Tag: fundraising

Towards the final curtain D

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Whilst the good people of the Northern Hemisphere wax lyrical about Autumn – or Fall, here in this little corner of the Southern Hemisphere, Spring has  Sprung and Dear Mother Nature has

Rawnsley Bluff – Flinders Ranges

given us a reminder of who is really in charge. The temperatures this week have steadily climbed to 41c, with a  high North Wind. In this corner of the planet a North Wind is a hot wind coming off the desert. It was not the most pleasant of days to be running a fundraising Barbecue for the RFDS , but never the less, we did it anyway. Given that it was the middle of a long weekend and  many people were away, if we  made more than $150, I will be very surprised.  Why did we do it- we were asked to – that simple. And, of course it was for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.  However,  we have a policy  that if a trader asks for the RFDS to do a fundraising venture, I will do my upmost to get a team together and accept on the  belief that if we refuse, they may ask someone else next time. LOL, I have even organised a fundraising event from one thousand kilometers away when I was in Mount Gambier – and yes, I have had my head examined –  several times!!  Most of the time it’s good fun – we work and chat with customers and when it comes to the RFDS, people are very generous, and they were this weekend too – even although there were not all that many –  and I  expressed the belief that there was more money put into the donations tin than there was to the cashbox. Anyway, it’s funds that we didn’t have at the start of the day and that’s what matters.  Having been through an early 41c on Saturday,  the temperature crashed overnight to be 24c on Sunday – Monday wasn’t too bad and today (Tuesday) I was feeling very cold when I took Benji out for a walk at 6am. I guess I was too pig-headed to go back for a heavier jacket, so I just continued with the walk, but it was a cold morning.

One of the drawbacks of living  “in the sticks” is the fact that I miss city shopping. I don’t mean that the shops here are not good, they are, but there are things  not available in the country that are commonplace in the

Fires NSW & Queensland

city. For example, I want shoe polish, not the common  New Zealand (Kiwi) Shoe polish but a polish that is produced here in Australia and is not petroleum based. Decent size Australian Company but products not available here. We really only have one shoe shop here and that’s  “Spendless” with   small shoe departments  in Harris Scarfe and Target. The shoe shops we did have have all gone. How can you survive in a place where 60% of the population wears flip-flops or no shoes, 35% wear sandals or sneakers and only 5% of us wear  actual shoes.

Over many (Too many) years I have  gone from paper organisers, to electronic organisers ( Palm Pilot ) and finally back to paper, Filofax, Van der Spek, Mulberry and  my current Kikki.k. I have gone from Personal, to A6, back to personal and finally to A5 and Kikki.k. It was all so very easy once. I was in Adelaide fairly often so was able to buy what I needed in either David Jones or Borders, and in a few of the stationers.  Not so now. David Jones no longer stock much  in the way of Planners/Organisers and I think has only one Filofax in stock and Borders closed down. Now I have to order on line from China, Hong Kong,  or,  if it is from the UK or the USA,  I  practically have to donate an

Benji on the Hill; We were just up there again this afternoon.

arm or a leg to defray the postage costs. For other things I  have a supplier in Perth, Western Australia, and she’s very good.  For my inserts these days, I download  a system that I like in the size I want, copy it to a USB and take it to the local printer who will print everything for me in an A5 size — I supply the paper, which is great because it means I get the paper quality that I  really want.. And yet, it would appear that  paper-based planners and still quite popular, but in South Australia it certainly doesn’t feel like that.

 

Moving, Benji, and Water for Wildlife

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
The Road Trains going through.

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

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

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

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

 

 

Barbecue, dogs and movies

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Saturday and I spent the morning  helping to run a fundraising Barbecue for the RFDS. We were only there about three hours and managed to  raise about $340, which is not  bad. Herself had a good night last night  and after I laid out her breakfast I  set off to the BBQ. I did call a couple of times to make sure everything was ok. It’s not been all that bad of a week and we were able to relax for a bit as things calmed down. Monday we are at the hospital again and we’ll see how things go from there.  I have been giving the Man a medication that was recommended to me and we have noticed that he is crying a lot less and is much more active. Well, yes, I still have to carry him for a bit, but just to get his wind back, you understand, not that he needs it, of course  :o )  On the other hand, if he didn’t run around like a mad thing and expend all his energy in the first five or six minutes, it might be a tad different.

Not sure where I got this from, but it works for me.
Not sure where I got this from, but it works for me.

Monday and we are back to the hospital again. This afternoon she goes to have an  Echocardiograph, which is an ultrasound of her heart. They are, I believe, doing this because she failed the Stress Test last week. Well, she didn’t actually fail it, she couldn’t walk on the treadmill as fast as they wanted her to so they abandoned it. With this test the rules are that we MUST be there on time or the test will be cancelled. Should not be a problem. This will be our last appointment until Friday, so after today, provided all goes well,  I should be able to wind down for a little. I don’t know – perhaps it’s just me but I really fail to see what these tests have to do with a blood loss, but I suppose they have to eliminate other possibilities.  I am supposed to go to a meeting next Wednesday and I think I might just be able to fit it in. However, it means taking a coach to Adelaide and a coach home. I can get the 6am coach, go to the meeting then get the 6pm coach back home, ready to take her to the Specialist on Thursday. I really need to attend this meeting because I  have to write a report and it would be better that I was there and talk to people rather than simply write the report from the information I have to hand – comprehensive thought it might be.

Interesting post recently with reference to the Oscars. The writer asked her followers to list their three favourite movies – mine being, Casablanca – The Man Who Would be King – A Man For all Seasons – these are the three I would take with me to a desert island, but I have to say that there are “Runners Up” that I like:   Hatchi -55 Days at Peeking – The Day after Tomorrow ( yes I know the science leaves a lot to be desired, but I like it), Shadowlands – The Remains of the Day –  On The Beach (with Fred Astaire not the remake) Braveheart – The Lion in Winter. I would quickly get fed up with the Lord of the Rings, but I would take the three Narnia Movies with me and one other probably surprising selection – Yankee Doodle Dandy – with James Cagney.

I have some worry about the Man and he is not only slowing down but there is a loss of strength and control in his back legs. He still runs about the house like a mad thing, but he does lose his balance a bit and falls. Still,  he gets up and carries on. As soon as we get herself settled again, and whilst there does not seem to be any immediate concern, I will get him to the vet for advice. Other than that, this is a long weekend and Monday is a public holiday, so I have the weekend to sit down and contemplate the heavens – or something.

Sunset, dogs and trees

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
DSC01424
The end of the Road – Really!

I went looking for some polystyrene this afternoon and discovered that the pet shop has a sale on this  Thursday and one of the items is a collapsable ramp that I can put outside so the man can walk up  rather than jump up the stairs. I know I am probably going slightly overboard but  he’s my man and it’s  part of my job description to look after him. Anyway, depending on how the unit looks  and works, I might end up buying two.

My car goes in for repairs ( excuse me, didn’t you do that last week?) and hopefully the fuel gauge should be fixed. First time was to determine the problem (took about an hour) Parts were ordered and I took the car back  at the end of the week ( Last Friday) but he couldn’t do the job because my son, who borrowed the car for a while, very kindly filled the fuel tank – and you can’t  replace things in the fuel tank when it’s full of fuel. I have had to drive around for a few days and today is the day it goes back in to finish the repairs. I don’t think it should take all that long to do and I should have it back by lunch. – Car back and repaired…

Went down to the sale and had a look at the dog ramp, which wasn’t too bad. Didn’t get one though because  they decided that this – and a few other things – were not part of the sale. Anyway, came up with a new idea. Went to the garden shop and bought kneeling pads and wrapped them in  carpet and they fit just neatly and let him get on and off his bed without trauma. Good. However, herself decided that they were not good enough so she got out her sewing machine and, using some spare material she had left over from something, made two “pillowcases”  One to  put the pads into and one to change. This is the person who just “tolerates” the dogs, but  maintains she is not a “dog person”. This is the same person who went to the craft store and bought a heap of material and made a dog coat for the little man when we first rescued him  – he had to have all his own coat cut off because it was so matted and she didn’t want him to be cold. But, she doesn’t really like dogs all that much  :o)

20130222_095214
Messy Native Trees

This weekend we have a fundraising venture for the Royal Flying Doctor Service at the “Collage of Technical and Further Education” – TAFE. It’s the first day back for the new semester so the collage  will put on a  barbecue lunch for the students and staff.  We will cook and serve it and TAFE will give us a donation. I think it is going to be a very busy month.  And the Saga of the Native vs Exotic Trees still continues. If you look at the mess and look over the road not only is there a mess, but nothing else grows near it.  I don’t like native trees planted along  pathways and medium strips.

All very interesting, really!!!

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

What’s interesting?  Well to send a few hours writing  and placing photographs  and save to drafts, then come back a little while later and press trash instead of edit.  Oops. It said I could recover it but I could not for the life of me find out how to do this, so I’ve sort of given up. And the oddest thing is that I cannot remember what I was writing about – well I sort of do to  a point, but it’s long gone now. However, it does give me a chance to talk about  the South Australian Dog Rescue. A dog was recently rescued from the pound – which as I said before is a kill pound.  This poor Poodle was  really in such a mess it was difficult to imagine how any person.with any degree of compassion,  could allow this to  happen. The fur of the animal was so badly matted that the vet  was  present when the groomer started to cut the coat. The matting was so bad that the poor animal is left with bald patches on his skin because the intensity of the matting had pulled the roots of the fur out in these places.  The vet  believes that the fur will never grow back in these areas. The dog will stay with a foster carer for a few weeks until it recovers then it will be vaccinated and desexed and once it is over all that trauma it will be put up for adoption.  Until then, it will stay with a foster carer. I have a friend who has recently adopted a dog and the  even after  quite a few months the dog still has  marks where it was chained up around the neck.No, don’t ask me how people could be so unkind, I honestly do not know. My friend and her husband are over the moon with their dog and were pleased to get the  adoption papers  last Thursday. I will take it out for a walk for them tonight along with one of my own – my son will have the other one.

We had a fundraising event for the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS) yesterday and although I do not know at this stage how we fared, I should imagine we did well since we were very busy. The SADR had a stall not far from us. It was a lovely afternoon and a very flat out busy three and a half hours – 5pm – 8:30pm. I should say that the event yesterday was the Christmas Pageant and we were at the After-Pageant Fare in the gardens.

Before going out to the gardens  I spent the morning and early afternoon in my garden. I decided to remove the old edging, which was looking a bit “faded and Jaded” After ripping out the old edging I discovered that the bolts I had were too big so I will now have to wait until Monday to get into the hardware store and get the right size. Not to worry, it will look nice when completed.  Anyway, with a sort of unhappy story to start off with, I thought I would  insert a photographs of a ‘ Man in His Office”