned the bare paddocks into dust bowls and animals are starting to perish for lack of food and water and the dust that gets everywhere – into the animal eyes and mouth. There’s not a lot of help being handed out. Must have looked away for a moment and when I looked back, March is just about finished and we are rushing towards April. Today – Thursday 28th – Dougal is coming to stay for a little while. I have no idea how long this time as Ina is still in a Respite Center outside of Adelaide.

Under our system, you can qualify for traveling assistance if you have to travel for treatment. The hospital at the Port does not have Nuclear Medicine facilities – our hospital does. So this lady had to travel from Port Augusta to Whyalla for treatment – a distance of 80 klms. ( 160kms round trip) She does not quality for assistance because the cut off point is 100 klms. This lady is traveling 160 klms twice a week for treatment but does not receive assistance. This was highlighted with the Minister for Health and he agrees that many of the rules were made to apply to Adelaide not the country areas. He has promised to have a look and overhaul where necessary.

Adelaide, Kangaroos and walkin’ the dog!

22/03/2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

On Tuesday morning I set off for Adelaide. I was not too far from Adelaide (less than 90klms) when my son contacted me and said that there had been a change of plans and that they were both arriving in Adelaide on Tuesday night and heading home on Wednesday morning, so I didn’t need to come down after all. I told him where I was and how impressed I was but I hope I shall be able to cancel the second room at short notice. This is the hotel I use when Presbytery is in North Adelaide. I took a run out to the shopping center at Tea Tree Plaza and did some shopping for Annabell. I like TTP and am generally quite comfortable there. For some reason I don’t like Marion Shopping Center. Can’t think why but I just don’t like it. It doesn’t seem to have a lot of character and I find it quite antiseptic. Later on in the afternoon I was at a place that has an overload of character – The Central Market. It’s one place I really enjoy wandering around. Anyway, I went to the hotel and booked in, explaining why I no longer need two rooms and why I need to cancel one. No problem. They were very understanding. Once I booked in and put my case in the room, I took the bus into town. I had some things I wanted for myself at Kikki.k and David Jones

For more years than I care to remember I have used a Filofax but in recent years it has become ridiculously expensive to get inserts. I think I said before that I can, of course, get inserts from the

UK and the USA but the cost of shipping/postage is greater than the cost of the inserts. Yes I can download but my printer cannot not cope with the size and I am not about to buy a printer that can so I can use it once a year. Anyway, there are several printing shops in Adelaide so at the last meeting of the year ( late November early December) I can download, save to a USB and have the inserts printed off for less than $10. For years it was so simple and there were two Filofax outlets in Rundle Mall, Adelaide – Borders and David Jones. Borders has gone and David Jones don’t really stock much now.

It’s been ages since Benji and I were down at the wetlands. It’s really been too hot and sadly there is only a limited amount of shade there. This whole week the temperature will be around the mid 30c mark and still too hot to take him onto the concrete paths at the wetlands for any length of time. Interestingly, there is no shade at the Wetlands Kiosk. Not long after it opened I took Benji for a walk then stopped off for a coffee for me and a small Ice Cream for Benji. The cost was over what I anticipated which I thought was a bit much. I have not been back since. I also notice that it is closed for a number of days during the week, so perhaps it is not doing as well as was expected. Personally, I think the lack of shade might have something to do with that. The forecast for next week is for cooler temperatures, so perhaps we can get back down to afternoons at the lighthouse and the wetlands.

This morning on my walk with Benji, the place was covered in Kangaroos – they were everywhere. Not just the odd one or two as normal, but mobs of them. Why no photographs – it’s 6am and it’s dark. In the early evening, I go around the park/ play area: I no longer go through it. There are quite a few Kangaroos there in the evening and I find that even although Benji is under control and does not offer a threat – he doesn’t even bark at them – they still take off when they see the dog, and that’s my problem. There is bushland across from the park and that’s where they make for, but it means crossing a road and they would just take off without any concern for traffic. Hitting a Kangaroo is not good – it kills the Kangaroo, but the car would be a write off and depending on the angle of the hit – the driver could be too. So, I go around the park and leave them be – it’s safer that way

Kangaroos and Living Plants

22/02/2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

As far as we understand, the funeral will take place at the Church on Tuesday at 11am. That’s what we organised, however, her son, breezed in from London and would have preferred the funeral to have been on Thursday past so he could catch the weekend flight back to London. Although I have done all the work – the Order of Service just needs the nod and I can start printing, collating and have it ready for Tuesday, I am advised that there may well be changes and not to print just yet. There is a meeting with the son on Sunday and if he decided to change things to

what he wants, it doesn’t leave me a lot of time to get everything organized, printed, collated and out. No pressure, yesterday will be fine. :o)

Ina is back in hospital and we had a phone call to ask if we would look after Dougal for a few weeks, I was out but Annabell said that it would be fine. The daughter has been staying for a bit but we will get Dougal when she goes home sometime next week. Don’t mind really, Dougal is no trouble at all. He and Benji get on fairly well and Benji doesn’t seem to mind Dougal sharing his toys. The only thing Benji gets cranky about is the sleeping arrangements. Dougal occupied the place next to me and Benji got cranky about that and made certain Dougal understands who sleeps where in future.

We spent most of Monday afternoon at the church getting the place ready for the funeral. I printed, collated 120 copies and passed each pile over to Annabell for folding. She can’t do a lot but she was sitting down and could do that for me – I mean, she couldn’t help with moving furniture and re-arranging pews, but she could do the folding, a total of 120 x 2 double sided copies, so she was a great help in doing what she did

The funeral went well as well as funerals are and our little church was full with close to 110 people – which is our maximum.l She joined the church in 1987 and was a Member of the Board of Management, Board Treasurer and Leader of the Sunday School. The children loved her and it was so very pleasing to see many of the former Sunday School (grown up and married of course) there to say farewell. It was one of the former Sunday School members who read the lesson. The service lasted over one hour mainly because the “in-thing”in Australia at the moment is to have a Power Point and that took up time. The committal at the Cemetery was relatively short and we returned to the church hall for lunch, which all the ladies of the church provided.

I have been outside since the heatwave mourning dead plants, clearing up the mess and cleaning out the plant pots. In doing so I discovered that the age of miracles hasn’t passed as the photograph will show. This was, to all accounts a dead plant and in among the dead and brown leaves was a hint of green, which I have worked with. It’s encouraging as we draw towards the last weekend of summer. The mess is not caused by dead plants but rather the piles of boxes, bags of clothes and unwanted furniture that my niece decided she didn’t want to take back to Adelaide. Some has gone and Lifeline will come and collect the remainder of the furniture on Monday. I’ll spend part of the weekend sorting through the boxes and the bags. In a couple of weeks the boys are heading over to Melbourne for some concert. Andrew is staying in Melbourne for a few days but John is coming back to Adelaide. I said I would go down and pick him up. It’s only an overnight stay and gives me the opportunity to do some shopping for Annabell at Tea Tree Plaza or the Elizabeth Center. I have been thinking about a new camera and this might be an opportunity to have a look around.

Still no word about the specialist and the insulin stuff as yet and the earliest we can get to see the eye specialist is May

Moving, Benji, and Water for Wildlife

01/02/2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Thankfully, the weather has calmed down from its hissy-fit last week. A warm week this week but temperatures will be no more than mid 30s. The Hay Convoy of 50 B Double Trucks went through on Friday and I did get a lot of photographs and a video that had been sent to me. It really was something to behold and I am sorry that I missed it but watching the video was incredible. Perhaps next time they go through I will be able to see for myself. They always go through that way but this is the first time we have ever had notification of the time they were going through. Actually, they have to go through where they did – there is no other way. – Well, there is, but it would add about 1100 klms on to the journey and not really achieve anything. Saturday was Australia Day, which started out fine – a bit cool, but fine. By 6:30, the temperature had fallen and the rain came down. It wasn’t really all that heavy but it was constant and the latter part of the Australia Day Celebrations were canceled – although the fireworks did go ahead. John Jnr and I spent Saturday at my niece’s place moving furniture. She was only here for seven months and she is now heading back to Adelaide. Some things she didn’t want to take back with her, so they went onto my trailer and into the garage and the church may dispose of them.

Back to the doctor with Annabell this morning. This was a planned visit, but not a good one. Generally her blood sugar level has been controlled by diet, but that is no longer working. Doctor wants to put her on diabetes medication but can’t. He has to contact a specialist in Adelaide, explain the situation to them and they will decide what medication is suitable for her, given her health concerns and her current medications. So we just have to wait.

I had a telephone call this afternoon from one of the major Hardware firms and they wanted to give us (RFDS) the space to run a fundraising event at the store. I said I would see what I could do and try and get a team together. I will call them first thing in the morning and accept since I have a team available for them. Ten days and I head off to Adelaide for conference. We plan these days away and both of the boys either telephone her or just come over and see she is ok, The Weather people lived down to their reputation yet again. Fine weather, they said – temperature in the mid to high 30s, they said. What they didn’t say was 43c today. It be a wee bit warm. Ah, look on the bright side – We survived 48.9, we can survive 43c. The danger period will come in about two hours when people start getting home from work and cranking on air-conditioners, which could overload the system. Might even blow a fuse again.

As it happened a cool change swept in and brought temperatures down quite a bit. Temps came down, wind came up and we had dust problems which I could see in the distance when I was walking with Benji. Come the weekend and we are looking at high 30s again, but that’s fine. I think one of the things that has made people grumpy is that many Australians have been unable to do what they would normally do in summer. Generally, in the backyard with friends and family – barbecue and a few beers, a glass of wine – backyard cricket with the children, and so on – in the park or down the beach. Not so much since it’s been blowing every day for weeks, then the heatwaves came along and all of this has disrupted the Australian lifestyle. I don’t do any of this but I like to go walking with the dog or dogs and I can take them out despite the wind, but the heat causes problems for dog paws, so it’s after 9pm when the sun has gone down and it’s starting to get dark. From time to time Benji will dig his front paws into the ground, lock them and refuse to move. I have no idea why he does this but after a minute or so he will start walking again as normal. I think he does this because he wants to see if my arm can actually come away from my shoulder since he does this without any warning. The heat is not only causing problems for us uprights and our companions, it is also causing problems for our wildlife. This is mainly exacerbated by the drought and just the general lack of moisture in the bush. It is really pleasing to see that more people are filling buckets of water the leaving them in their gardens. .

Australia – Frying tonight!!

26/01/2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Thursday 24th Jan. This morning I took Benji out for his walk at 05:30. I thought I might as well, I was awake anyway. Actually, I had been awake since 3;40 – it was a very hot, sticky night and I

didn’t sleep too well. We saw quite a few Kangaroos and when I got back I made certain my water container – a big blue bucket – was full. I also filled the bird dish. Annabell and I had to go out since we had an unplanned medical appointment for Annabell. We moved across to the shopping centre and got her medication, the supermarket for milk and a few things then we came home. On leaving home this morning to take Annabell for her appointment, I did something I don’t usually do – I left a fan on for Benji so that he could stay cool until we got back. We didn’t waste time, got what we wanted and headed home. Inside and put the A/C back on again. The temperature climbed to an “official temperature” of 48.6 but my monitor read 50c and the reason it read 50c is because it couldn’t go any higher. At even the official 48c, the reverse cycle A/C had difficulty trying to cope. The government were noted and warned that the electric system was “struggling” so for the first time ever, the massive generators were switched on to help the grid. Despite this precaution Adelaide and some districts around, suffered power blackouts – and this on the hottest day ever. Around 8pm it had cooled down a bit so we went out for our evening walk. I was outside a short while ago and felt that it was warmer than when I took Benji out earlier, I checked the monitor and found that it was sitting at 36c and it is now 23:05, Might not be the best night for sleeping.

`The Hay Convoy at Iron Knob SA. * Photograph by Angel Giles *

Did sleep reasonably well. Took Benji out this morning and was very surprised to see that many of the places on our walk had also put out buckets of water. I thought this was great. One place had a cleaned rubbish bin filled with water. I have increased the size of the container I use.

One of the incredible things that happen here are the Hay Convoys. Much of New South Wales and most of Queensland are in drought. Thus farmers cannot feed their animals. The farmers in Western Australia donated about 3500 bales of Hay – enough to fill 50 trucks and these are being trucked from Western Australia to New South Wales. The convoy was passing through South Australia on the Inter-State about 30 miles away. A number of people were going out to the Iron Knob truck stop to greet the trucks and the truckers and wave them on . I was invited to go with them and I really wanted to, but I had an unplanned medical appointment for Annabell and that was at the same time as the trucks were going through. I did ask my friend Angel to take lots of photographs – which she did

Daddy wasn’t using it so I was keeping it protected for him.

As I said before – the weather is strange and very unpredictable. From the hottest place in the commonwealth to being really quite cool when I was out a little while ago with Benji. It was ok, but really cool (17c) considering the temperature over the last few days. I did, however, remark to Annabell the other day when we were having these rolling power outages, that it was a bit sad when you have to walk about the house with a torch (flashlight) in your pocket and candles placed around the place – just in case, you understand. I have faith in Power Networks, I mean who else can tell over 100,000 people who have just lost power of the hottest day ever, that it was a blown fuse – and tell it with a straight face? That takes talent..

When I was growing up in Scotland the early days Fish & Chip shops sometimes put a notice in their window ‘Frying Tonight” That’s what it felt like here.

Lovely weather and visiting dogs.

14/01/2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

This is the photograph that I submitted for critique and whilst they waxed lyrical about each other’s photographs they were not thrilled about my photograph – bad lighting, poor composition, were two of the comments and when it came to scoring, it didn’t do well at all. I am not averse to criticism, even negative can be helpful, if done correctly, but they just didn’t like this and there was no constructive criticism. Anyway, I’m fairly comfortable with my photographs. I agree they could improve but not this way.

Got back from Adelaide last night. Was midnight before I got home and close to 1am before I got to bed and then back up at 5;45 to take the dogs out. It took me a while to settle the dogs down when I got home – you would think I had been away for weeks instead of just one day. I had to have everything done on the one day because I needed to be back for Annabell’s medical appointment. It was a fairly good trip – and I got everything that Annabell asked me to get for her but when it came to me – fail. David Jones has very little in the way of Organizers, or inserts these days, Kikki.K had nothing, Typo had nothing, same story at Officeworks, which I did find surprising. I have some things coming from the USA so I

shall just have to exercise patience and wait until they arrive before I can finish the change-over.

I did, however, get Annabell a new cookbook.

We bought an air-fryer and although it has a small cookbook along with the instructions, Annabell wanted something more so I looked for an Ari-Fryer Cookbook for her. I got this at Dymocks in Rundle Mall. We have no book shops at home. The last one closed down years ago. Yes the newsagent sells a limited number of books and the library has not caught up with Air-Fryers yet. Come to that, neither has Dymocks and there were only four books to choose from. Even in Adelaide many of the bookshops have closed down -Dymocks, Borders, Angus & Robinson, were the main bookshops in Adelaide. By contrast, Dymocks, the remaining bookshop, was crowded and many of the customers were young people. Anyway, I got her a cookbook and she is quite happy with it.

We have a Nursing Home here but the beds are very limited and it is not unusual for people to be sent to care in other places where a bed is available. This could mean they are sent over 100 miles away. If you remember I did visit one of our congregation who had been sent to a nursing home in Quorn which is about 90 miles from here. We have another person who has been sent there and I am going to visit him early next week.

The four Test Cricket matches against India have ended with a well deserved win for India. There’s no question of the fact that India really dominated the entire series and in all honesty should have ended 3 1 instead of 2 1. India dominated the last Test Match from start to finish and should have come away with a win, but bad light and bad conditions means that the match was abandoned and it became a draw. Be interesting to see how they do with a different set of skills in the ODI (One Day Internationals) ( Not very well, I fear!!)

In ten days from now we would have had Dougal for three months in what was to be a week to ten days visit. Anyway, he went home today. I took him round to Sam this afternoon. I think Dougal was glad to be home and glad to see his people. I’ll miss him but it’s nice to be back to me and Benji again. I think Benji will be quite happy and we had a good walk – just the two of us – this evening. We should be clear now until sometime in December when we get Yogi back for a bit. You never know, we could have Dougal back for a few visits if Sam has to go back to Adelaide for tests.

December – Good Grief!!

04/12/201804/12/2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The RFDS Simulator last time we used it.

I took the dogs out for their walk this morning, I was at home starting to get ready for the three events today. I would be involved in two of them. About 7:30, down it came – heavy rain, no wind but heavy, straight down rain. It didn’t let up but my fundraising was under cover ( not the best of cover, but still cover) and we were mostly protected. The other one was not and they bravely took the rain in their stride. By 11am the thunder started and then some lightening. There was some concern regarding the Children’s Christmas Pageant due to start at 5pm today. There was no let-up in the rain and the thunder so it was decided at 3pm to cancel the Pageant and the After Pageant Fair. It will now take place on the 9th December. Sadly the RFDS Simulator started back to Adelaide and it is unlikely that we will be able to get the simulator back up from Adelaide again. This is a great pity because it’s a great draw-card and it is very popular, giving people`the opportunity to see how the inside of a RFDS aircraft is set up and all the equipment it contains. This also presents problems for the organisers of the After Pageant Fair in that some of the traders who would have been at the Fair will not be able to come back on the 9th December because of other commitments. We will just have to see how things work out, but the decision not to go ahead with the Pageant was the right decision given the weather at the time. Actually it has been raining again today (Monday) I have to get my terminology right and it’s not the After Pageant Fair anymore – it’s the After Pageant Market

Referring back to the last post, I did resign as Secretary four years ago. The person that took over lasted for less than a year, then left and I was asked to take it over again until the AGM and new elections. LOL, I’m still here…

Dougal is still with us and will be here at least until the weekend, perhaps even beyond that, depending what happens in Adelaide. The were home during the week and I spoke to them and it was my suggestion ( and the right one) that Dougal should just stay here until they finish all the medical appointments Adelaide and be back home. I thought that was preferable to him

being moved back and forward – Benji and Dougal get on well so it’s not a problem. — Wife phoned and Sam is not too great and still in hospital. Not very sure about when he would be allowed out and home. She was concerned about the imposition on us. I assured her Dougal was fine and I was happy for him to be here. It was not an imposition in any way and we were happy to help — better here than in some Kennels ( however good they might be)

Since I started writing this we have had an RFDS Workshop which was run by Central Operations during which we were told that it would be unlikely that we would get the simulator back but they would see what they could. Well, they did very well and the Simulator will arrive here on the morning of the 9th and be set up. The tentative date for the Pageant was Saturday 8th Dec. but it turned out that the Ada Ryan Gardens had been booked out for that day with a big wedding and that date could not be moved, so it became Sunday the 9th. I am not sure if I will be able to assist – actually it is unlikely that I will be able to assist. The same will apply the following week – Carols in the Park – which clashes with our own Carol Service at church.

During this coming week we are in for a few days of hot weather somewhere between 28c on Tuesday up to 37c on Thursday and a cooler 30c on Friday. I think the weather should be ok for the children’s Pageant and the Market afterwards. Annabell has not been at her best this last week, so we will have to keep a close eye on her and make sure she does not overdo things. Only two more coffee nights and them they break up until next February.

Winds of Change

23/11/2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The daytime temperature has been nice but the mornings are cold – probably not in Adelaide – but up here, cold. The evenings have been much the same

Some of the larger birds at the wetlands. Swans have gone, though.

and I have taken to be rugged up if I take Benji for a walk around the wetlands in the evening as the sun is on the wane. The other day my son sent me a message – “Wetlands in 30 mins.” so off Benji and I trotted to the wetlands and caught up with him and the pram The day is great, warm and sunny, but the mornings and evenings are still cold. The month of November is a very busy month for the Royal Flying Doctor Group here. I said in the last post that I was asked to organise a fundraiser for this weekend – which I did – but this coming weekend is particularly busy with three events all going off on the one day. Next Saturday I will be on the go from 8am to at least 9:30 pm. Still if it raises funds for the RFDS, it’s all worth it. I will be doing a fundraiser at the hardware store from 8;30 until 1:30 – a quick change and over to the Ada Ryan Gardens and the RFDS Simulator and showing people through that until the close of the After Pageant Fair at 9pm and by the time we tidy up and get everything put away, it will probably be close to 10pm. Never mind – worse things happen at sea, or so they tell me.

The RFDS apart, it is going to be a busy time at church over the next month. The Lutheran Church are holding an Advent Service next week to which Annabell (my wife) and some other members of the congregation will be attending. With the other lady still on the sick list, I am still the Tuesday and Wednesday driver, and to add to that I have to take Annabell and pick up another lady for the Lutheran Advent Service on Wednesday afternoon. I thought after Mount Gambier things would start to calm down – oh sure, lead up to the Pageant, Christmas, Carols in the Park and New Year and you think things will calm down?

I had a bit of a “wake-up”call on Monday evening. On Sunday, the family come here for dinner. This Sunday Andrew did not come. We held off dinner, but still no Andrew. I tried to telephone him, but no reply. He was on call, so we assumed he had been called out. Monday I tried several times to call him and again after dinner on Monday -still no reply. So I got into the car and drove to his place. He opened the door and he looked fit and well to me, but I asked how he was. He said he was fine. Talked to Trish and she was fine too. Trish quietly left the room leaving

me with Andrew. I had just done what Andrew believed I would do when he did not turn up on Sunday and his phone remained unanswered – I would get in the car and drive over – and that is exactly what I did. His reason for doing what he did is that he believed that this was the only way he could get me to come to his house. In the last year I have not been there to see my grandson, or play with him, because there has always been a reason to prevent me getting there – organising some function or event for the RFDS – a church function or I am away for days at either Para Hills, Naracoorte, or Mount Gambier on church business. And if i’m not doing that, I am up to my eyes in paperwork. He asked if I had to do the things I do – i.e. why me, why not someone else? I edit the church Magazine. This takes up time and effort but as much as I have tried to get people to even contribute – well, everyone wants a magazine but no one is willing to help. The same with the State Newsletter – write on what’s happening here for the State Newsletter – every other month I have asked for someone to do this- no one has ever responded. I have to go to the places I go to because that’s my role over and above running the service, if you like. There are three of us who run the church, neither of the other two are fit to undertake the stress of driving around the State – and by fit I mean medically – one is disabled and the other is recovering from Cancer, which leaves me. Helen take care of everything locally and undertakes many of the visits, I look after things beyond local – that’s my role. I have to prepare reports for each of these meetings and be prepared to answer any questions that may arise. But Andrew is right, I am so tied up in other things that I am missing the growing up of my grandson – and to be very blunt and truthful – he is the only one I am likely to have. Things will have to change and soon. I relayed all this to Annabell and she said she was not surprised at Andrew’s method of getting me over there. “Your son knows and understands you more than you think he does”

Model Trains and Kangaroos

16/11/2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The Model Railway Exhibition was brilliant. Oh yes, it was a very busy weekend for the RFDS but there were compensations and one of those was that retired Senator Buckland who is President of the Club said that the RFDS people would be allowed into the exhibition free of charge. The setups were fabulous and I was really amazed at the amount of work that had gone into them. What really floored me was that some of the exhibits were large in their own right but amazing that they were really only part of a larger set up. There were model railway set-ups from as far away as Western Australia but also sets from Adelaide and various places in Victoria.

The weather was changeable over the last couple of weeks and we did have some rain during the Model Railway two days. Not long after that we were looking after Dougal for a few days as his people went down to the Royal Adelaide for tests. However, she is still not the best so she will have to go back down on the 20th of this month and we will have Dougal back with us again.

Not long after Dougal went home I left for Mount Gambier. Stayed overnight in Adelaide and drove to Mount Gambier on the Friday. Set off for Adelaide right after the meeting on the Saturday and stayed overnight before hitting the road again at 05:30 since I really wanted to be home at 11am – well not so much home but to be in the church for part of the 11am (Armistice Day) Service – which I was. The weather has warmed up and over the last few days we

have been in the mid 30c. I took Benji out for a walk at 6am before it started to heat up and the ground was still cold. I was surprised to see Kangaroos around since I assumed the rain for much of the week just gone, would have been enough to keep them happy. They only really come near the town when there is little to drink and not much feed out in the bush. Not the best of photographs but they were a bit back off the road and trying to hold a dog, hold the smartphone steady and take a picture, wasn’t all that easy. Tomorrow it is supposed to be overcast with the possibility of rain and a bit of a storm – at least that’s what the state forecast was. The local news was not quite so certain in regard to the weather, so it might rain, but then, it might not. —- It did..

In a few days the Officer Cadets of the Military College , Duntroon, Canberra will be here for three weeks to conduct exercises. There will be command posts set up around the town and the army is calling for volunteers to take part in the population evacuation exercises. I didn’t do that last time but I think I might have a shot at it this time. At the moment the Cadets are doing some training at Cultana before they come over here for the next three weeks. As it turns out I wont be since the registration is this coming Saturday and I had a call from the Mitre 10 hardware wanting me to organise a RFDS Fundraiser for this Saturday. I have been on the phone much of the afternoon getting a team together

The Ambulance Ramping crisis continues with 18 Ambulances at the Royal Adelaide waiting to be attended to. Whilst they are there, they are not available for any emergency. The photograph was taken by

18 ambulances with patients on board – waiting…….

an ambulance para-medic. But there you are – the most expensive hospital on the planet and it doesn’t work and it can’t cope. If a real medical crisis, where many people are affected, ever hit Adelaide and South Australia, we would be well and truly stuffed.

Benji and I have been out and about. I took him back out to the lighthouse and then to the wetlands. Sometime over this weekend I really must get the model railway photographs sorted out. I take hundreds of photographs but am not the best of photographers.

Beds, flowers and Kangaroos.

26/10/2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Daddy wasn’t using it so I was protecting it for him…

There have been a few days over the last two weeks when it has not been cold, wet and windy – always windy! Yesterday was no exception with 70kph winds causing concern with dust storms and damage to powerlines and trees in Adelaide. I had concern for two trees but they survived – again. They cause me concern every time the wind blows stronger than usual but they have always survived – for which I am most thankful. The few days I did get out and about we were able to get down to the wetlands and sample the coffee at the new Kiosk. I actually went back down to the wetlands recently but the kiosk was crowded but then it was a nice day with only a limited amount of wind i.e. it was not blowing a gale. The only blessing – if you can call it that – of the wind right at the moment is that it keeps the flies away.

I have been busy with RFDS things this last few weeks. The major thing being organising the catering with the Model Railway Club. This year is their 50th Anniversary and they have organised a big Model Railway Exhibition to celebrate, with clubs and displays coming in from inter-state for the two days. Two funerals and guests at a wedding and I have had myself removed from the RFDS Social Media page. Benji has not been neglected. We still go out for our walks. There is a bit of progress with Benji. I did mention some time ago that for some reason being lifted on to a shoulder drove him crazy and he fought to get down, even to the extent of risking injury. I have never had a dog that didn’t like being carried on the shoulder at times. Annabell and I discussed this and since we really know nothing of his background before I adopted him, we surmised that perhaps he had been abused when in that position. Anyway, I worked on it – and treats helped.

We catered for a function yesterday at Civic Park and I was called from the people working that some forms had been handed to them by the Council and could I come down and collect them. I decided to take Benji with me. This Civic Park function is the culmination of a week in which we celebrate pride in our community and in the park all sorts of things happen with activities for the children. Anyway, what I didn’t know was that this year there was to be a demonstration by the Dog Obedience Group – lots of dogs. Benji was not a happy boy. He gets on well with dogs that come into the house – dogs that I look after – although where the WaWa was concerned that was a sort of armed neutrality. However, back to the park and he started

getting anxious and he jumped up on me, and I bent down and lifted him up onto my shoulder and he stayed, quite happily. Definitely progress.

Yesterday the Pride in the Park function was held in a warm and sunny 26c. I took Benji down to the Wetlands and had a good walk round. I was going to have coffee at the kiosk, but it was crowded and busy – which is good, so I gave it a miss this time. Today when I took him out at 6:16 am there was not a breeze and not a cloud in the sky, which wont last. The expected temperature for today is 34c with wind, -as I said in the first line – always with the wind.. I realise that I am probably a pain in the butt with this wind thing, but in all the years I have been here I have never known it to be like this. Yes we have had a bit of wild weather and high winds from time to time, but this constant wind was never a feature of past years.

This coming weekend we are out again catering at the Model Railway Exhibition. his is over two days and I can help at one but not at the second since we have a Special Service at Church and I will be there for much of the day – lunch afterwards for members and guests.

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