Chienne – Page 3 – Edgar's Page

The Vet, The Man and Medication

04/06/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

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

Well, back from Adelaide, glad to be back home , although I have to go back next week.. I got up this morning to find that Outlook Express strikes again and the mail I was reading over the last two days had simply vanished. It’s not in the trash box, it’s not in the junk box = it’s just gone. I don’t about this happening to anyone else, so I have to believe that it’s something I’m doing – or not doing. What that is, I have not a clue. I know there are a lot of faults with Windows 8 and perhaps this is just another one. So, please, I am not ignoring your posts, I am just having problems with my mail server again. It’s been a couple of months since this happened so perhaps I was getting complacent. But I think the problem with vanishing emails has gotten worse since the change from an AppleMac back to a PC. Having said that I think it is possible that the missing emails could be in the AppleMac so I might set that up and see. It is very frustrating. It was suggested that I move to Google+ and although I have an account there moving over could cause more problems than it would solve.

The Man is not getting any better and apart from problems with arthritis, we now know that he is loosing his sight. I have been hand feeding him and he bumps into things more and more. I have an appointment with the Vet tomorrow so I will see what he has to say, but I don’t think it will be all that encouraging. There is only so much we can do. I really am not ready to let him go if there is any way I can make him less scared and more comfortable. He squeals a lot – not barking – but we can’t figure out why. I noticed changes in him when I did come back home. A week is a long time in a dog’s life – but you know that.

Had the Man at the Vet yesterday afternoon. Struth it was a trying time. He was very distressed and cried (loudly) all the way into town in the car. He cried and screamed in the vet and once I checked in and let them know I was here, I went back outside to walk up and down with him and tried to calm him down. He was in pain and he was afraid. Mustafa (the Vet) is very good and we did manage to calm him down. Yes, he is loosing coordination of his back legs which slip away from him and cause him to fall a lot – yes there is arthritis and yes he is starting to lose his sight. He is on 10 mil of Carprofen, which should help. I did ask about Adequan, which he had not heard of, but he has asked his staff to look for it and he will get back to me. I also talked to him about the wheels and he gave a qualified approval provided that the measurements are correct and it does not put any additional stress on the dog. I told him that the wheels I am about to order – once I have all his measurements – will be made to his specifications and shipped over from the United States. Mustafa seemed a bit more relaxed about that.

The other dogs that I take walking at times.

At the moment he is curled up asleep in my office – with me – in front of the fire. He likes his comfort. I was worried about the fact that he was not eating too well and I was going to mention that until to Mustafa. Herself suggested that perhaps he does not like cooked chicken (horror!!!) Hey it was chicken breasts from the butcher that I cooked and chopped up for him. Anyway, I put the chicken into Chienne’s bowl and she scoffed the lot. I sorted out some other stuff for him, chopped it up finely and he scoffed that, and there was me thinking I was doing the right thing by buying expensive chicken breasts and he turns up his wee nose at it. The photograph is of Izzy and Spike -Izzy is the light coloured one – and these are the dogs I take out walking a couple of times – when I can.

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.

Chienne and The Man

23/03/201423/03/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Chienne (Chi for short) as a young puppy

Her name (Chienne) means several things but I prefer the term “Female Dog” Unlike the Man, Chi was not adopted or rescued, Chi was bought by me – well, actually both of us –

from a Pet Shop. Now when you have calmed down and brought your arms back to your side after throwing them up in horror, let me explain. This was a small town pet shop – it was not part of any big group – animals were not generally part of what the shop did : it provided boarding – short and long term, was a grooming service; herself and I knew the owners and the dogs she did have from time to time, were checked by the Vet – who, by the way, is still our Vet. He still looks after Chienne (Chi (Chee) for short)) and has done for the last twelve years.. However, there was adoption of a sorts because – and we do not know why – Chienne adopted Andrew. Andrew moved out years ago but work commitments meant he had to leave her behind but he did come over a couple of times a week just to take her out . Even now, she can tell when his car pulls into the driveway and she goes nuts – the excitement is amazing. Heck she never gets that excited for me when I come back from Adelaide but then I only feed her and walk her, look after her and pay the Vet bills. I suppose by extension Andrew and Trish’s girls get nearly similar treatment. Chienne revels in all the attention from her beloved Andrew and the girls. The Man, on the other hand is different. He is a rescue dog. He had, from all accounts, a pretty rotten time and was sick, matted and looked really sad and pathetic. There were other dogs at the pound that day but for some reason I asked for him. He was brought home bathed and cleaned then taken to the groom. He was pretty sick and spent time in “Hospital” with our Vet looking over him. He had been kicked about the mouth and a good number of his teeth were in a bad way. The Vet tried to save as much as he could but in the end, over

about a year, all his teeth were removed. I just have to cut things up smaller but he eats well. Unlike Chienne he dislikes the girls and tries to go away and hide when they come over. They think of him as a puppy and want him to play so he tends to get grumpy and I have been quite happy a couple of times that he has no teeth. The little one – Tallia – wants to keep picking him and and trying to cuddle him like a little doll and this makes him very unhappy. I generally open the door and he takes off to his secret den in the garage and only comes back when they have all gone. I can understand – he’s old and he doesn’t like being pulled about, poked and prodded not to mention being treated like a doll – it’s just so undignified. I think if the girls went to the UK they would qualify for entrance to one of what I think is one of the top schools there – I believe it’s called St. Trinians :o) The man sleeps for much of the day and although he gets excited when I

get ready to take them out, he only walks for a little while then I have to carry him for a bit, but this is fine – he’s not heavy. In the early days, when we moved here, there were Kangaroos around the place and I would see them when I took the dogs out. However, over the last few years most of the land has been fenced off and earmarked for future house development, so we don’t see the Roos any more, glad in some ways, sad in others. I have looked at two sets of wheels for him, one set being metal the other being PVC – the PVC only recommended for dogs under 6 kilo and he is only 3 kilo. Over the next week or so I will give thought to getting him measured up and the measurements sent off to the United States. And before you ask, I can get a set of wheels made in Australia but it is cheaper to buy the good in the USA have them shipped over here and pay the postage costs than it is to have them made in Australia. Still, it could be worse, they could be made right here in South Australia, then we really would know what charges are all about in the highest taxing state in the Commonwealth. We have a government that wants to play with the big boys but in order to do this, it needs money – so it borrows and spends and borrows again – hence the fact that 1,oo9,000 of a working population have a collective debt of 75% of revenue with an interest bill alone of $780 Million per year – and that’s before it spends the next four years accumulating even more debt. And it will because they are addicted to spending

A Man and His(?) Office — A Man and His (?) Office

because that’s what the big boys do.

Fire, Floods – it’s a weird place!

14/02/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous in 36 hours.

The temperature shot up to 44c again and is expected to stay high until the weekend. The dogs are curled up asleep under the air-conditioner. I said that I had gone into a stationery shop called Kikki.k to get some things for a friend but what I didn’t say is that I left my Scanda Filofax on the counter. They telephoned herself who contacted me on my mobile (cell) phone. I was way too far away to be able to turn around so I asked her to contact them and ask if they would post it to me and I would pay the postage. They said they would and told her not to bother with the postage. I was very thankful that they were really good people and sent my Filofax back to me.

Even a mere five days without it was a trial since I use it for just about everything, and all the medical appointment dates for herself were in there. I always keep it close to me but I believe I know what happened. I had written what I needed to get in my FF and I laid it down on the counter. When I got what I had asked for the assistant put it in a bag — and – I think she put it down on top of my Filofax and I lifted the bag but not the Filofax underneath it. Still, all good and I have it back again. I will not forget this when I go back to Adelaide in a few weeks. Kikki.K is a Swedish design stationery Shop. TeeHee – when herself took the call she thought the girl was saying “This is KKK” which sort of scared her a little :o)

The heatwave broke last night and since about 1am we have had heavy and constant rain. Fortunately no thunder – just rain. I just hope all this is being repeated

across the gulf and if it persists it should bring relief to the firefighters at the Bangor blaze. It was still hot and sticky when I took the dogs out last night and even with the rain it will take a while for the place to cool down. Well, that was nice, but it’s still hot and sticky and everything has dried up very quickly. The Bangor Fire is still not out but the rain did help to give the firefighters a slight break and gave them the opportunity to strengthen containment lines.

Things, however, are different in Adelaide, which has just gone from record heat to record rain in 30 hours – and the rain is still falling. Sections of the city are impassable due to flooding. Yes it has hardly stopped here since it began two days ago. but it is much heavier in the lower areas of the State – Adelaide and the metropolitan district. It has put the Adelaide Festival, this weekend, on alert and already some of the parklands, where the show is held, in under water, as the underground car park of St. Andrew’s Hospital.. Still, our floods are small scale in relation to the floods in London and other parts of England. But, it is still raining. It should be interesting when I take Chienne to the vet. this afternoon.

I have always meant to say, but forgot, that our Vet. is Mustafa Bozkurt who was born in Adapazari, Turkey. He was invited to be part of a movie being partly short here because of his Turkish background. The film, starring Russell Crowe, is called “The Water Diviner”and is being filmed in the far north of the State before it moves to complete filming in Turkey – the area close to Gallipoli. It’s only a little to do with the battle, more of a father trying to find his sons after the battle.

OK – Just got back from the vet and there is flooding on the roads – large puddles – but the rain was pounding down and at one point I really couldn’t see ahead of me and I simply put on my orange hazard lights – it was a bit scarey. Even herself said that she can’t remember ever seeing rain like this here. Neither can I. Made it back but Chienne was a scared little dog.

Emails, Apple and the Guru…

21/01/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

A sledge-hammer would do the job just as well!!

Monday 20

This morning the email arrived. I answered two comments – one from Turkey and one from Manhattan – and started reading about dancing and traveling oop north then went off to do something else. When I came back the mail had gone – just vanished – and this is happening a lot. I have decided that I am not going to solve this conflict so I will go into town and order a new battery for the MacBook and put that back into service. Outlook for AppleMac is reliable. It may take a few days, cost more, but I think it’s the best option. Not that I really need a new battery, but when I bought the MacBook three years ago I was getting nine hours from a charge. I liked this because it meant that I could disconnect from the house here and go to work and not have to worry about taking a charger with me. I could also take it to Adelaide for the same reason. Because it is one of the ‘early’ MacBook Pro the battery is not the best and these days I am lucky if I get four / five hours out of it.

I’ve had the Guru (No. 1 son) over and we have made some changes to Outlook that we hope will solve the problem and at the moment the mail seems to be stable. This on-going problem with my mail system and the fact that Windows 8 and Outlook are not best friends has had me worried more than I can say. I felt that people might think that I was using it as some sort of excuse to ignore them, and nothing could be further from the truth, because it’s all mail, family and friends, not just posts and comments. I probably worry too much about things and people, neither of which, in this instance, I have much control over.

The worst of the heat is now over for the moment, at least in South Australia and the dogs are getting out a lot more. I took them out last night and where the Man is concerned, it’s – one third walk – one third carry – one third walk. Still he’s a happy little soul and much loved by everyone, he’s just getting a bit slow. More than Chienne, the girls want to play with him, but the problem is that he is old and he can be cranky and he does not like being set upon by six and seven year old girls. I am so glad that he has no teeth, because he has snapped at Rhianna a couple of times. Chienne wouldn’t mind in the least, but they want to play with the little cute and fluffy one :o)

I have said before that I do not play the “stat”game but I expect, like everyone else, I like to have comments. I try and respond as soon as I can. I expect most

Not related to anything - I just like it. — Not related to anything – I just like it.

people do, but here is where my ‘paranoia’ sets in and I find that I make a comment and whilst there is replies to all the comments around it, mine stands out lost and alone. I go back in a few days, and it’s still there. I read it and re-read it and wonder if what I said has caused offense, or if the person does not consider it important enough to bother responding to, or it’s a stupid comment and ignores it. It’s a worry.

Tuesday 21

Went up to the Vet at 10 am this morning to get more medication for Chienne and to get the capsules of “Frontline” which can only be issued by a Vet. Remembering that he closed down from 6th December to 6th January, I arrived at the surgery to be told that ” the Vet has an appointment so we’re closing down for the day. “. There is a new Vet in town and I am told she is very good with animals. Two of my friends go there and they tell me she really is a pleasure to work with. Oh, I am so tempted!!

Heat, Fires and the RFDS

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

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

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

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

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

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

Heat, Chienne and Road Trips

20/12/2013 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

After discussions with herself and the fact that the temperature is going to be extreme , I telephoned Adelaide and cancelled my booking. I will not be going to Adelaide after all. Probably just as well. The high to extreme temperatures will cover about two thirds of the continent according to the Bureau of Meteorology – should clear South Australia by late Friday but with a second front pushing in and lasting until at least the New Year. Already there are reports of fires in the Adelaide Hills and the fire Services are on alert. Sadly, two 9 (NINE) year olds have been picked up by police for lighting fires. Police are patrolling the back country roads looking for anything suspicious. Temperature (Official) is expected to reach 43c with the chance of a thunderstorm in the late evening. This means it will really be about 45c+ since the Official Temperature is taken from a protected area and does not really reflect what’s beaming down on your little head as you walk outside – somewhere between 109f and 113f. However, thunderstorms – with or without rain – are not uncommon after a bout of high temperatures.

I have an industrial grade Thermometer under the pergola and when I checked in at 3:50 it was nudging 47c. On the news this evening the Official Temperature was 44.5, which is only 2.5 degrees of a difference. I will probably dress Chienne in her Thundershirt again tonight as we are advised that there will a severe weather warning for tonight – High Wind Thurderstorm and Lightening strikes, but probably no rain – which is what I suggested a paragraph or so ago. I spoke to Alan and he seems resigned to not being able to spend Christmas with us. However, I will make time to go down to Adelaide sometime after Christmas and visit with him for a while. Perhaps we could get a wheelchair and I could take him out for a coffee somewhere – that should be ok.

Friday 20th (am) and the forecast high winds and thunderstorm never eventuated. Of course, sometimes the forecasts are out by 24 hours and instead of a Thursday night, it could all happen tonight. Still that’s ok – Chienne looks good in her Thundershirt and she was a bit agitated last night but that could have been due to the change in pressure after the wind change. While I wont be in Adelaide now until after Christmas I hope (weather permitting) to take a run through to the Arid Lands and bring

This little fellow was abandoned and is now in the care of SA Dog Rescue.

back some plants. Oddly enough, I have bought Native Plants here and within months they die, whereas the plants I bought almost a year ago in the ALBG are still with us. I have three rose bushes out front and to be honest they have never flourished, never flowered and are half dead. I am going to replace them with natives. I might remember to take my camera with me and take some photographs along the road.

Meetings, South Road and Rescue Dogs

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

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

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

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

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

Dogs are considerate and helpful like that!

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

Adelaide and Christmas Shopping

24/11/201324/11/2013 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I said that the Thunder Shirt seemed not to be working for Chienne and whilst this does appear to be the case, I am not prepared to give up just yet. I will try and work with her for a little while longer and see if we can achieve some results. Who knows, it may very well work when there is a thunderstorm and perhaps she is just one of these dogs who really does not like being in the car. With her sensitive hearing perhaps she hears something when the engine is running that we don’t and whatever that is upsets her. I am also beginning to worry about The Man. Twice now, I have taken to the groom and he has curled up on the front seat on the way there. The return journey, after I pick him up, has been very different these last two visits. He has been really stressed and agitated, crying and whining and I have had to clip him down in the car for safety reasons. He has been all over me as soon as I walk into the groom. We have been taking him to Naomi for years and this is only a recent occurrence and I wonder if this could be associated with separation. The other reason is that we know his back legs are not so good and perhaps the standing and the way he has to be moved when being bathed and clipped may be hurting his back end. He was not too bad when I took them out walking in the early evening, although he did go into the sling for a little while.

He’s not daft, you know, and last night he discovered an unexpected benefit of the sling. Normally he goes in and keeps his head out so he can see the world

about him. Now, as you know I have complained about the continual wind these last few weeks, so last night he went into the sling and after a few minutes he pulled his head in and curled up and had a quick nap free from any wind. Chi went a bit gaga for a few minutes because he had vanished. I lifted him for a bit to let her know he was still with us :o) I’m still thinking about wheels if he gets any worse but I very much hope that’s a long way off. Oh, I should have mentioned that there actually is an advantage to the wind – keeps the flies away :o)

I will be driving down to Adelaide in ten days and already I am doing the things the Old Fellow in the Red Suit does – Making a list and checking it twice – and making sure the list goes into my Filofax. Herself was surprised since she thought we had agreed to change the date of the meetings. We have, but since the meeting dates and venues are set at the AGM in February, the time, date and venue of this meeting will go ahead – unless, of course, they cancel it. It will then be the task of the AGM to set the times, dates and venues for 2014. Either way, I will still drive down to Adelaide , do some Christmas Shopping in Rundle Mall and stay overnight. One thing you can be sure of is that one of the dates and venues will not be here.

Traveling to “The Badlands” (that’s any place outside of the city limits) scares them. As I keep saying, the drawbacks in living in a One City State.

Chienne, Angus and the Road’s End

17/11/2013 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

WHEN I began writing this I really didn’t know what I wanted to achieve. I joined the old My Place and wrote a blog on there for a few years. I didn’t have followers and in essence the weekly post was a way of talking to several friends who had moved away, keeping them up to date on what we were up to in town and at home. (I still sort of do this on Google+) So it was a sort of public/private letter. A few years ago MySpace changed hands and the blog feature was discontinued. I had an account with WordPress but never used it. Once MySpace closed down, I re-activated it and have been here ever since – well a year or so.

Our house, which we bought some years ago, is right on the very edge of the town. The garden was in a bit of a mess so I thought it would be an idea to write about what I’m doing in the garden. I have two dogs that I love dearly – Chienne and The Man (Angus)– and they would be included, as would comments about the family. I dismissed the notion of writing about church activities because I had this horrible feeling that all that would do for me is fill up my inbox with comments from would-be theologians. Once I started I began to look for other posts that I felt I would like and be of interest – gardens and dogs and some general interest. Some of the blogs I looked at were interesting, informative, funny and serious and I joined a few. Some people even joined me, which I thought (and still do) was great.

“Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses that you may the better judge.”

Lately, however, I am finding that some posts have become much too serious – almost taking on the dimension of a Dissertation on The Meaning of Life. My other, and perhaps the more serious concern, is that with all I have to do, one post every week, or even every couple of days – which is how many of these started – is quite acceptable – but three – or four – posts from a single site, almost one on top of the other, every single day, is too much and my inbox is just clogged up. Like everyone else they started out as a post every few days but this has changed to a post almost every few hours. So, having said all that, I may have to consider withdrawing from a number of places if only to unclog my inbox for a while. I just cannot handle nor process the volume of traffic. If any I have offended, I am sorry but my continued sanity ( which, to be honest, is not all it’s cracked up to be) demands that I make this change, and the crash gave me an opportunity to do so with the new system – which is still not fully functional as yet. I still have some bugs to iron out and get used to an “All-in-One” system.

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