Magpies – Edgar's Page

Sunrise, Spiders and Flowers.

October 28, 2021 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

It’s been a good few days – no medical emergencies, no hospital visits, peaceful and quiet. Wet and windy at times but that’s fairly normal here. However, I have still managed to get Benji out and about. This morning, for example, Benji and I were out at 6am. Quiet and peaceful with hardly a breath of wind. An absolutely brilliant sunrise. Seven am and we were back home and by 8am we were in the middle of a thunderstorm – the first of three that came and went throughout the day. More are forecast for the next few days I had a look at my plants outside and found a

creature with a web. I had no idea what it was since it was like no spider I had ever seen. Turns out it was a Golden Orb Spider. To be honest I had never even heard of it before. I did check up on it and they are common in rural areas and I realised that this was one of the plants I bought at the Arid Lands Botanic Garden. However, it is fairly harmless and a bite can cause temporary localised pain but it is not toxic.

Also on my walk this morning I had an unusual sight – a mother feeding her young. I carry a plain Oat Bar in my pocket. Sometimes when I am out a magpie will land beside me and I will crush part of the bar and let the magpie have it for breakfast. This does not happen every day. It did happen this morning and after the magpie

started feeding what looked like a second magpie landed close to it yelping its head off. The first Magpie lifted some food walked over to the second one and fed it. It kept doing that all the time I was watching. Magpies mate for life and I believe this was either a mother still feeding its young, or a male feeding its partner. I told Annabell and she thinks it was the former, a mother feeding its young. It really was interesting to watch and it’s something I will look out for.

During the week I spent some time with Benji at the Ada Ryan Gardens. I

remembered seeing a plant on a post recently and I think we established it was a South African plant. Anyway, as I was wandering through the gardens I came across what I think is the same plant. There was no identification but I’m sure it is the same plant- if not then it is something very similar.

I really must commend the council and the gardeners at the Ada Ryan Gardens for the great job they are doing. The gardens are well looked after and cared for and really are a credit to the work that the people do there.

Annabell has been good this last week and long may that continue. We have no hospital appointments until December. We were given a choice of two dates for day surgery – 10th December or 20th December. Since we didn’t want to take the risk of being “out of action” – so to speak – so close to Christmas, we opted for the 10th. Depending on what they want to do at the clinic, we could be another four days away, which was another reason for not going with the 20th. Any reasonable luck we should drive down on the 9th, day surgery on the 10th and drive home on the 11th or 12th. Well, that’s Plan A :o) Haven’t got a Plan B yet…..

Virus, Funeral and One Birthday Card.

April 10, 2020 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

After a weekend that turned into seven weeks, Dougal will be going home on Friday – all being well! It’s been a long seven weeks not helped by the government instructions to stay at home. We have gone out for walks but in the early morning. It hasn’t been a burden, really, except for going out walking and the fact that he goes ballistic if he hears another dog bark – just about pulling my arm off. Also, in the morning Benji just stands still if I feed the Magpies whereas Dougal tries to have a go at them — no point in telling him that he would come off second best.

The cruise ship, Ruby Princess has been allowed to dock at Port Kembla. Kembla is an industrial port away well out of the way. The ship will be allowed to stay there for 10 days to refuel and restock

supplies, food and so forth for the 1050 crew remaining on board. Those who are sick will be treated, and it is believed that about one fifth of the crew are showing symptoms of coronavirus. At the end of the ten days the ship will be ordered to leave and as far as we know she has been allowed to dock on that understanding. The Home Port is Bermuda but it is unlikely that there will be a welcome mat waiting for it there. In Australia there is a Criminal Investigation into the decision to allow it to dock and disembark 2700 people into the general population in Sydney. At least 600 of the present cases in Australia, along with 12 deaths have been linked to the Ruby Princess. There a lot of people in and around Port Kembla who are very unhappy with the present decision to allow the ship to not only dock there, but remain there for 10 days.

Western Australia has closed its borders. I found it interesting that the W.A. State Government were comparing the closure of their borders in less time than it took the UK to activate Brexit. On the subject of the UK, I watched the Queen’s Address and I noted that the Prime Minister ( Boris Johnson) has been moved to hospital. Actually to update that, the latest news this morning ( Thursday ) is that he has been moved out of the ICU, which sounds good and quite encouraging. Here in South Australia the spread of the virus is slowing down, which is s good sign. It does not mean that we have beaten the thing – far from it. The general prognosis from our medical people is that the virus is going to be in the population for a long time and the only way we can actually defeat it is to develop a vaccine. I genuinely believe that when this is over we really should give serious thought to our trade and financial relations and arrangements with China and the Chinese Communist Party, who control every aspect of life in China and however you look at it, no matter who you think you are dealing with, the CCP is controlling the play.

One of our ladies died on Saturday (4th) and we are trying to organise a funeral on Wednesday 15th. But we don’t know what is happening. It was a sudden, unexpected death so there may be an inquest. Her son has managed to get out of Western Australia and the idea is to stream the service to WA. Having said that we have no idea how or when Kenneth (son) is going to get back home with the WA Borders now closed. He will have to go into two weeks quarantine before he will be allowed to go back home. The funeral will be Wednesday 15th – private funeral with only 8 invited people

The number of new cases in Australia is declining- which is good. Our growth factor regarding the spread and new cases is 0.85 and provided it stay below 1.0 we are getting on top of the crisis. The growth factor for the UK, for example is 1.05 with the USA being 0.99 These figures are as 8th April. On the subject of April, I celebrated my Birthday sitting right here – no outing – no visitors. Andrew was still in Roxby Downs and I did get a phone call from John. Andrew did phone last night when he got home. I got a card from Annabell, which was lovely.It was my only card. Today is Friday and I took Dougal back home just after lunch. He was pleased to see his people as much as his people were pleased to see him. – Sam was looking and sounding well. I don’t think this can happen again. If things are back to what passes for normal and I head off to a Church Conference, Annabell is not able to look after two dogs on her own.

Heatwaves, Fires and Gardens

December 9, 2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

After the two mini-heatwaves things have not only died gown they have gone downright silly. This last week – the last days of spring and the first days of summer, have been cold, wet, dank and generally miserable. I mean it was only touch and go that I wear gloves when out walking with Benji first thing in the morning. However, I did have a heavier than usual jacket on. The fires are still burning in Queens;land and New South Wales while in other parts of the states – there being a drought there is nothing much to burn. A former Moderator died and the service was last Wednesday. Annabell was unwell and I spent the day looking after her, so I was not able to go down to Adelaide to the service. Then on Friday past, one of our oldest members – 97 – died. He was a member and his wish was that the funeral should be at the church. His two daughters are charismatics and they insisted that the funeral be at their hall.

This is not what he wanted but their argument is that they are family and their wishes prevail regardless of what we might “think” he wanted. But it’s not something you argue about, so his daughters had their way and since they had no idea what they were doing – and didn’t ask anyone for advice, it was not perhaps the the best run service. The oldest daughter telephoned us at 9:30 (the funeral is at 11am) and asked if we would do the introduction and open the service. They didn’t even consult with their own acting pastor, nor tell him what they were doing. He was as much in the dark as we were. Anyway, we got through it in a decent / respectful manner – which was important.

Thursday and my car is going for a minor repair. The rear light is not working and it seems it needs a part replaced. It arrived yesterday so the mechanic is going to do the repair this morning. Shouldn’t take long. Took Benji out for his walk this morning and was surprised to see lots of kangaroos at the far end of the walk.

These, however seem more skittish than usual and took off as soon as I came into view. A braver than the rest stayed and I did get one (not so great) photograph. Since there has been some rain there should be still some food and water left out in the bush. I have started laying out food for the birds but not near the house – not with all these cats around the place. Mostly for the Magpies which are big enough and strong enough to chase the cats off. If you have never been swooped by Magpies, you are very lucky. I have and let me tell you, it’s not fun. During the breeding season they are fierce in defending their nests and their territory and they can cause serious injury. However, there are no trees up this end – no nests – no swooping – reasonably friendly Magpies.

I said – years ago – when we moved here, that my house was the last house in town and that beyond me was bush. Of course that is no longer the case and there are many houses that

were build beyond me to accommodate the “Mining Boom”demand for accommodation. Not very many of the houses are privately owned. There are very few gardens – mostly the front area is covered in gravel and is a car-park rather than a front garden – sometimes between 6 – 8 cars, SUVs or mining vehicles. There are a few gardens but “few ‘ïs about the right word. I’ve never taken a photograph because it would be too time consuming to open Photoshop and scrub out all the individual registration numbers and, in some cases, the mining identifications of the vehicles that are parked on the gravel.

The fires continue in New South Wales and Queensland. Over 40 firefighters have arrived from Canada to help our firefighters battle the fires. The City of Sydney is not immune and the dust and smoke from the fires drifting over the city are causing more than a few problems, and the photographs from Zambia showing the drying up of the Victoria Falls, is more than a worry. The temperature today was 46c

Toward the final curtain G

November 27, 2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

It was suggested that since the disruption – whatever it was – at the hotel, did not really affect me, it seems a little excessive to be changing hotels because of that. Well, yes, up to a point that’s true, but I stay there because it is conveniently close to the road leading directly to the South Eastern Freeway. Mount Gambier is five hours

away. A long drive on a country road after the freeway exit. Not the sort of roads you travel when you are sleepy. (no road is!!) Not getting enough sleep before setting out and getting tired along the way puts me and other road users at risk. I need the rest, so if my Little Park Bench is not providing that, I need to be somewhere that will. As for Mount Gambier itself, I have already decided on a new hotel. I have had a few problems with the present set-up, so It needs to be changed.

The weather since I came home, has been cold, wet and windy. All the work that I did, before I left for Mount Gambier, clearing up the leaves and a general tidy up, has all gone for nothing and the place look just as untidy as it was before I started. The next few days, with a combination of high temperatures and north winds is not looking too great. I have the feeling that the lady’s coffee morning on Wednesday may well be called off. Annabell is talking about not going to the hospital tomorrow afternoon, which is fair enough. It is for physiotherapy and not really a medical necessity. I also believe that I was right and the Coffee Morning on Wednesday is cancelled – oh well, so much for my quiet time :o)

The morning began well and Benji and I went for our morning walk without any concern. The temperature was fine and we completed the walk and back home for a treat and coffee ( the coffee for me!) . It is supposed to be 37c today (Tuesday) but I expect that will happen sometime during the day. But at the moment (11am) I really don’t see it happening, but you never know with this weather. It was not bad enough for Annabell to not go to the hospital, but we didn’t linger and came directly home.

Wednesday and the temperature is forecast to reach 44+c today. The temperature didn’t reach the forecast 37c yesterday and peaked at 32c. Today over 100 schools have been closed in South Australia today due to

temperature of 44+c and high winds leading to a “catastrophic” fire danger. We are not included in the school closure list, so none of our schools will be closed for the day. I took Benji out for our walk this morning. I re-set the alarm from 5:45 to 5:30, and 15 minutes can make a great difference – and it did today. We were on the road for 5:45 and, although it was light, the sun didn’t show his face until we were less than 100 yards from home. It is now 10;30 am and I have stopped working outside. Not that I am too concerned about the sun and the heat but I am concerned about Benji. I go outside – he comes outside and, really, it is far too hot for him to sit in the sun, and it’s too risky with the wind to put the shade umbrella up. So here we are. And before you suggest it, yes I could close the doors and not let him come out, but given he is my dog and he likes to be with me, it is not really a solution. Better I stay inside and let him keep me company :o) . At the moment it is about 36C and the wind is starting to build up somewhat. Given that it is a hot wind I expect the temperature to exceed the forecast 44c ( it did!)

Thursday: Good walk this morning. I have gotten into the habit of feeding the Magpies. I bought a box of oat biscuits (cookies) and when I pass the Magpies I crumble a couple in my hand and drop the bits for them. I look back further on and see them eating. We also saw two kangaroos – a big one ( and I mean BIG) and a smaller one further

Dust storm further north (not my photograph)

on. First time I have seen kangaroos in the area for a while since the rain has produced sufficient feed and water for them out bush although it is starting to dry up now. I get comments when I suggest the temperature “crashed” to 23c, but I suppose I could just say “dropped” but that really does not convey the massive change in temperature that occurs. Wednesday 46c – Thursday 21c and 21 is cool – less is cold and the wind changes to the south – which is a cool to cold wind. It all be verra confusing… LOL

Monday is Washing Day!

March 30, 2012 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Been a sort of busy day. I finally cleared the remains of the cement block and have started to put the new Hills Hoist clothes line system into place. In the morning I will clean the area out and cement it into place. Once it has time to cure and settle I’ll start to bring in the river sand to spread across the place and fill in all the nooks and crannies. I hope that it will present a smooth surface for herself to walk on.

Also tomorrow I’ll get stuck into the front again and hope I can get that finished by the weekend. Next week I can look at setting out the inside section and look for rose bushes; clean up and restore the birdbath. It would be nice to have some birds other than Magpies and Crested Pigeons.

I also spent some timeout front and laid down a few more sleepers before the light faded. I think I have about 16 of the 22 meters laid in, so it should be a cinch to finish the rest by the close of light tomorrow. I was out most of the afternoon with my boys, before one takes off up north again in the morning. I wanted a new bike so the boys decided to get me a new bike this afternoon. In the mornings, when it is fairly quiet , I can go for a ride in this area until I get used to riding a bike again. Then I can start to go further afield and get adverterous – but not too adventurous yet.

All going to the dogs!

March 14, 2012 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

In all of the organised confusion (chaos) that goes on around here at the moment the dogs have been very good. ” There is a lot going on but the sun rises and sets, daddy takes us for walks and we get fed every night, so all must be well with the world, despite the confusion” At least if they could think – and who knows what goes on in a dog’s head – I should imagine it would be something along these lines. Today they will be inside for most of the day. Apart from work being done in the front, the temperature is to be around 38c and generally when it gets as hot as this we let them in to the cool of the laundry and I put down beds for them. I like my dogs but my long suffering wife tolerates them – she’s not really an animal person.

The backhoe – and driver – came today ad cleared most of the bark (about 97%) – or at least as much as he could get at. Over the next few days I will start the tidy up and levelling out ready for laying down weed matting and the new edging. I’m not sure if I should go with the treated pine sleepers or do as my wife and I discussed, ask someone to come and do concrete edging. I might get a quote for it, but I think I prefer the less expensive option – treated pine sleepers. I have already decided to reduce the inside area , which will make for easier maintenance and take away that little sliver of ground at the far side of the main area. I have not decided what to do with that yet but I have been thinking of rose bushes with the bird bath back in place at the centre – although the only birds we seem to have at the moment are Top-Notch Pigeons and Magpies.

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