Tag: Ice Cream and a Cornetto

Welcome to summer – maybe..

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
Hmm - Bought Benji a coat - not a success....
Hmm – Bought Benji a coat – not a success….

Saturday and the temperature today is due to be 41c with a cool change later in the afternoon. A severe weather warning was issued by the SA Police with the possibility of an electrical storm and the potential for  lightening strikes setting off fires.  I sometimes believe my dog thinks I  don’t love him anymore. I mean surely if I loved him I would take him out in the car with me – right?  Well,  no!  When it’s 41c outside it is going to be at least 50c in the car and even  with the windows cracked open, if you leave a dog in a car in those temperatures  he/she could go into heat stress and they could die very quickly – but of course you know this. Benji does not understand. He only knows that I am going out and not taking him with me – and I get that pained look that some dogs are very good at. And hardly a month goes by when a person does just that and leaves a dog in a hot car. But it’s not all bad in that people are now becoming more aware of the dangers of leaving a dog in a car on a very hot day and if they see this, they notify authorities – RSPCA or SA Police. Oh and by the way, this is not confined to dogs, people have gone in to shops,

The Foreshore
The Foreshore

and other places,leaving a child in the car and last year, sadly,  several children died.     In essence, if I go out today, and I will – Benji will not be coming with me and I’ll get “The Look” If we had been on our own, we might have gone down to the beach and had a walk in the sea but Yogi is not as well-mannered as Benji and barks at anything that moves. Perhaps after Yogi goes home – in five days – the Benji and I will  drive down to the Foreshore and have an Ice-Cream treat. I think he deserves it – not only does he have a WaWa to contend with, he has also had Yogi for a month. He has a small tub, I have a cornetto  and we sit outside under the shade of an umbrella.

Still Saturday and the temperature peaked at 42c: now the cool change predicted has come charging in with high winds – cooling down fast and some driving rain. We are expecting thunderstorm and possibly lightening  in the late evening. No dog walks and I will have to keep an eye on Yogi – he does not like thunder. Benji and the WaWa seem not to bother too much. Actually as I try to type a certain dog who shall remain nameless is sitting on my lap making life difficult because he thinks  I should be scratching his ears not making a noise on keyboard.  Before summer started and it was still raining – a lot – I bought Benji a waterproof coat. It was not a success. On the subject of not a success – the plants I bought  at the beginning of the week are all dead. I tried to get them established before the heat set in but it still killed them. The rain has gone but there is still a wind and the temperature has

The sky at night - after the rain.
The sky at night – after the rain.

dropped down to 30c a drop of 12 degrees in less than an hour.

Happiness is a fresh-smelling warm blanket! We decided that the blanket on the WaWa bed was a bit grubby looking so at about  8 o’ clock  last night we threw it in the washing machine. Washed and spun, I then took it out to the garage and the drier and  put it in there for an hour. It  came out all warm and fluffy ( reminder to clean the  fluff catcher on the machine), folded up and back on her bed in time for bed-time.

Sunday  a.m.  and it’s raining so no walk this morning. Well it did stop and we did go out and I did get as far as the end of the Carport before it came down again, so back into the house we went. I figured that they had been “out” so I did give them their after walks treat – I know, I’m a woose.

Weather, Mice, Men and May Babies

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Three and a half days – that’s how long I was away – three and a half days. The way Benji reacted you would think I have been away for three and a half years. He went absolutely ballistic – the WaWa wanted to say hello but he charged right at her and knocked her out of the way to get to me. I had to sit on the floor  and try to attend to both of them. It took us ages to get Benji to calm down and he ran around the house like a mad thing, and heaven help anyone – including a WaWa – that got in his way. This is the longest I have been away from him and Annabell tells me he was not a happy puppy. Since I came home, he has hardly left my side. Odd thing is that as soon as I go to bed he jumps down from the bed and goes into his own bed and no amount of coaxing will get him back up beside me again – although he does stay on his bed and watch me, which is odd – very.

"Just one Cornetto - Give it to me"...
“Just one Cornetto –
Give it to me”…

Generally I have taken Benji with me when I go out – provided I am not going to be too long – and leave the windows partly open and he enjoys the drive. He is not a 20160726_124554demonstrative dog so he is not up at the window or sticking his head out, but he just  curls up quietly on the seat. I mentioned this to Annabell and her comment was that he’s with his daddy, so he’s quite at peace curled up. However, as the weather gets hotter I can take him out less and less – example was Thursday when the temperature topped 37c. Much too hot to take him out and leave him in the car – even with windows open. Driving is ok – we have the A/C on when we are driving and we did go down to the beach for a walk and some Ice Cream. I am not sure if dogs are allowed Ice Cream, but he enjoys it  and I enjoy my  Cornetto.

Now that the weather is hotting up I hope to get outside more and get some work done. Sounds strange working in the hotter weather but up here that means very little wind and you can do a lot when there is no wind. I have plans for part of the area and although I have a picture of what it might look like in my head ( that’s a worry!) I just have to wait and see it it works out. I am part of the way into the plan in that I have cleared the area and laid down weed matting and ordered the artificial turf. But then as the poet ( Robert Burns) wrote,  “The best laid plans of mice and men go aft agley and leave us naught but grief and pain for promised joy”  and what all that means is that that’s the end of the hot to warm weather for at least the next ten days, back to rain, wind and cool days until at least early December.

Barbecue all readyGenerally the family all come over here for dinner on a Sunday. It has been this way for  years.   However this Sunday Andrew called and said that we were to come to his place for a Barbecue. We chatted around while everything was cooking and  when we sat down at the table Andrew got the wine, poured a glass for me, poured a glass for John and was going to pour a glass for Patrica (Trish)  when he  moved the glass away and said quite clearly “no you can’t wine – you’re pregnant”.  Talk about dropping a grenade on the table!! Annabell  was sitting next to Trish  and hugged her, Trishs’ mum  just burst into tears, my word but it was an interesting meal – and of course – at the end of the food we got to see the scans over coffee. The baby should be born late May, early June – we think she is about 12 weeks.   I never thought this would happen and I told people  “That ship has sailed” It seems that there is yet another tide.