Bunnings – Page 2 – Edgar's Page

Trips, Tag & Caught.

18/05/2015 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Only a week until the trip to the South East. Still not certain if I will have company or not but it kind of looks like not. What is about to follow will seem pretty silly to most people and you’re right – it is, but it’s fun. Herself and I play a game when we are out in the car. If a Police car passes, or turns off just as we turn on the road, the game we play is “that they nearly caught us that time”. From time to time (not very often though – only once before this year) we do “get caught” For example, we pulled into the car park of the supermarket

and I took herself shopping. When we came out, this was the picture: I think we were well and truly “caught”that time. It’s a sort of playing Tag with someone who does not know they are playing. Ok, so to all you serious minded people it’s probably silly, but I have friends who play at finding a particular coloured car on a particular day. What can I say – it’s not of medical concern – it’s a country town – there’s not a lot to do :o) But it could have been worse – I could have had a bald tyre or something , or I could have had a sudden rush of blood to the brain and signed myself up for a half marathon. :o)

The Budget was presented to Parliament and People and the general feeling is that it’s an Election Budget” the sort of budget that a government produces when it’s looking to an election coming up and spends money to influence votes. The government denies that this is the case but considering the horror of last year’s budget and the fact that a lot of it has still not passed through the Senate, it’s very suspicious. However, the likelihood is that this government will be elected and all the rage against it over the last year will vanish as the new spending budget takes effect. Apart from which, the Opposition is full of faceless, bland people, with the leader being the man who stabbed not one, but two Prime Ministers in the back. Did the dirty on Kevin Rudd, then backed Julia Gillard then stabbed her in the back and welcomed Kevin back into the job. Probably just as well that Rudd and Gillard have gone from parliament or else Shorten would probably looked to see which of his knives were still available.

I set off on Sunday morning for Naracoorte and according to the weather forecast it promises to be a nice sunny day. Assembly is due to finish on Wednesday morning and it

depends when it finishes. If it finishes late I will leave Naracoorte but may have to stay overnight in Adelaide. If this is the case, it may well afford me the opportunity to get some shopping, particularly Bunnings, although Herself wants me to stop at the Bagman (it’s a company – not a person) and pick up some sleeves of polystyrene trays for the ladies craft and baking tables. The update is that John will not be coming with me. His boss is away sick and John has to run the place until she gets back from sick leave. Pity, I would have liked his company.

Chienne is well. In fact she is doing great. Still drinking copious amounts of water, but eating and walking well. I am still taking her out every-night, so she is getting plenty of exercise but also plenty of rest.

Road Trip, Adelaide and Bunnings

10/12/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Let me tell you that I lurve you and I think about you all the time :o)

The recent trip to Adelaide was completed in excellent weather. No storms sneaking up and no nasty surprised lurking over

The Lower Flinders Ranges from Highway 1

hills. I made directly for Bunnings at Para Hills. I like Bunnings – different from most run-of-the-mill hardware stores. There is always an excellent range of stock and I can generally get things that I want and that are not stocked at home. They alsdo have a good garden center.

Provided the weather is good (and it was) the drive on Highway 1 is quite relaxing. The change in the vegetation is very noticeable the further south you drive – it becomes softer and you can find this strange green stuff, which I am told is called Grass. We had this in Scotland, but I had forgotten it.

We do not have the great multi-lane highways and intersections that are normal in the populous parts of Australia – Sydney – Brisbane – Melbourne and driving through Adelaide, although busy and frustrating at times, is not a patch on Sydney. What you see is the major highway linking the north of the state from the south. It carries on across the top of the state and links South Australia with Western Australia. You have, no doubt, noticed the distinct lack of transport – other road users – this is fairly normal. In our little world if we see more than four cars in a row, we wonder where the funeral is. There is not much in the way of wildlife either. People die on this road because it is long, little or no traffic, and minds tend to wander. I do not travel this road at night. I used to but it’s not a great experience – major trucks tend to travel at night. The one advantage of Highway 1 is the 4 klm long passing lanes. They occur every 10 klms, so the longest you are ever stuck behind a caravan or truck is about 20 minutes to half an hour. On the way down (or up from) to Adelaide is the “Tin Man” a BP Service Station and the Crossroads of South Australia for anyone traveling north or south. This is where I generally stop for coffee and a snack both going do0wn and coming back. You meet all sorts of people there – even family :o)

Highway 1 - the road behind — Highway 1 – the road behind

Highway 1 - The way ahead. — Highway 1 – The way ahead.

Watching grass and Conference woes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

New plants, toxic plants and climbing plants

26/04/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Sturt's Desert Rose — Sturt’s Desert Rose

Tuesday and I have Herself at the doctor this morning. I expect to bring her back home and let her lie down for a while. Our appointment is at 9am, so we should be home by 10:30 and I’ll let her rest until lunch. If she is feeling up to it I may take her out for lunch. Yesterday I spent the day clearing the ground – covered it with fertilizer then a Blood and Bone mix, dug all that through and watered it all in. I planted two new flowering bushes – a Lemon coloured Hibiscus and a new bush called Mexican Orange Blossom (White flowers) AND I have fenced the area off. Unless they have mountaineering skills ( like some dogs I know) they should be kept out of the area. Not that I am not thankful for the work in watering they have done, but I feel this responsibility added to their extensive Guard Duties, is really too much to expect so, fencing it off is for their own good. I feel that this is a good time to plant these things (black thumb notwithstanding) because whilst it does say “Full Sun” I am not certain that it means South Australian Full Sun, so, now the bite has gone out of the sun and it is cooler, it might be better and give them time to get established. I have also planted Bougainvillea (Two) along the line of the fence in the hope that they might brighten up the place a bit. I have two different colours at the moment but I may well get two more during the course of this week and provided they all survive, it should be a nice coloured wall

The doctor appointment well and I think we are clear for a couple of months. Still waiting to see if we need to go visit the other specialist, but at the moment, she is not too bad – tired but well. She should be ok provided she does not overdo things.

Our local hardware store also sells a limited number of plants. Once upon a time we had three Garden Shops – now we have but one. I bought two Bougainvillea at the hardware store at a cost of $9:50 each. That was the last two they had. The two I bought yesterday at the Garden shop cost me $16:95 each. This is part of a big chain and since it’s the only place in town they can charge what they like – mainly because the nearest Garden Shop is over 100 miles away. Although— having said that – I do know a young couple who had a house built then took a trailer to that particular Garden Shop and filled the trailer with plants for the garden they had started to lay out. In a few weeks I will be going to Adelaide and be there for a week. On the way home I will stop off at Bunnings on Main North Road and have a look to see if I want anything in the way of plants. I’ll probably stop at the Arid Lands B.G. on the way through. Oh, I did buy one plant the other day and I am unsure what to do with it. I liked the flowers and thought they would look nice. But I decided to look it up on Google and was horrified to learn that it is toxic to dogs, cats, horses sheep and cattle. It also gives off a perfume that destroys other species of plants around it and encourages the spread of its seeds. It is called Lantana Camara and, I think I may have to be careful where I put it.

We had a little bit of precipitation (not using the other word – don’t want to cause upset) this afternoon so that helped to get things settled in – I hope. In another section I have the trailer parked and I am digging out the gravel from that area. It is unlikely that I will be able to plant anything there but I will put down weed matting and refresh the area. There is also a very large area that’s covered in gravel but it’s the cheapest stuff you can get so it does not look all that nice. I will, over time clear all that away and again refresh it with some decent gravel – granite chips perhaps.

I have never had any problem feeding my associates. Well, not strictly true in that I have to have a gate between them – one on one side of the gate – one on the other. Chienne gets right into the food dish as soon as it is put in front of her. She raises her head only when her bowl is empty. The Man, on the other hand, herself calls O.C.D. He has a ritual he has to go through – sniff, walk away – sniff, walk around daddy’s legs, – sniff, walk around daddy”s legs – sniff, walk away, return, eat. If I fed them together after the first walk away, Chienne would be in there and finished before he came back. Ok, so he’s weird, but I guess he fits in quite nicely. He sleeps a lot and I still carry him when we go for “walks”.

I am still undecided about accommodation in Adelaide for the State Assembly and I’m leaning towards a hotel closer to town and about equal distance between the two places I have to go. I think that might be the place.

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