Easter – Edgar's Page

I seriously dislike Blocks!

02/04/2021 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I had already completed a post with over 800 words and several pictures but a malfunction in WordPress – or me – lost everything. It had gone back to blocks and I tried to get it and load again in Classic and lost everything. I have no idea if this will survive. Anyway – What I do remember from the lost post is that I did recall on seeing an item in the news about a unit that is similar to a pacemaker only this unit is for the brain. Once activated it send signals to the brain and can reduce the trembling of hands as well as other aspects that are associated with Parkinson’s Disease. There was a demonstration on the news and once activated the difference in the man’s hands and in his overall demeanor was incredible. The reason I mentioned this was not really to highlight a breakthrough in Parkinson’s but the fact that the Medical Scientists are looking further and feel with further investigation and development it could be used to control and contain the effects of epilepsy. That would be some breakthrough.

Apart from a few days here and there, we didn’t have much of a summer. However, this early weeks in Autumn have been glorious, mild to warm and sunny – warm and sunny during the day, still warm in the early evening and cool to cold at night and in the morning. Yesterday Benji and I went for a drive in the car out to Fitzgerald Bay and the Shingle Ridge, from there to the Lighthouse. From there we drove to the Foreshore – which was busy so we went to the Wetlands and had a good walk there. This was followed by Ice Cream , Vanilla for him and Almond for me ( but don’t tell Annabell)

During the week I attended a Memorial Service at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. Brian, a member of St. Mark’s, was also a good friend to us when we needed help. He died last year but because of Covid-19 nothing could take place. As of Midnight Tuesday most of the restrictions in South Australia were lifted and, with some assistance, I have put all the pews back to their positions and removed the seating tags.

Had a telephone call from Flinders yesterday and the reports from our last visit and not great but not bad. The cancer is still there but not moved nor enlarged. However, we will go back down to Adelaide in about six weeks and spend a few days there, There will be an investigation of what is happening and day surgery to replace the units. They will be left in place for six weeks and if there is no progress then they will consider chemotherapy.

The weather since the beginning of Autumn has been great – this is the weather that we should have had over summer. Yes we had a couple of heatwaves that lasted a few days each time, but other than that it was not all that great. This weather coupled with the Easter Holidays has people swarming to the beaches and

Part of the Shingle Ridge from the roadway.

holiday spots. After church today (Friday) I made sure Annabell was ok then took Benji for a drive in the car. We had a great time and went to Fitzgerald Bay, the Shingle Ridge, the Lighthouse and back to the Wetlands ( no ice cream) – a pretty busy afternoon and since we went much further along the coast road, this time, slightly different from last time. I drove to the end of the bitumen and went on the gravel until I was able to turn around and head back. When I go out I always make sure I have my phone with me. When the hands free speaker tells me I am “disconnected” I will turn back and get my phone. It does this about 100 yards away from the house and out of range. If Annabell were to call me I am only about 40 minutes away from home and can soon be back.

Travelling, Easter and a great escape

29/04/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I made an interesting discovery today – the WaWa is not a good distance traveller. The Beach or the Wetlands are ok but travelling the 20 miles to the lighthouse are not so good and after a while

Out at the lighthouse area. Wawa wont look at the camera..

she starts to get a bit unsettled and fractious. Perhaps if we persevere and extend the distance a little at a time, she might settle down over the longer drive. At the moment the Beach and the Wetlands are her limit. We drove out to the Lighthouse and spent some time around there. It was fairly busy with quite a lot of tourists and shack people there for the Easter break. That being so we did not spend a lot of time there – although there were no dogs, which was good. We did go down onto the rocks and I carried the WaWa over some of the area – I mean, she does have wee legs :o) She is getting as bad as Benji and will not look at the camera. However, Benji seems to blend in with the surrounding rocks, so it’s not a good place to photograph him. On Tuesday we went down to the

beach, which was surprisingly quiet. There were some people there but I expected a lot more since it was a warm, sunny day and it is the school holidays. Today, on the other hand, (Wednesday/Thursday night/morning) it has been chucking it down all night. No dogs out today and I think they are so upset about that they have just stayed in bed. I seem to be the only one of the three that is in any way concerned about not getting out.

This Saturday STRATCO, our local hardware store, are holding a Barbecue and Cake Stall. We (RFDS) have been asked to do the Cake Stall. It’s not our usual thing, but we did this some months ago and it was very successful and STRATCO negotiated with the car club who brought some vintage cars along inspection. There were games and face-painting for the children – so all up, a fun day. I missed the last one since I was out of town. Annabell is doing a load of baking for this and I’ll take her stuff down on Saturday morning. Some of it has already been pre-sold. Annabell is a good cake maker.

I think an engineer has bought the house over the road. I saw him out most of this week rebuilding the front garden and planting flowers. The reason I noticed this is that wherever he went and whatever he did he used a tape measure – I mean the distance between the plants was precisely measured. I thought it was bit overmuch but who knows.

I have the WaWa on a diet and I really didn’t realise how much weight she had lost. 6am this morning, at the corner of Busch and Fairclough Streets, chasing a WaWa who escaped from her harness and thought my trying to catch her was a game, was interesting! I had to tie Benji up to the fence and go after her on my own. Took a while, but she came to me and I was able to get her home – making sure I didn’t tug her in any way until we did get home- and I did adjust the harness.

In a discussion with Annabell I used the term “my dogs”. She responded with “you don’t have dogs – you have a dog”. She is, of course correct, the WaWa is really not mine. It certainly feels like it and the WaWa is acting like it is, but it is still Sooah’s dog. I was asked to look after it for three months – over a year ago now. It’s a very frustrating situation and the best we can do is simply to act and treat the WaWa as if she is part of the family but keeping at the back of my mind that if Sooah returns we will have to give the WaWa back to her. Neither of us are too happy about that after this time, but that was the arrangement, however, the general consensus within the church is that she may not be coming back. Struth, it’s like a Norwegian Saga – it’s never ending.

Adelaide, Flinders Ranges and the Man

16/12/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Driving into Adelaide - what's not to love?? — Driving into Adelaide – what’s not to love??

Heading down to Adelaide at the weekend. My son is taking his partner for some tests she has to have so they are driving down and I am going down with them. They will drop me off in the city and I’ll catch the coach home in the evening. I thought I would grab this last opportunity to do some Christmas shopping and see what I can get for Herself. Not too much for me – I’m easy to fix; a Bunnings Gift Card in an coloured envelope and I’m happy. This is not the scheduled trip that I spoke about – that has been cancelled – so this is the last until February. I have resigned from one of the State Committees and I will not be going to the Assembly, so my runs to Adelaide will be considerably cut down. Between Assembly, Conference, Committee meetings, The Commission, Alan’s illness, Alan’s passing and Alan’s Funeral, the last year or so really took a lot out of me and I have no desire to repeat the exercise.

I’ve been trying to palm off The Man to my other son :o) I said I would just keep a photograph because it will be cheaper than keeping him. He is well, growing in strength and eating like a horse. I can’t keep up with the amount he eats at the moment. I am forever filling his bowl with food and I still hand feed him his treat in the morning. He has even been out on walks twice in the last week. He generally stays close to Chi but he does wander about until he finds his way back to her side. I have to watch him like a hawk because he crosses in front of me at times and the idea of getting up close and personal with the roadway does not appeal to me.

My Filofax - Scanda Personal — My Filofax – Scanda Personal

I bought a friend a Pink Filofax for her birthday last year and she makes great use of it. So much so that she asked me to help her find an A4 Filofax for her study next year. Interesting because I have temporarily abandoned Filofax for a similar system but with a different maker – Van der Spek , a Dutch company , and unlike Filofax these binders ( planners/Organizers) are hand made. It will be an interesting exercise and to be truthful I will not be surprised if I am back to my Filofax by Easter, but I will try to get used to the smaller A6 unit.

I read the interesting Road Trip by Uncle Spike and for me to travel on the kind of highway that he is using, I am looking at close to 1000 miles – Melbourne – Sydney – Canberra. Melbourne would be the closest at a mere 700 miles. Also the land around here is fairly flat, with a very small population – 350,000 in an area about 904,880 sq.klms The Flinders Ranges is the largest Mountain Range in South Australia. It’s about 270 miles in length with the highest peak being St. Mary’s Peak at 3,780 feet. Have not been into the Flinders for ages. Must try and get up there for a couple of days before it gets too hot.

A society addicted to “Celebration”

29/12/2013 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Christmas is an event that takes place from 1st. November to 30th December. Almost immediately after Halloween we start to see Christmas Decorations in the shops along with plum puddings and fruit mince pies. By the end of November and early December the whole thing is in full swing and the advertising machine is on overdrive. In essence things really stop today – 27th December – and by next week all the Christmas Stuff will have gone except some of the dated stuff that didn’t get sold and traders are trying to flog off an a fraction of the cost. At the end of today the Post Christmas Sales – at least the major ones – will be over. The reason for the delay in South Australia is because we are “Adelaide-Centric”and all Adelaide central shops are open for business,- Boxing Day Sales – but the suburb shopping centers are not allowed to open on Boxing Day because it might take away revenue from Rundle Mall and surrounds. They have to wait until today. By mid January, Easter Eggs and Easter decorations will start to appear and the bakers will start to produce Hot Cross Buns – which political correctness requires us to call ‘Easter Buns” With any reasonable luck we might manage to clear Australia Day on 26th January before the madness begins again. As a society we seem to be addicted to celebration – we’re not fussy – just give us a good excuse and the bunting is out and the flags are being waved. In Australia any excuse is good for a party and drink.

The forecast for the New Year is for temperatures of 40+ and Victoria (the State) has been warned to expect the possibility of lightening strikes and bushfire and there is a Cyclone warning in the north of Western Australia. Today is 37c but at least there is no wind – yet! I cannot recall when we had continual wind like we have had this year – it’s quite depressing. Still, I suppose we should be thankful – we are in the middle of nowhere, we don’t do floods and we don’t do fires and if there is a local fire, it’s small and put out very quickly, and, the nearest major fire zone is about 70 miles away in the Mount Remarkable National Park.

still nowhere — -and all around there was empty land

On the last road trip I did take some photographs but there’s really not a lot to see and what you can see is all owned by the army. Sometime next week – after the New Year road madness is over, I want to take a run down to Adelaide and head out to see Alan. I did promise that I would get down and spent some time with him after the Christmas-New Year period, and I would like to do that.

My little Man continues to confuse me – I suppose that’s his job – in that he seems to have difficulty controlling his back legs, he falls down, yet when he is outside in the garden he seems to move like a proverbial hare. I take him out for a walk and he tires very easily, so I lift and carry him for a while – only a short while and he fights to get back down again, but then it’s not long before he is tiring and dragging behind again — I can only walk so slowly!! Other than that, he seems to be quite happy, but he does sleep a lot. I have not yet measured him up for the wheels and I think I might put it off for a little while yet – but not too long I think.

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