Hospital – Page 2 – Edgar's Page

Hospital, Benji and assorted hackers

11/08/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The weather over the last few days has been fairly mild – 19c – 21c which means that I have been able to get down to the wetlands. We normally do two circuits of the wetlands before we head for home. The foundations of the new bridge across the main pond have been constructed and if the foundations are anything to go by the bridge may well be unnecessarily elaborate and enormously expensive. But then again perhaps the two concrete structures are for something different and not for the bridge at all. Photographs when it’s finally built. Anyway, the wetlands was fairly quiet today.

I have been waiting for it to happen and today it did – Benji turned on the WaWa and she went screaming off in fright. Since then she has stayed away from him. I don’t want harm to come to either of them but I hope this stand off continues for a while. The WaWa has adopted Annabell and she just sees everyone as a potential threat to her and it is unlikely that she will abandon that. This means that the respite is probably only a temporary thing.

I will be going into hospital on Monday 29th August and back home by Wednesday 31st August. Probably spend a few days with my feet up and relaxing, do a few exercises and then start to get back out again. I should be driving within three days. I just don’t know how I’ll manage! Me and Benji, dinosaurs and lions, lying on the bed watching the television. It will be a hard couple of days, but we will certainly try our best. I will be taking a break from all fundraising and other work for the RFDS for a few weeks until the repairs to my knee have settled down and I’m walking easily again.

It’s amazing ; a mere 19 million people trying to get on to the web site and it crashed – how unexpected! Who would have thought that would happen? Now the Government are blaming the crash of the Census Web Site on over-seas hackers. But it’s like everything else this government does to save a few dollars. Go murder someone, plead guilty and you can get up to a 40% reduction in sentence for pleading guilty and saving the government the cost of a trial. And this, by the way, overrides the mandatory life sentence for murder and if you look contrite and even cry and say how sorry you are, there is every chance that a good part of your sentence will be suspended – you might even be home in time for dinner. It used to be that you could be fined for making comments that would bring the law into disrepute, but the judges and lawyers are doing a very good job of that on their own without any assistance from members of the public. Man found guilty of abusing an elderly patient in a nursing home. Judge did not apply a heavy custodial sentence because he felt the young man had been punished enough by having his details in public and having lost his job and reputation, so he sentenced him to six months – five months suspended and the remainder

subject to time served in custody, so he was about ten days to two weeks in jail. This is justice, South Australia. The Attorney General has the legal right to challenge a sentence, but rarely does, and even when he does, nothing much comes of it.

Anyway, back to the census – it is believed that hackers disrupted the web site and denied access. Was unable to get on line last night nor again this morning (Wednesday) The whole thing was a shamble. Whoever came up with the idea of trying to get the entire population of Australia on line in the one night and on a single web site, really needs talking to. Oh and BTW, we have a government with a single seat majority – could be an interesting period. The leader of the party and Primer Minister, is detested by a number of his party so it remains to be seen if they can get over that or if their dislike is so great they will bring down the government. I’m betting on the latter.

Adelaide, Trusts and Operation.

06/08/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Wednesday: Well the good(?) news is that there is damage to the right knee that will require some surgery – generally overnight stay. On Friday I have to go for an ECG then go round to the Pre-Anaesthetic Clinic to do some things and fill out some forms and have some discussions with the Anaesthetist. What this means is that the operation will be carried out fairly soon – more than likely timed to coincide with my Adelaide week. Ho well these things happen. I was able to get the clinic stuff done on Friday because my Cardiologist has been called to Adelaide and has changed the date of my appointment. So that worked out very well. Of course I want this done as soon as possible but after Adelaide would be kind of neat.

Still having problems with the WaWa but managing to control them a little better and I do tend to take Benji out with me as often as I can. In this cooler weather, it’s ok to have him in the car with a window partly open whilst I go into the hardware store. Don’t know what I will do if the WaWa is still with us during summer and too hot in the car, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But then I should be able to get out back to the Wetlands area. The army are all gone and the place seems sort of quiet without them. Operation Hamel was a great success and having 8000+

military here was a breeze. They enjoyed being here – they were well treated and looked after by the local people who, in turn, enjoyed them being here.

Friday: Had the ECG this morning and everything is ok. I am still able to walk in the land of the living. I had a discussion with the clinic doctor, answered his questions – everything is well and I am fit and healthy, which is nice to know. From there Annabell and I went over to the Specialist/Surgeon’s room and discussed with his Associate the possibility of dates. My best date was Monday 29th August, which is just over three weeks away. I had already decided that I would take whatever date was given and as it happens, I can still go to Adelaide and have the procedure when I get back. It’s all worked out well. I did not attend the Mount Gambier Presbytery because of car trouble so I really needed to be at Para Hills. Then the week after I go back down for the Trust Committee, then back and hospital. So, as I said, it all works in very well.

There’s a Dog Wash tomorrow at the Vet Clinic to raise funds for the RSPCA. I was thinking of taking Benji down and get him a bath and a Bandanna. Our Craft and Fabric shop closed down last week, which means no place here to get any material for anything and I have a garden umbrella that needs repairing. I may well have a look for some canvas when I’m in Adelaide. Years ago we had a few small country craft shops around the town, but then a major chain shop moved in and we lost all the little craft shops. Now the chain is in trouble so it has closed down and moved out after about ten years – there is nothing to replace it. The nearest member of the chain is in Rundle Mall, Adelaide.

Benji, Trees and Firefox

24/10/2015 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Sunday; and for the first time since we adopted Benji, we had a family dinner. This meant that for the first time the two girls were here with Andrew, Trish and, of course, John. I was a bit concerned about how Benji would react to the girls and how the girls would take to Benji. As it happened, my concerns were ill-founded and everything went smoothly with the girls and the dog taking to each other quite well. Overall it’s been a very quiet week and not a lot has happened really. I worked at two fundraising ventures for the RFDS, with a third one this weekend. Herself has been busy writing letters to all the other churches and inviting them to the 36th Anniversary Service of the Women’s Association. I have also found ( well I knew, really) that, since my unexpected stay in hospital at Christmas, some of the temporary restrictions, plus all the medication, I have put on weight. This I am unhappy with, so back to my diet again and get rid of the extra kilos. Once we get into spring and the winds start to abate I should like to get back out on my bike – and yes, before you ask, I am very much a fair weather biker. There is a dedicated Bike Track down at the Wetlands but it’s like everywhere else here in spring and summer, the flies become a nuisance. I sometimes find that rather than deter the flies, the personal fly-spray seems to attract them.

Haven’t done much outside other than never-ending sweeping. I have an Australian White Cedar which has to be – more than gum trees – the messiest tree in

Australia. I have spent days on end sweeping up the mess from the Cedar and can well understand why the council had them removed many years ago. Pity they replaced them with gum trees. These berries, or whatever they call them, come down in the tens of thousands and clog up everything and cost the council a fortune to clean up the mess and unclog drains. The other problem is that everything about them is toxic – the berries and the leaves. This gentleman in the photograph, in Adelaide – has a problem with the White Cedar in the front of his house and the fact that the berries are all over his garden and he has two young children. Many councils are undertaking programs to have the White Cedars removed. The photograph is from the newspaper and I thought it best to block out faces. I need to get a quote for the trimming back of the one I have, which in the last year has just about doubled in size. Other than sweeping, I have had words with herself about just where she wants the washing line. I think she wants it moved back to where it was. Certainly the crazy area is closer to the door but it is now over hanged by the Ceder – tree – branches – birds – washing – thus it has to be moved. In the short time that I laid down the weed matting and placed in the stones, the place was covered in “Berries”. Fortunately I have a blower that is powerful enough to move them but not so powerful that it moves the stones. Herself could not believe the amount of “Berries ” cleared in a a few hours, so I can well understand the Adelaide Father’s concern for his children. For me, well Cedars of Lebanon I could live with, Cedars of Australia, not so much.

This last week has been a week of on-going frustrations with the computer and more than ever I realise the truth of the saying “To err is human, but to really stuff up takes a computer”. It’s been a week that saw my Mail Server crashing ( Outlook Express) the crashing of Firefox, which meant a delete and then a fresh install, and just general frustration. I gave up banging my head on the desk, put the lead on the dog and we went for a drive to the wetlands to watch the swans. That did help and I came back, fixed the computer and got back to work.

Boom, Bust and feet on the Desk.

03/01/2015 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Nine Months ago this was all empty land.

Since I came out of hospital and after a few days rest, I started to take Chienne for walks again. They were not long walks but that was more for my benefit than it was for hers. What’s also been interesting is that The Man, who has been increasing in strength, also comes with us sometimes. He refuses to use his Stroller, refuses to be carried and insists on walking. Yes, he does trip up from time to time and I have watch him because he wanders, but all that apart, he seems to enjoy his walks. Can’t see where he is, of course, but there’s nothing wrong with his sense of smell. As I said before, he tries to stay as close as he can to Chienne. The walking is slow and easy and that’s fine. We also find that he sleeps very close to Chienne – right up against her in fact. One of Andrew’s girls suggested that I should put Chi and the Man in the stroller together and perhaps that would settle him down. Tried that! She settled down quite happily he screamed and screamed and went nuts. I un-clipped him and he sprang out of my hand onto the concrete where he promptly fell and rolled over – he was that desperate to get out. Lucky he didn’t hurt himself. So we’re back to square one. I don’t understand!

More houses. — This used to be the end of the road – more houses.

Christmas was held at my younger son’s place this year. We spent a family Christmas with John, Andrew & Patricia and the girls, also Patricia’s mum. Herself wasn’t doing the cooking for the first time ever. Actually Andrew did much of the cooking, which is a credit to Herself. He left for Roby Downs and should be away for about 12 days. New Year was a quiet time and although I did stay up and see in the New Year, I brought it in with Lemonade ( oh the shame of it all!!) with the 26 year old Single Malt staying where it is for the time being. Very sad, really! Reminds me of Zathras from Babylon 5 “Have very sad life – will probably have very sad death, but at least there is symmetry”

Have been doing a lot of reading of late and once I sat back in the chair here, opened my Kindle and put my feet up on the desk. I think there must be some kind of special desks in the movies or on TV because I found the feet on the desk thing very

uncomfortable. However, that apart, it has been a relaxing few days.

At this moment there are over 1108 houses under construction. These are not government houses, these are fairly large private development houses. The mining boom is happening to the North of-us and we have become the fly-in / fly-out destination. When we bought this place, we were the very last house. Not any more!! However, I have this fear that we could go right back to square one when the mining boom peters out and that there will be a glut of houses for sale and no buyers. The developers could make a few dollars on houses like mine which is the older style and size South Australian house, sitting on a quarter acre. You could get two modern houses on that. The widow of one of our former RFDS members did just that – sold the house they had together in town – this was demolished to make way for two new town houses. Sure, there are no gardens, no lawns, no flower beds and barely enough room for a washing line, but moderns are not interested in flowers and gardens today so they don’t care. Kids grow up in the house and in their rooms – we grew up in fields and woods, in playing with our friends during the long summer days that lasted until 10:30 pm. We very rarely saw home until it was time to come home for food. However, on the plus side, there are people prepared to pay extra for more land so they can have a garden and flowers and a place for the children to play and when you consider the amount of land that is actually available it’s pretty much a money grab. However, having said all that the main drawback to development in outback South Australia is the same as it has always been and always will be – WATER. There was an up-surge of tourism into the Flinders Ranges and the people there wanted to extend the Hotel and the facilities, but doing so would have put so much pressure on the little water that was available the plans were shelved.

Well it was a very quiet Christmas and New Year. I sent in letters of resignation to one of the State Committees and I am giving serious consideration to

resigning as Secretary to the Royal Flying Doctor Service Support Group. The trailer will no longer to kept here because it was dropped in my driveway and I had the job of getting it behind the gate – and it was no lightweight. I also had the problem of getting it out ready for collection. Herself put the foot down on that. However, the trailer yes but the other – I will wait until I see the cardiologist in a couple of weeks.

Heartbeats and slowing down.

23/12/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I remember being told once that “you should always be careful what you wish for – you might actually get it” I mean, we didn’t want much – just some peace, stay at home, nice, quiet, down-time. Oh I got that alright – in spades. I cannot say I was pampered, but the nurses and medical staff in the Cardiac Unit did look after me. Having said that, let me qualify it by saying that 1) I did not have a heart attack ; 2) I did not have a stroke. 3) Came close to both but no cigar – thankfully.

Monday took herself shopping. After lunch I decided to do the concreting and bed in her replaced washing line. Set up the cement mixer and got to work – not great exertion or even all that hard work, but about half way through I had more problems with breathing – more than I have had recently. I put it down to the fact that it was a warm day and carried on working. Before I knew what was what I started feeling very hot, my heart and pulse were racing like an express train and I was fighting for breath. I stopped work, went into the house and banged on the A/C ; set it at its lowest and stood in front of it. After a while I started to settle down. However, herself was not too happy and insisted that we go see the doctor. At 3pm I saw the doctor, at 3;50 pm I was at the hospital and by 5:00 I had been seen by two specialists and moments later was on my way up to the HDU ( High Dependency Unit) and hooked up to heart monitors. Not a heart attack nor a stroke but a serious Cardiac Arrhythmia. A number of xrays also showed that I had a pneumonia infection and fluid in the lungs which was not helping. Anyway, over a period of days I was given medication to bring the heart rate down to a less dangerous level and then get it under control. It is now under control but that’s more to do with the present medication rather than anything else. It is still fluctuating but I am told that unlike when I was admitted, this is a controlled fluctuation. I was also told that the problems with the heart were directly responsible for the breathing and thus the tiredness and shortness of breath that I have experienced lately.

I have to remain on these drugs for four weeks then see the heart specialist and return to the HDU. I will be taken off the drugs and monitored. If the heart does not behave I will be taken down to the Theater by the Cardiologist and given electric treatment to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm. All good stuff.

On the first evening I was in hospital Herself asked if there was anything she could bring up. The boys would bring her and I asked her to bring up my pens and my Filofax. To many people that might sound a bit strange, but I use my FF for recording everything. It helps me keep track of things I do and places I go. I don’t see why a visit to hospital should stop me from making sure everything in my FF was up to date. I also asked for my iPad mainly I have a kindle program on there and have a number of books that I can – and did – read. Yes I would have watched TV but I felt that $14 a day was a bit steep.

Where do I go from here? – First thing is to do as I said I would and resign from one of the State Committees. Secondly, cut down the trips to Adelaide. I can do this by a careful examination of the Agenda and if there is nothing there that really concerns us or has any bearing on us, I’ll put in an apology and stay home. Not an ideal solution but the best I can manage. The Property Trust Committee, which meets in Adelaide, I really do want to remain with – such a lovely group of people and the meetings are always a pleasure. The next meeting will feature a presentation by Dr. Klee Benveniste of the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation- and I do want to be present for that. Other movements I will curtail as much as I can until we are certain that things are back to normal.

Health and welfare, Man and Me.

23/11/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

There is a song from the Musical(?) Jesus Christ, Superstar, called “Could We Start Again, Please” and for some unknown reason it came to mind recently and has decided to take up temporary residence. I remember a group of us went to the musical and not long after this the family and I left Scotland to come to Australia. So, it’s about 30+ years since I had exposure to this particular piece of music but I think the

recent concerns with my health and the health and well-being of The Man seems to have triggered some kind of response from the past that has some bearing on the present:

I’ve been very hopeful so far

Now for the first time I think we’re going wrong

Hurry up and tell me this is just a dream

Oh could we start again, please?

Between my health, the Man’s health a garden that looks more like a bomb site than anything else, half finished projects in several places, so, yes, I think, Could we start again, please? Between today and the middle of December I have to be in Adelaide three times – this week the Sitting of the Commission, nine days later a two day conference and a week after that a one day session that I need to attend and I really have to get some work done on the projects I have started in the garden. So, basically, yes – Could we start again, Please?

The drive down to Adelaide in a 38C heat was “interesting”. I met up with a friend in Adelaide and had coffee, which was really good. The same could not be said about much else. The temperature collapsed

overnight and the following day was rain storms and thunder. Fortunately I got out of Adelaide before the real heavy weather closed in. However I did run into a mini-storm on the way up north and the storm was not the only thing I ran into. The mini-storm brought high winds which brought down a number of tree branches. I came over the hill saw the branch on the road and hit the brakes. I was lucky in that I hit the foliage end rather than the wood end, so other than some minor damage and a bit of a scare, everything was fine, although I did not stop to inspect the damage for a while since I had no intention of coming to a halt on the road in the middle of a storm with heavy rain and poor visibility. That, I felt could have been dangerous. Once I cleared the storm and could pull off the road, I was able to inspect the damage, which, fortunately, was light. The remainder of the journey was completed in fairly reasonable weather. Surprisingly the two photographs were taken on that same journey and within an hour the blue had changed to almost black and the white to grey. However, it has to be said that my little mini-storm – violent thought it was – pales into insignificance in comparison to the storms sweeping across the United States. That’s really scary.

I decided to change my diary system from Filofax to Van Der Speck and I am not altogether certain that I made a good decision. I didn’t realize at the time how difficult it would be to get A 6 inserts to operate the system. I have this feeling that it will look very nice on the shelve in my office whilst I continue to work with my old, worn and battered Scanda Filofax. I blame myself, I should have given it a lot more thought and consideration rather than being swept along on a wave of euphoria . I have, however, ordered a set of inserts from Holland so perhaps once I use them and start to operate the system I might feel differently – but we’ll see.

The Man has recovered from his sojourn in the hospital and the Humidifier Crib. He still bumps into things and I still have to rescue him from these nasty corners, but he is sleeping well and eating well. His medication is kept up to date and as far as we can tell he is in no pain, so I see him being with me for a little while yet.
Crib

The Man

16/11/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I have renewed my WordPress Account for a further year even although I am not sure why. I have, for the most part, recovered from my illness although I am having a little bit of a breathing problem, which, I am told, will sort itself out. I also get tired easily and I find that I am quite lethargic and not in the mood for doing much. I missed the last meeting of the RFDS and organized someone to take the minutes. I would prefer not to be going to Adelaide this week, but I have to be there for the Sitting of the Commission. To make matters worse, the Man is not having such a great time. One night I was particularly worried about him and I thought I was going to loose him, but he seemed to settle down and slept peacefully. He did not have a great night last night although he not only had his dinner, we wanted more food, so, I fed him again and he scoffed that too. Here again he settled down and is again sleeping peacefully – well, he snores, so as peacefully as that allows. ///// I was out and Herself telephoned me because she was concerned about the Man, who seemed to be fighting for breath and was in some distress. I left and came home and agreed with her – he was not good and his mouth was blue. I called the Vet and he agreed to meet us at the surgery. He is in some trouble, his heart is not good, his lungs are not good. He was given an injection to try and calm him down and put into a humidifier crib and oxygen pumped in to help his breathing. At the moment it is touch and go and he will be in the crib overnight. Mustapha (the Vet – he’s Turkish) will have another look at him in the morning. It’s not looking good and even if he comes through this episode, it’s only a question of a short time before it will be time -a few months at the most.

We went after lunch and collected him from the Vet. Not a clean bill of health but not too bad for his age. He had a wander around, did some sniffing and settled down in his bed, where he has been all afternoon. He is sleeping very peacefully now – not even snoring. We may only have him for a little while longer but we will try to make it as comfortable for him as possible.

Field Days. Shows and Hospitals

27/08/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Royal Adelaide Show — royal Adelaide Show

Mid-July and August are the traditional “Show or Field Days” period. I think for America it would be about equal to the State / Local Fair. The Royal Adelaide Show is about on the same par as your State Fair. We have just completed the Eyre Peninsula Field days in which we exhibited the RFDS Aircraft Simulator. This brought a lot of interest and has really proved a great way to bring the work of the RFDS closer to the people. It helps to give them more understanding and adds to what they already know about the RFDS and how it operates. We have had people come into the simulator and tell us that they have been in an aircraft but didn’t know much about it at the time. I had one lady who pointed to the Humidicrib and told her daughter that she spent the first hours of her life in one very similar. Not that the last weeks or jaunts out of town have been associated with the RFDS but I just thought I would mention it since they are just about over and the simulator is on its way back to Adelaide. I Believe it will be a feature at the Royal Adelaide Show.

After a long hard look at the little we have managed to do regarding the vine and associated garbage, we came to the conclusion that our little brush cutters are not really making much of an impression. That being so we called in the services of a gardener and with his better tools, he believes he can have it all out and the ground cleared within half a day. His price to do the job was fairly reasonable.

I was at a fundraiser for the RFDS last night and I have another one this morning and I have to honestly say that for the first time ever, I really don’t feel like it. I think all this running around is starting to catch up with me. That, plus the ton of paperwork that I need to catch up on. The paperwork can be done in fairly short order -it just needs time to get it done..

Can't you let me sleep in peace?? — Can’t you let me sleep in peace??

It’s still cold so the dogs have been sleeping in my room at night. I came home from the fundraiser, put the fire on and brought the dogs in. The man curled up on the second bed with foam underneath it and went to sleep. Chienne did her usual wandering about before she settled down. They slept through until 6am when I got up. They both had their sticks – I hand fed The Man – then they went back to sleep. Half their luck!! Opps, he’s snoring. Never heard him snore before. Must be having a good sleep.

It’s been over a week since I last looked at this and I am pleased to say that the vine and the other stuff has been cleared – well the plant stuff that is. What we discovered underneath everything is that the previous owner – or even before that – had used it as a rubbish deposit. There is just so much garbage behind the garage that he will need to fill a trailer and get it all to the dump – old tyres and metal of all descriptions. It will take a trailer to clear it away before he can even start the new fence.

Most of the paperwork I have completed and have started to catch up on everything. I still think I will continue my “Sabbatical” for another week, or at least a couple of more days before I allow myself to be out of the house. I have one more serious piece of paperwork to get done and I will do that over the next two nights. Actually I have written the paper just need to sort out a couple of things before I send it off.

Oh the joys of it all. Took Herself to the hospital to see her diabetes person and she recorded a blood pressure reading of 230/90. The Practitioner came out to see me and suggested that we go from the hospital to see her doctor – the hospital will phone ahead. Well, did this and her BP was 235/90. Of course, Herself just can’t see what all the fuss is about because she feels perfectly well. Brought her home then took her to the hospital today and her BP was 156/90, which is fairly good. However, Dr. is concerned so he is sending

her for an ultrasound. So much for my quiet, recovering days. Oh well….

Cell phones, Flowers and Teddy Bears

20/03/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Aren’t mobile (Cell) phones wonderful. During the trip back home I was able to call herself and get her to have a taxi waiting for me when the coach arrived at the

terminal. Thus, I was home at 11:50 – before midnight :o) Apart from the crazy idea of walking through Adelaide, I was fairly fresh by the time we got in and then home. I stayed up for a while and worked on my notes and report – which I have about four weeks to complete. It was a good meeting, interesting and very worthwhile and I am really glad that I made the decision to go. Thursday I took herself to her medical appointment and spent most of the day in and around the house keeping an eye on her since she had had pre-op medication. Friday and she was admitted into the hospital – Day Surgery. I took her up to the hospital at 7am and at 7:30 they came to collect her. I came back home. As the time started to wear on past lunch I was just a tad concerned. I didn’t get a call to go back and pick her up until 2:30, but I spent a good deal of the time working on the introduction and the first part of the report. I went to the hospital when I was called but it was after 3pm before we were finally on our way home. The rest of the day was fairly quiet and I let her rest. Dinner was light and simple and after the news she watched Rugby and I vanished into the room to do some work. I did take the dogs out for a while. Anyway, we don’t have to go back to the hospital until 5th June, so we have a bit of a break, which should allow us to return to semi-normality for a bit.

As an aside – I have to say that I told the doctor’s practice manager over the phone that I was going to charge her for all the white-out I was using as she changed times and dates on me. Next time I went up there she handed me a Liquid Paper unit. My comment was ” I was only joking” her comment was ” Yes but I’m not and I have to change the date for the next appointment ” :o)

Since the hospital I have been busy planting several rows of Lettuce and several rows of Parsley. I have also planted an attractive Lasiandra Jules, so it would be nice if that takes. The Sturt’s Desert Rose amazes me. The flowers are so delicate, but the bush on which they flourish is as tough as nails. It’s amazing the contrast between the hardy plant and the delicate flowers that never last more than a few hours.

I continue to take the dogs out each night and whilst I still carry the Man for a bit, I find that I am not carrying him for

as long as I used to. I think perhaps the cooler weather is good for him. I believe that and the fact that I take them out after the sun goes down ( no flies ) is a great help. He does sleep a lot but he is still eating well and he still gets excited about going out – in fact if I am slow in getting ready, the pair of them are not slow in t

elling me. The Man is about thirteen and a half and the problems with his life before he was rescued are really starting to tell. He has no teeth and when I give them their treat in the morning, Chienne takes hers out side and I close the door on her – that way I can break his treat up and hand feed him until it’s all gone. I have not measured him for a set of wheels since he seems to be walking a lot better in this cooler weather and I would rather he continues to walk whilst he can, but I will order them when I think it’s necessary.

Barbecue, dogs and movies

06/03/2014 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.

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.

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