Tag: dogs

Jazz, conferences, Warships and dogs.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

My FordI suppose the last post, quoting an American President, was a bit cheeky, but there you are. I don’t really bother with political commentators, but I sort of liked Reagan – not taking sides here, but liked the man.  My idea of planting the plants in pots rather than in the soil seems to be working – well they are still alive so that’s a plus. I didn’t go to the garden centre on the way back out of the city.  It was a long and not very productive day and I just wanted to get back home. These days, we talk a lot but we really don’t do much. The next conference is in April and I think I might have a cold, or something…   It had been my intention to pay a visit to the State Art Gallery where there is an exhibition of the works of JM Turner.  Hanging above my desk is a reproduction of  ” The Fighting Temeraire” and it would have been really excellent to see the actual painting.  Now, that’s interesting – the SA Exhibition is ‘Turner from the Taite” but the Fighting Temeraire  is part of the National Gallery (London) collection, so I should think it unlikely that the Temeraire will be in Adelaide and that’s a great pity.

There was a little girl  (Fox Terrier) requiring a lift down to Adelaide so I said I would take her with me. However, she was picked up from SADR and taken down yesterday, so she will now be settling in to her new home.  I head off to a concert tomorrow and that will be me finished with Adelaide until May and I will be there for a week for the General Assembly. Days are taken up, evening I have to myself. There is a dinner on the Tuesday  night, but I will not be attending that;  however not far from the hotel is a Pasta  Restaurant and I am a sucker for Italian and Chianti.  “She who must be obeyed”  cannot travel, so I will be there on my own – me a computer , a smartphone and a Kindle. What more does a fellow need – except his babies, and I will miss them. It’s been a couple of years since I was away from them for more than two days at a time.

We did a fundraiser out in the bush in the middle of nowhere – Jazz Under the Stars – and this is a photograph I took of the car in the middle of nowhere on its way to that ridge you can see up ahead.  Good going in, fun driving out in the dark.

I was always told that if there are two dogs the female generally sleeps with the male human and the male sleeps with the  female human. No one could have told my two because he sleeps Samsung the noo 036with me and she sleep with herself.  If I was really desperate and because I have small dogs, my hammock is way out of their reach and besides,  they don’t like the swinging motion of the hammock – it seems to upset them. I know this because I took one of them onto the hammock with me and he was not very impressed.  He fought to get down and I could not let him just jump down onto the paving  because he could really have hurt himself. I had to  put him back down to earth.   The hammock is outside under the pergola, not in my bedroom  :o)

Council, dogs and trees

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

20130207_120419When I head off to Adelaide on Friday I will not be alone. I contacted the SADR ( South Australian Dog Rescue) and I will be taking two little dogs down to their new homes in Adelaide – or surounds.  We stop about 30 minutes before we hit the city proper where we have a hand over point, in a well known location that everyone can get to.  The new family meet me out there and I  hand the dogs over. Generally I contact them about an hour or so out to give them time to get to the drop off point. I went in to see the SADR and told them I would be leaving on Friday. I didn’t take any dogs down with me last trip because I was going directly to the Flinders Medical Center – a very large teaching and research hospital on the far side of the city –  which takes me well away from the drop off point at Gepps Cross.

The argument continues and the planting of any tree has been halted whilst various council members  battle it out -native trees vs exotic trees. Personally I prefer the exotic trees particularly the Jacaranda . One particular councillor suggests that an avenue of native trees can be quite striking and I suppose that’s so, if you hire people to clean up the mess of limbs and bark and and are not too bothered that nothing will grow near them. So, all you get is a tree that will  break in a reasonable wind, shed bark and clutter up the drains and enhance the dry, dusty outlook of the town – great, go for it.. But they  (council) have admitted that the greening project has not lived up to expectations. Repairs to the system are in the process of being carried out whilst we continue to argue about what trees to plant.20130207_120734

After a week of fairly cool weather we went back into heatwave conditions again, but I don’t think we will make the  necessary conditions for a “heatwave”. Already the temperature is starting to drop back to manageable levels.  The dogs have been inside for most of that time. If the temperature starts to climb again then it will be unlikely that I will have companions on the way down to Adelaide because I, for one,  cannot drive for five an a half hours without some sort of break and I will need fuel and having them remain in the car whilst I fuel up is not a good idea. Without the A/C the inside of the car can become very hot very quickly- even with windows partly open , and little dogs don’t handle the heat too well. Generally when the temperature is above 35, we don’t transport dogs to Adelaide. I generally stop a number of times along the way when I have a dog with me – more than I do when I am on my own. However, tomorrow should be ok.

These are two photographs of parts of the town. The top one is taken from the  Lookout – actually they are both taken from the Lookout – the bottom photograph being the Foreshore.

Play, trees and council trucks

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
The covered in pergola
The covered in pergola

Council trucks and workers are out and about closing off traffic, imposing traffic restrictions as they work to  clear he problems with the  greening project. It’s heartwarming to see my  rates (local taxes) at work. Why do I dislike native trees so much? Partly because they are ugly and not really trees – more big overgrown bushes with a propensity to shed bark, drop branches, make a mess and kill anything that comes close to them. If you drive around this place you will see  the council native trees and  that’s all you will see, nothing else grows beside them. Around them  are the branches and bark they shed, but no grass just dusty empty land.  And it’s the same around the place – where there are native trees there is dry, dead and empty land around them, which is really good for blowing into houses when there is a bit of a wind. It’s not that I dislike them but I believe they are probably great for the correct setting and an urban environment is not a correct setting. But then, what would we know – council has ‘Experts”.   A little poem for you to enjoy.No idea who wrote it.

When the Maker was resting from labour

And He gazed on the world from above

He saw many poor lonely humans

With no one to care for and love.

And the Lord in His infinite mercy

With compassion both tender and wise

Made a furry and four legged creature

With a tail and a pair of brown eyes—

And a heart filled with loyal devotion

From the moment his short life began

And the Maker smiled down from His Heaven

On the Dog He created for man.

When I was down in Adelaide I dropped in to the garden center and bought new plants. I also bought a Gooseberry Bush. I have decided that I will no longer put things in the ground because my soils is not good, but rather put things into pots with a good quality potting mix. I will sit them out in the places where I would have planted  them but with the added bonus that I can bring them into the shade if the  temperature gets too hot. I have a conference this weekend so I will be heading off to Adelaide again and being a glutton for punishment I will probably drop into the garden centre on the way through.

The dogs have been well and I still he to carry the little man for a bit when we go out for walks. I was outside playing with them and he still has lots of energy left, but after we play he sleeps for a bit until next time.

The Druids held trees as sacred.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

For the best part of a year, the council disrupted traffic around the place during  construction associated with their project to ‘ Green the City”. Thc concept was that water pipes would be laid down everywhere, connected to a drip feed system and the runoff water and associated waste water, all treated, filtered and recycled, would be used to water plants and trees that would be planted once the project was completed. Well it was completed at the cost of over $6.5 Million, grasses were sown and trees planted. Six months later most of the grass is dead and most of the trees are dead or dying. Why? What went wrong? Well the system that the council chose was not the best (the cheaper option), the filtration system didn’t live up to expectations and allowed algae  to penetrate the system, clogging up the water drip outlets, so no water. MyallAlso, the council decided to plant ” Native Trees” – branch dropping, bark shedding, shallow rooted, fall down at the drop of a hat, trees. The council have this bee in their bonnet about planting native trees everywhere because ” it’s the green thing to do – plant trees that are naive to this area”  The trees that are native to this area are ugly and not good in an urban setting.  ( think more of  big overgrown bushes rather than real trees)  Loxton, a town similar to ours with a similar rainfall and climate, carried out a greening project and started by getting rid of all the native trees. They replaced them with “exotic” trees (anything not native to the area is exotic) and as a result they now have a fresh green, leafy and a more pleasing aspect to their town whilst ours still looks like what it is – a dry, dusty community perched at the edge of the desert. And before you ask, yes there was vegetation there to start off with but all that was  bulldozed and dug up for the  new greening project- now it’s empty,  dry and dusty with dead trees and dead grasses and  a drip system that doesn’t work — gollee isn’t progress wonderful!! Can it be fixed?  Yes, of course it can and it will only cost an additional half million. Will anything change – probably not since council is dominated by greenies who can’t see past native anything. Ok that’s my rant for the month  :o)

I wonder if the Druids would still have held trees as sacred if they had beheld the trees we have around here – native trees, that is. Myall trees are fine in the correct setting but this is not it If I could I would get rid of the one outside, but it would cost to much to have that done and to just do it would cost even more in court fees and fines for cutting down a tree without permission.

Took the dogs out for a walk last night and had a jacket on. It has been cold these last few days and still is this morning. Rained last night.A Man and His(?) OfficeThe temperature is not expected to go higher than 24-25 for the remainder of this week again.

Lakes, Parks and Forest Fires.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
fires
Glenmaggie Area

I finally spoke to the people at the garden centre to try and identify the tree outside the house and  it would appear to be a “Paperbark”, so called because  the bark peels off like sheets of paper.  I decided to consult the  Garden Shop people after someone suggested that rather than a tree it could be one leg of a giant ogre with severe dermatitis. I considered this and became concerned that it could be something that’s escaped from the Forest of Fangorn and just on the remote possibility that this might be so, I thought I had better be nice to it. I have problems enough without a  bunch of irritated ents  throwing socking great boulders everywhere. This  could upset the neighbours, not to mention frighten the horses.

I did hope by this time I would know what I was doing for the remainder of the week – going to Adelaide or not – but things are not going according to plan. Ok,  they may be going to some plan – just not mine.  I had a virus in my  office PC and I lost a lot of my files. I decided that it was probably time I-upgraded the PC anyway. This computer I am currently using is a MacBook – so no virus here. However, there are just some things I cannot view on here even with a parallels system. ( running Windows on a Mac) The temperature is heating up again and I have no intentions of wandering around the streets of Adelaide in a 43c day when I don’t have to.  Herself has suggested that I delay it until next Monday and go down then. I was thinking about Friday but I have a dental appointment – and since it is the last one so I feel I should be there rather than re-schedule.

The weather climbed to 44c here yesterday after building up for several days. The dogs were  inside for most of that time. We just make sure that hey are cool and have plenty of water. Apart from beds, I have water containers all over the place. At the moment there are two major fires burning out of control – one in the  Bundaleer Forest, some 160 klms from here and the other in South-eastern Victoria. This is the more serious one and the residents of the town of Glenmaggie have been told that it is now too late to leave since the fire front is moving too quickly. Glenmaggie is a small town (pop. 450) on the shore of Lake Gelnmaggie . The Bundaleer Forest  here in South Australia,  is one of the oldest National Parks in Australia and it is believed to be one of the most beautiful.  There are over 250 firefighters, 50 water tankers and three water bombers fighting that one.

It’s an ugly tree, but it’s my ugly tree.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

SAMSUNGNow that the temperature has continued to drop (at least over here) I will try and get down to Adelaide during the course of this coming week. I have things I need to get done and my brother-in-law is back in hospital again so I would like to get out and see him. There is  quite a difference between between driving in 28c and driving in 43c temperatures even although the car has very good air-conditioning. However, there is major construction work on the roads leading to the Medical Centre and traffic crawls along there.  I don’t make a habit of using the phone in the car but I had to phone Herself and tell her  that I was barrelling along the South Road at a whole 2 klms per hour.  I don’t think I would minded half so much if it were not for the fact that snails were overtaking us.

Helen is back home and when my wife spoke to her this afternoon she says she is planning to be at church tomorrow – in a wheelchair. She still cannot walk but she will be there none-the-less. I have sent the paperwork off to Adelaide re. the Commissions, and should hear by the time I get back from the city.

To the left is an Australian Native Tree. Personally I think they are a) ugly b) messy c) not suitable for this environment (urban)  d) they are a recognisable fire hazzard and e) they  can drop branches and injure people. In some parks people are warned not to  camp near or under gum trees. They are ugly in my eyes because, well they just are and for the life of me I cannot see any redeeming qualities about them. They are messy because they constantly shed bark which is very messy and a pest in an urban setting and downright dangerous in a country setting they create massive amount of litter – that is helping to fuel the bush fires. I may not like it, but I don’t really want to see anything to happen to it. After all, it didn’t ask to be planted where it is, so it should not suffer from Council mistakes.

Our weather is grey and it rained for a little while this afternoon. Nothing much but the temperature is well down. Still having problems in NSW and I heard from family that the bushfires are being reported on the news in the UK.  The cyclone is now heading back out to sea and it seems unlikely that  there will be any  problems from that. However, there is another low pressure building up which might lead to a new cyclone.

The dogs are certainly enjoying the cooler conditions and I have  not had to carry the little man during our morning walks. Behind the town there is a Levy Bank, about nine feet high.  Many, many years ago it was built to protect the settlement from floods. The weather patterns were also different then. I used to take the dogs for a walk alond the length of the levy bank and it was a good quiet walk. No so  these days, – it has become the haunt of trail bikes.  I took the dogs out for their walk at 6:30 this morning and (true!!) I had a pullover on. It was positively chilly.  I might take advantage of the cooler weather to get some things planted in the garden and hope that they get established before we have any more really hot weather. I might even get the garden shop to identify the above tree. —– PS I think I write too much…..

So far – so good!

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

2013-01-05 19.57.00The interesting thing about Australia, in general, is the many contrasts and the way things can change so quickly – from normal to catastrophic in the blink of an eye. Only a  month or so ago, we were having heavy rain and thunderstorms – now we are in heatwave conditions with homes and property being destroyed. So how are we today – Friday 11th January – well, parts of South Australia and the Northern Territory are in heatwave conditions, large parts of the Eastern States, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales (NSW),  are struggling with serious bush fires and over in Western Australia they are bracing themselves for the onset of a Category 4 (and increasing) Hurricane  ( Cyclone in this part of the world) and in some parts of the Highlands, snow has fallen. It’s a strange country, that due to its geographical position, can change so quickly. In Scotland , where I came from, we have pretty miserable weather most of the time, but we never had any conditions where the temperature can drop 23 degrees overnight – i.e. today 47.9 , tomorrow 24.9. In some parts of Scotland if the temperature fell 23 degrees overnight, you would freeze to death. As I said the other day, we went from a record 47.9c down to 26c the following day.

Tourist: ” What’s that special Scottish name for when the weather is cold, grey, wet and miserable?”

Resident:  “Summer”

NSW are bracing for record temperatures again tomorrow as the exhausted firefighters battle some 130 fires burning across the state. To add to this volatile situation three fires were deliberately started and the arsonists have been arrested. All three are teenagers who thought is was a bit of a lark and their stupid parents agree even attacking the  media as they reported the  story. I continue to take comfort from the words of Charles de Gaulle ” The more people I meet, the more I like my dogs”.

Saturday 12th.: Was wakened up by a very strange noise at 4am this morning. I thought someone was coming in through the roof . Got out of bed and put the light on and realised what the strange noise was –  it was raining!. Went to check on the  dogs and they were still asleep. I went back to bed. When I  finally got up at 6:30 the rain had gone and all was quiet. A short while later I took the dogs out for their walk and it was positively cool. I checked the thermometer and found  the temperature was a mere 19c. The little man started off as usual, full of energy,  and the interesting thing is that he maintained most of that energy for the whole time we were out and most of the time he was running ahead to the full extent of the retractable lead. The temperature today is supposed to be 28c. and it looks as if the change in weather pattern is pushing the  Cyclone back out to sea, away from Western Australia although it is still close enough to bring wind and some heavy rain. So far, it’s good that we have managed to escape any bushfires this time round. —– Photograph is a part of my back yard.

Change is good – or so I am told.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

stressMy life has undergone a bit of a change. On 31st. December we  locked up the church and the hall, made our farewell to the Session Clerk and set off home. We had only just finished lunch when we had a telephone call to tell us that the Session Clerk, Mrs. Mashford, had had an accident and was waiting transportation  by the Air Ambulance to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, some 450 klms away, where she would undergo emergency surgery. It seems she had fallen at the back of her house and had broken both legs and injured her back. At least that was what they thought – one was definitely broken but the other one was too badly swollen to tell and x-ray. The Royal Flying Doctor (RFDS) Air Ambulance arrived at 5:20 that evening and she was transported to Adelaide. She was made comfortable and they did the operation the following morning. She has fragmented one ankle and that required the parts to be brought back together, plates inserted and screwed into place. Her back is just badly bruised so no problem there. The other leg is very badly swollen and they still cannot tell but they suspect that it also broken.   So why does that mean changes for me? Simply we are a small church without a minister and the day to day running of the church and the services are undertaken , in turn, by the three elders – Mrs. Mashford, myself and my wife.  My wife is unable to travel so she does not go outside of town. Helen is the Commissioner for the General Assembly and I am the Commissioner for the Presbytery. With Helen out of action, the rotation becomes one service every other week instead of every third week. At a bedside meeting, I was elected as the Commissioner for both Assembly and Presbytery – as allowed for by the Code of Practice. Between that and having to take a service every other week, really adds “interest” to things.

The dogs are still inside but with the installation of the  magnetic flyscreen across the door, we are able to leave the door open and let them wander in and out as they wish without attracting a horde of flies. The little man had no problems and simply head-butted his way through once he saw me walk through it. Chienna was very reluctant to try it so  I had to work with her a few times and let her watch the little man do his thing before she was comfortable enough to push her way through on her own. The magnets ensure that the screen closes – like a door – behind them.

I am finding that more often than not these days, I have to carry the little one for part of our morning walk. He is 12/13  and although he starts off well, full of energy and enthusiasm, he begins to fade after a while. Like the song says – He’s not heavy, he’s my brother. He is one of my associates and if he needs a bit of a rest, well that’s ok, he’s not heavy.

It’s a tad warm (Part 2)

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

fire threatWent out a short while ago and checked the thermometer  under the  shade area and found that the temperature is over 50c. Well, the  unit only goes up to 50c and  the mercury is over that. After that I decided that I would sit down and have a read in the coolest part of the house – the laundry, where the dogs are. I went in there with the dogs, took a cushion  and plonked myself down beside them.  The Air Conditioner is not coping too well, despite the place being closed up and the awnings down. It is cooler inside than out, certainly,  but no where as cool as it should be.  The official State Government website says 47.9c. I have half a mind to move the desk into the laundry with the dogs because the ceramic tiles are cool and they are more comfortable than I am.

According to the news we have broken a long standing record. Up until today our highest ever temperature was 45.8 now the new high record is the same as the State Government Web Site – 47.9 – so the 50c on my outdoor thermometer is fairly conservative.  We move 80 Klms South East of here and we have a temperature of 48c  – another new record.

Ok, so that was yesterday, which topped off several days of searing heat ending in new records across the state. Today, after a record 47.9 the temperature has crashed to  a forecasted 26c – currently it is 21.6. This morning at 7:15 I took the dogs out and were they glad to be “free” for a while – well “free” as in they are on  15 foot extendable leads. They were – like me – just so glad to get out again. It was just too hot to take them out these last few days. I think they missed ” checking the mailboxes”  I know animals have a greater sense of smell then we do, but how a dog can stand sniffing a blade of grass, or part of a bush for ten minutes, is a puzzle. Still, 21.6 – seriously thought about a pullover to keep me warm  :o)

Over  85 properties destroyed and one life lost as fires rage out of control in Tasmania – out of control fires in Victoria and one major fire burning out of control some 80 klms south-east of Adelaide. Nothing up here, which is something to be thankful for.

As expected, many of my plants have died. I did water them  every night after the sun went down, but the heat of the day still  burned them up, which adds to my comment about ” Full Sun” – that may well be, but not for this little corner of the world.  – and before I water the plants at night I have to let it run for a bit before I do  because the water is hot for the first few minutes. The long range forecast is for very high temperatures starting again in the next day or so, but in the meantime, I will enjoy being outside, but again, because of the North Wind, I  need to redo all my work and sweep up again.  Still, if it were not for the trees I am certain that the places would be a lot hotter.

It’s just a tad warm.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

firiesThousands of Firefighters are  being placed on standby as the temperature soars to 44c and above. To add to the problem, we have a North Wind, which is helping to dry everything out. We are not, officially, in a heatwave  – yet. A heatwave is defined as five consecutive days when the temperature is above 35c. So, if you have, 36,36,42.35,31 – then it’s not a heatwave and if the 6th day soars to 44c.,  then that’s the start of another five day cycle. What you have to remember is that 44c is the “Official” temperature. It is not ground temperature and it is not what the sun is beating down on your wee head. The official temperature is taken in a shaded area not in the direct heat of the sun – like your head.  The dogs are sleeping inside and I have renewed the  bowl of water I have at the end of the drive. In weather like this – when I am home_ I change the water every couple hours to stop it getting hot. This is for dogs, or indeed, any thirsty animal to drink from. The birdbath has a slight leak and needs to be replaced/ repaired. It has been empty and I was intending to do  the repairs soon – however, I have filled that with water also at least the birds can cool down, if needed. The Weather Bureau has warned that we are on track for temperatures above 40c for the next seven days. All the more reason why anyone with a lick of sense should have at least 6 litres of water in the boot (trunk) (for the radiator) and  enough water  for drinking.  Today was 41c, and tomorrow will be 46c – official temperatures so I expect the dogs will be inside all of tomorrow. Actually, unless I have to go out I think I will be inside for most of tomorrow.