Lighthouse – Page 2 – Edgar's Page

Model Trains and Kangaroos

16/11/2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The Model Railway Exhibition was brilliant. Oh yes, it was a very busy weekend for the RFDS but there were compensations and one of those was that retired Senator Buckland who is President of the Club said that the RFDS people would be allowed into the exhibition free of charge. The setups were fabulous and I was really amazed at the amount of work that had gone into them. What really floored me was that some of the exhibits were large in their own right but amazing that they were really only part of a larger set up. There were model railway set-ups from as far away as Western Australia but also sets from Adelaide and various places in Victoria.

The weather was changeable over the last couple of weeks and we did have some rain during the Model Railway two days. Not long after that we were looking after Dougal for a few days as his people went down to the Royal Adelaide for tests. However, she is still not the best so she will have to go back down on the 20th of this month and we will have Dougal back with us again.

Not long after Dougal went home I left for Mount Gambier. Stayed overnight in Adelaide and drove to Mount Gambier on the Friday. Set off for Adelaide right after the meeting on the Saturday and stayed overnight before hitting the road again at 05:30 since I really wanted to be home at 11am – well not so much home but to be in the church for part of the 11am (Armistice Day) Service – which I was. The weather has warmed up and over the last few days we

have been in the mid 30c. I took Benji out for a walk at 6am before it started to heat up and the ground was still cold. I was surprised to see Kangaroos around since I assumed the rain for much of the week just gone, would have been enough to keep them happy. They only really come near the town when there is little to drink and not much feed out in the bush. Not the best of photographs but they were a bit back off the road and trying to hold a dog, hold the smartphone steady and take a picture, wasn’t all that easy. Tomorrow it is supposed to be overcast with the possibility of rain and a bit of a storm – at least that’s what the state forecast was. The local news was not quite so certain in regard to the weather, so it might rain, but then, it might not. —- It did..

In a few days the Officer Cadets of the Military College , Duntroon, Canberra will be here for three weeks to conduct exercises. There will be command posts set up around the town and the army is calling for volunteers to take part in the population evacuation exercises. I didn’t do that last time but I think I might have a shot at it this time. At the moment the Cadets are doing some training at Cultana before they come over here for the next three weeks. As it turns out I wont be since the registration is this coming Saturday and I had a call from the Mitre 10 hardware wanting me to organise a RFDS Fundraiser for this Saturday. I have been on the phone much of the afternoon getting a team together

The Ambulance Ramping crisis continues with 18 Ambulances at the Royal Adelaide waiting to be attended to. Whilst they are there, they are not available for any emergency. The photograph was taken by

18 ambulances with patients on board – waiting…….

an ambulance para-medic. But there you are – the most expensive hospital on the planet and it doesn’t work and it can’t cope. If a real medical crisis, where many people are affected, ever hit Adelaide and South Australia, we would be well and truly stuffed.

Benji and I have been out and about. I took him back out to the lighthouse and then to the wetlands. Sometime over this weekend I really must get the model railway photographs sorted out. I take hundreds of photographs but am not the best of photographers.

Lazy Spring Days.

03/10/201803/10/2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I have not written for a while, mainly because I was reluctant to do so until such time as I knew what was happening with this account. Well that can be summed up in a single word – nothing. I have written twice to WordPress without reply so I have – for the time being – decided to treat my spam folder as an alternate inbox. A sort of halfway house really since posts and comments do appear for a few seconds in the inbox and then dissapear

into the spam folder. Why is it so?? I have no idea!

A few weeks ago Benji and I went out to the garden. It was a lovely, warm spring day – about 28c -. I put up the umberella, brought out my laptop and my Filofax and intended to do some work. I had papers to sort out and a couple of emails to write for the RFDS. Benji plonked himself down on the padded bench until it became too warm for him so he slid under the table where the tablecloth and the umbrella protected him from the sun. It

was such a lovely day and I was sorry that spring and summer could not remain as this was. It will, however get hotter as the weeks go on, so I just enjoyed the day as it was. In the time since writing, we have been back to the Port, but, sadly, not the Arid Lands Botanic Garden, we have spent quite a few afternoons at the Wetlands and a couple of afternoons out at the lighthouse. I found some interesting birds at the Wetlands and put a photograph on line. I thought them to be pretty birds and at another part of the walk one of these birds approached me, then Benji moved and the bird walked away. I have since found out that these very pretty white birds are Feral Geese, and (so I am told) very aggresive. They seemed harmless enough to me. The Kiosk has been opened for an afternoon, selling coffee only and trying to get some feedback before official opening, which is the 10th. October. The above photograph of Benji was taken at what used to be a very popular beach on the way to the lighthouse. It was one of the areas we used to take all the children to fish and play – my sister’s children and my boys. Then it was decided that the point would be just right for the Santos Liquids Processing plant so much of the area was closed off for a long while. Now it is very rarely visited and even then only by people on the way to and from the lighthouse who see the expanse of white sand from the road, or people, like me, who remember it from ages past.

At the Wetlands the birds are slowly returning and we now have two pair of Black Swans. I hope the third pair will return. I did mention the Wild

(Feral) Geese and then there is this fellow and I have no idea who he is, but I have seen him a couple of times at different parts of the area.

I have also been doing some work in the garden. There is an area that has not been neglected but it seemed that whatever I planted there – died. I decided it must be the soil, so I dug it all out, removed it and replaced it with fresh soil toppoed by potting mis and fertilizer. Watered it all in and planted some flowers. They lasted for two days until the next door 87,000 cats dug them up. Kind of them, I thought.. I am not giving up and have bought new plants, posts and chicken wire. We’ll see how that does.

Benji, sunny days and passing lanes

30/07/2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Despite the blood red moon today, it’s cold. Strange though, it was quite mild when Benji and I were out early (05:00 – early) because I wanted to see the blood moon – freaky.. So we decided to go for our walk since we were out anyway. As I said it was really quite mild but as the morning progressed it got colder. I was forced at 8:30 to put the heater on.

Benji catching some rays from the winter sun.

Although today was slightly unusual as generally it has been cold all night and through into the morning. The days have been mild, so much so that Benji took up residence on one of the outdoor chairs and sat facing the sun and lifting his head so the warmth could get to his chest. It looked strange, but he sat that was for quite a bit. We had a morning out at the lighthouse and then on Wednesday we drove through to the Port and spent the morning there. No Arid Lands Botanic Garden (ALBG) because dogs are not allowed in the area, well, in the carpark is the limit, and since the carpark is a fair bit away from the shop and the nursery, I wont leave him in the car for that length of time. If it is my intention to go to the ALBG then I will not take Benji with me.

I think I did mention that my niece has come back to town. Anyway I picked her up yesterday and took her to the airport to catch a flight to Adelaide. She asked me to look after and feed her cat, a black and white cat called Felix. I agreed to do this. It’s been great fun – and I have the blood on my ankles to prove it. The thing attacks me from under the table and I am so glad I was wearing a track suit and not just trousers, otherwise there might have been more blood. It’s like walking into a room with a snake there – it hisses. Generally I have no problems with cats, but this is one oddball animal.

You may remember that I talked some time ago about the Passing Lanes for the Whyalla-Port Augusta Road. Well the Feds gave most of the money for construction, the State Labor government procrastinated and delayed the project for three years. then, just a few months before the State Election, the project was started. The intention was to boost the Government’s chances of re-election. It didn’t happen and we had a new government to pick up the mess left by the last spendthrift government. Work continued on the bypass lanes and they were finally finished a few months ago. Almost immediately there were complaints about the quality of the new roads, great indentations where the road met the bypass lane – making it dangerous particularly for anyone on a motorbike – and after a mere three months potholes had developed. There are concerns about the quality of the road surface. The bypass lanes are partly closed, or are very reduced speeds, until urgent repairs are carried out. I did say, when I got home, that I was not very impressed with the bypass lanes, period. I thought the surface was poor and underwhelming. Talk about cheap and cheerful. Anyway the arguing has already started regarding who pays for the repairs – the government or the contractor. The contractor are doing what many contractors do –

blame someone else. In the meantime the roads are partly closed.

Flinders Drive and the entrance to the Medical Center

Towards the end of this week we will have Yogi again. No idea at this stage how long for but it might be a while until they return from Adelaide and Jim recovers from the operation at

Flinders Medical Centre. He is very casual about it, which I suppose is a good thing, but it seems to me that having a cancerous liver removed is not casual thing – but then, perhaps that’s just me. I don’t mean that you should make yourself ill by worrying but I just think it requires a little more “respect”.

I have lost several posts. I contacted the people concerned and they tell me that I am still with them and they are still sending to me, but I am not getting anything. Of all the UK posts I only have one remaining. My computer guru ( No. 1 Son) has gone thought my Outlook Express account and can find no changes, so I don’t know what’s happening.

Road Trips, Lighthouse, and WaWa thoughts.

18/09/201719/09/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

For the last ten days or so I have been sick. It was brought home to me in no uncertain terms that I am not invincible and like everyone else, I can get laid down with the Flu. I have not had the Flu for a very long time and since I do eat a lot of fruit and veg – too many Oranges!! – I figured I had built up a natural immunity. Yes, well, that clever idea went out the window. Actually, I felt so bad at one stage I thought of throwing myself out of the window, but seeing as how we don’t have a window that is more than two feel off the ground, it seemed like a wasted effort for no return – apart from which, it was raining again.

Benji has hardly been out and there have been a couple of accidents, but that’s ok, I know he has been a little neglected due to my lack of attention, but we are almost back to normal so we can start getting out and about again. Not that he was abandoned since a lot of the time he jumped up and curled up on the bed beside me. I received notification that I have to be in Adelaide in a few weeks time and when I am down there I want to go and check out the new pet shop – well not a “pet” shop but rather a pet supply shop. It was only just opening last time I went down and I really didn’t get a lot of time to wander around but I did get a collapsible silicon bowl that I can take with me and always have a water bowl that I can use when Benji and me are out and it’s a warm day and he needs a cool drink. I want to go back to that shop and have a good look around and see what they have in the way of accessories and toys.

The Lower Flinders Ranges from Matthew Flinders Lookout ( Arid Lands)

Tomorrow should be the Church Mini-Fete but due to illness it has had to be cancelled. I am supposed to be running a fundraising function for the Royal Flying Doctors next week, but that’s still a way off so we will see how things progress. There is no let up on this Flu Bug in South Australia.

This morning I picked up young John and we drove out to Better Home Supplies, did some shopping for garden things and had lunch at the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens. The weather was warm and, sadly, just a tad too warm to have Benji sitting in the car whilst we went shopping – and, of course, no dogs allowed at the Arid Lands. It would have been a nice trip for him. If it’s a nice day tomorrow I’ll take him for a

run out to the lighthouse and then the beach.

I wanted to take him a bit further and perhaps go away for the day and to that end I looked for “Pet Friendly” places in South Australia, particularly the Eyre Peninsula. I found one but their idea of “pet friendly”was to supply a lockable dog house that can be placed outside the accommodation. So, I can sit in the cool comfort of the accommodation whilst Benji stays outside in the heat in a dog kennel —— I don’t think so!! We did take a run out to the lighthouse and had a good afternoon. Two very nice ladies approached Benji and made a fuss of him, rubs and ear scratches and, of course, he lapped it all up. They also asked a lot of questions about him. Photograph of him at the lighthouse, but he kind of tends to blend in with the surrounding stones. At least the WaWa stood out against the stones. I often wonder how the WaWa is and how she is settling in to her new environment. I miss her a bit but I do not think Benji does. I don’t even have an address for Sooah so I can’t find out. Anyway, perhaps the best thing is simply to let it go.

From the Breakwater down from the lighthouse area.

Elsa, the Ninja is celebrating her first Anniversary and we send her, Sam and the family our very best wishes.

Cool Benji washing the Lighthouse !!

01/09/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Been a

good week – really. Annabell is hosting the ladies coffee on a Tuesday evening and the ladies coffee morning on the Wednesday morning. That said, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this month, are tied up: Monday and Tuesday I help her clean, polish and set things up – Wednesday afternoon I help her put things away. This week – of course – is her last week. I think I have mentioned this before that they each pay a small fee, some of which is used for tea, coffee and so forth, but the bulk of it – other than a couple of dollars, (to keep the account open) goes to charity and last year they gave three thousand dollars – a thousand of which went, via me, to the RFDS. The other two thousand went to two other support groups.

Now, I wanted some more native plants so I decided that on Thursday I would take a run through to the Arid Lands Botanic Garden (ALBG) and take Benji with me. I expect you have heard the saying, “The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley (often go astray)” and that’s what happened here. Decided to help Annabell with the washing before I left. Got the washing in the machine, it filled up with water – then died. It’s been acting strange for a while now ; we decided there and then to get rid of it and buy a new machine. So we went out to look for a new machine, but she has this thing about front loaders because she can’t reach down into a top loading machine to get the washing out at the bottom. Anyway, bought the machine, they delivered and installed it and took away the old machine that same afternoon, and by the time they did that, it was much to late to go to the ALBG. Might try again for this coming Thursday :o)

Today (Sunday) was a bit cool. Sun was shining and it looked nice outside. The reality is that you can’t see the wind, but we took a drive out to the

lighthouse (30 klm away) and had a wander around – back to town and then a trip to the beach before driving home. Benji loves being in the car but he is not a “stick your head out of the window” dog and he is happy to curl up on the front seat. I have never been able to take a photograph of Benji sitting at the lighthouse. He will sit down no

bother, but as soon as I move away, he follows. I tell him to “stay” but he wont. However, not knowing his background before I adopted him, perhaps there is some abandonment issues there somewhere. He is much the same in the house – I move, he follows and if I really have to leave him and go out, I get a look that haunts me right up until I get home again. However, to be fair I do take him with me most times and he so loves going out in the car.

Friday sees the Official First Day of Spring. The weather over the last few days has been fairly good, so if this keeps up and I get away, it should be a nice day for me and my Associate to drive to the ALBG and Better Homes and Gardens. If I do get to go over to the ALBG I will see how close I can get to the main buildings and decide if I can leave the man in the car or if it’s too warm to do so even with the windows open.

This weekend – or at least part of it – will be a busy time for the RFDS. On Friday we will be involved in the “Meet and Greet” Barbecue for the new owner of Arrium and on Saturday we have a Barbecue at Stratco Hardware Store. I’ve had “fun” this week organising teams for both functions – a double team for Friday since this is expected to be big and busy, and the usual four team for Stratco on the Saturday. Since the AGM in June and the handing over of our cheque for $37,000 to Central Operations, we have been fairly busy and have accumulated a healthy balance.

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.

Driving with Benji.

05/02/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The other side of the hilols is where we are bound. — The other side of the distant hills is where we are bound.

Tuesday of this week was not such a bad day with regard to the weather – warm, humid and overcast at times, but nice for a drive with the Benji. Trying to think of someplace new around here is difficult, but I realised that we had not been out to the lighthouse – about 23 miles away, so that’s where we headed. When we came to Australia my brother in law took me fishing and we drove along this road in his Jeep. Mind you, this wasn’t a road then, merely a dirt and gravel track that only an SUV could negotiate. A lot has changed since then – as you can see. The reason for the change is that the road is the main highway out to the Santos Processing plant ( should have taken a photograph!!) at Point Lowly. It is the end of a 660 kilometer pipeline from the Moomba Gas Fields and from here is is shipped to places across the Asia-Pacific region as well as supplying the gas requirements for South Australia. An important plant, so it requires a good quality road – and it is!! However, it is like most roads in and around this area, flat land; not a lot to see. Anything that was worth driving out to is now out of bounds and part of the restricted army playpen. An access road was constructed during the building stage and then rebuilt when the plant came on line. We drove past the processing plant out to Point Lowly and the Lowly Lighthouse. By then the boy was anxious to get out and do his business – then we went wandering. It was quiet and peaceful and there were no flies around, which was a bonus. I did see three

people – a family out for the same reasons I was, but no dog, thankfully. We spent quite a while just wandering about the place. The lighthouse is, of course,

securely locked up. However wandering around the area I had a thought and it was that I could put the camp two burner stove in the boot, pack some food for

him and me, a small metal kettle, a container of water, coffee – and we could have ourselves a little picnic. Ransacked the garage – when I got home – and found that we had an old metal kettle from years ago that we never use. It’s a heat on the stove kettle, not an electric one. I also found a small pot and a small frying pan, so, in essence, we are ready to

go whenever the mood takes us. Probably go back to the lighthouse so we are still within striking distance of home in case of any mishap. My next meeting is in Adelaide next week so we will see what we will do after I get back from Adelaide.

It was a reasonable day today so I decided to make up for Sunday and take Benji and I back down to the beach to wander along the sand – and have the Ice-Cream that we missed. It was a bit on the windy side so there were a few wind surfers out on the water. We walked for a fair bit along the beach then came back and had our ice-cream, sitting under the cafe umbrella.

That was Thursday,-today Friday we went back to the wetlands and had a good wander around there. However it was starting to get a bit on the warm side and the Boy was panting a bit – even after a drink of cool water, so I decided not to go back to the beach but to go home. I was going to take him over the new bridge but after I put my hand, palm down, on the metal base of the bridge I decided that it was too hot for dog paws, and went around the pond to the car and then home with the A/C on full. At the moment he is curled up beside my chair. TeeHee, it’s been a busy few days for the boy.

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