Wind and Weather

Saturday 7th.

 

I can relate to that.
I can relate to that.

It has been raining since the early hours of this morning and it has not let up yet. It’s not heavy, bounce off the roadway, kind of rain but it is constant and it is steady. Needless to say we did not go for our morning walk and  by the looks of things the Wetlands are out for the time being. Still, good rain and everyone is quite happy. The forecast for the weekend for our region is rain for most of the next two days. Have to say though, I was supposed to be at Mount Gambier this weekend – postponed until next week, so hope the weather is better for visiting the sailing ship and the gardens. I would also like – on the way through- to stop off at Padthaway Estate Winery.  Rain kept up until about nine(ish) last night and I took Benji out for a walk. Forty minutes later and we just got within 100 yards of the house when it started again – fortunately slowly.

Sunday 8th – Mother’s Day

Now it really is bouncing off the roadway. It’s 4am and it’s pounding down and there is a very strong and high wind at its back. Looked at the weather forecast for today and it tells me that it will be cloudy with periods of rain and a temperature around 20c. Probably all this will kick in at dawn but in the meantime, Welcome to Mother’s Day  !! It went on most of the day and when it did stop there was a high wind. This morning ( Monday) there was no rain to speak of but there was a very high wind and a bit of a battle walking with Benji at 5:50am. We drove into town to do some things and on the way back – it really started to rain. We just made it in when it when it became dark and then really came down; heavy bounce of the roadway rain and a driving wind. That was about an hour ago and now, looking out,  I think of the old song – “Blue skies smiling at me, nothing but blue skies do I see”.  Weird weather!!

We, as I said, took a fair belt of rain and wind but no real damage other than some minor road flooding. Elsewhere, when the storm really hit, there was serious flooding, power lines down and trees down cutting off roads in  Adelaide and Norwood. Several thousand were left without power before the lines were repaired. For us, storms either go above us or below us, very rarely do we ever get caught in the actual path of a storm. If the storm front is big enough, we get a bit of a side-swipe, but nothing really major.

Chienne and the Man
Chienne and the Man

Bluechickenjay  wrote a post recently about stats and I agree with much of what she wrote although she talks about 50 visits and she’s quite happy whereas I have never had fifty visits in me life  :o) –  Well that’s not true – there was a  lot of kind and lovely people who visited me and left kind words when Chienne died so suddenly last year. She is right in one respect that it really is not about the numbers. If that were the case I would have left long ago. My Mother’s Day post had three visits and one (1) comment. In these last few  weeks I have been touched by the departure of CDL and I thought that would be a good time for me to go also, but here I am, still here.

True to say I am not  frightfully good at this but I enjoy doing it and it is not about numbers – it is something I like to do and I felt that I would miss it. However, having said that, I still think  the life span on this is drawing to a close – the sands of time are sinking.

Thinking Arizona Thoughts..

We attended a funeral during the week. It was  very unexpected in that he was ill but his death was sudden and came as a shock to his family. We knew the daughter and some other members of the extended family  I have also been watching the  British General Election, which is due this weekend. From what I have been reading it is  going to be a  bit on the nasty side.  I miss the times when we had political figures that  had the ability to use the English Language, who had wit and style, who could destroy, but still be good-mannered about it. These days I look on most politicians as thugs in ties  whose first thoughts are in filling their pockets  with looking after the interests of the nation coming a far away second.  Vision is something that lasts only between now and the next election. There is something seriously wrong with a system where politicians can award themselves a 7% pay increase yet maintain that they can only afford a 1% pay increase for frontline troops.

Today here in Australia it is Mother’s Day – Happy Mother’s Day to all Mums and Moms and including all  Fur-baby Mothers. My little Chienne is as happy as anything – we play and we go walks and she sits beside me. There is no indication that there is anything amiss and unlike the Man, I can do a lot more with Chienne because she is not blind and

The Dog Stroller
The Dog Stroller

can see what is going on. I feel a little sad in that Chienne was just a tad neglected these last few months when we were looking after The Man.  If it gets to the stage where she has difficulty in walking ( and I really don’t see that happening) we always have the Dog Stroller to fall back on. That’s good fun. I put her in it from time to time and wheel her around the garden and the house and unlike the Man, Chienne is quite comfortable in it. My idea here is getting her used to it – just in case! I miss the Man and think of him constantly

My working desk
My working desk

It’s been a fairly quiet month and I have been doing some work in the garden and across in my office. My office was a mess- well very untidy anyway, so I decided it really needed a clean and a clear out of all the old paperwork that was piling up and was no longer relevant. Isn’t that what I bought the shredder for anyway?? So, I filled the recycle bin with all this shredded and other paper and generally gave the place a good clean out. I’m quite happy with how it looks now – like it’s supposed to!

Only a few weeks and I set off to Naracoorte. I am sort of looking forward to this. I have never been in that part of the state so it will be somewhat of an adventure – almost as far from Adelaide to Naracoorte as it is from  here to Adelaide. Although I have driven through part of the way when I went over to visit Alan in Geelong  some years ago. I am looking forward to  having some different places to photograph. I was thinking of taking a short course on photography but having looked at some of the costs I decided to  just potter along as I do. My photographs might not be great or professional looking but they work for me.

I am so sorry to hear that things are not well in  Arizona. I  am thinking about you all  every day and I  really hope that everything can be worked out and settle back down again. I am sorry about the horses. I know how you loved them too.  Poor Charlie!  I  thought building the “Fortress” would solve the problem, but apparently not. Everything that has happened must be very upsetting ( to put it mildly) so I really do hope that you can sort everything out and get back to “relative” peace. I have  missed you and I think others have too,   so you know  many people are thinking about you.

IMAG0459 I have missed the posts of late, but then, since New Year I have missed a lot. However, as I said the other week, things have improved and I am  much, much better.