Tag: MySpace

Towards the final Curtain?

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
Before

The new floor was laid over two days and I am quite pleased with it. It is not quite what I imagined but  I am happy with it and I think the Tasmanian Oak was a good choice.

After

Well, here we are in September already and only three month to go until the end of the year. All in it has been an interesting year with a number of medical concerns with Annabell.  Fortunately she is well at the moment

Fires continue to burn out of control in New South and Queensland but the 100kpm winds that have fanned the flames has started to ease. Thus far no lives have been lost but there is considerable property destruction and damage.  We have had a couple of days of high winds up here but no fires just dust and  a fog that closed down Adelaide Airport for several hours. We did have a few warm and sunny days as a “Welcome to Spring” sort of treat and I took advantage of them by getting out to the Lighthouse Area with Benji. This weekend is the Grand Football Final and we (RFDS) will be running a Fundraising event. Son John and I will have a team in the morning and there will be a further team take over in the afternoon. The following week,  we will be working at the  Hardware store and the weekend after that will be a Special Church Service to  celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Ladies Organisation and the weekend after that I will be heading off to Mount Gambier again.  Annabell has had another operation on her eye so I am  looking after her for the moment, not that I don’t look after her normally. I was just thinking of the last time she was in Adelaide with me (Before she became ill) and I asked her where she wanted to go. She said that she didn’t mind and I should surprise her – so I did. I took her to Bunnings. I know, I’m just a romantic at heart  :o)

We are beyond the green belt.

I took Benji for a wander around the Wetlands. The pools are still looking good and the geese are in fine form, but I would like to see a lot more rain to overflow the ponds. The reason for this is to give some hedge against the evaporation that will occur during the summer heat. I think the evaporation that we saw last year is only a foretaste of what is to come. Everything thus far is pointing to a really hot summer and more fires.. On the subject of fires,  units and volunteers have left South Australia to help fight the fires in New South Wales. On the map of the Eyre Peninsula we are beyond the green belt. Any fires that occur here are in the South East of the State, the Adelaide Hills or in the lower Eyre Peninsula. Any fires here

Fires NSW & Queensland

are  wild grass fires and are controlled fairly quickly. There’s nothing much to burn here except wild grass and saltbush.. However, the concern is that it is only really early spring  and already we have fires of this magnatude.  Today, for example, here in  the Arid Lands, the temperature is forecast to reach 32c. The beautiful thing is that it turns out I am not on duty for this particular fundraising at the Football Grand Final – young John is, but  I am not. Anyway,  there have been no lives lost but there has been considerable land and property damage. Two teenagers have been arrested for lighting one of the fires that destroyed land and property ( a house and garage) one is 16 the other – a girl – is 14. Don’t know what we are going to do,  the law calls for 10 years, but this is South Australia and you barely get that for murder, so no doubt a slap on the wrist and a suspended sentence. Currently a hit and run killed a child. The driver was arrested at his home. Judge gave him a discount for pleading guilty so he will walk free in about 22 months. We don’t have justice in South Australia – we have the rule and application of law  but not justice. People protest outside the court but no one inside takes the slightest bit of notice.

Benji managed to  cut his paw when we were out walking. I carried him home and took him up to the Vet. There was a little bit of glass but it was all cleaned out – not without some trauma from Benji – and he was given medication. He was also fitted with a “Medical Collar” to make sure that he didn’t lick off the medication.  Goodness the  performance we have to go through to get the cream on his paw –  honestly, you would think I was trying to murder him.

 

Sunset, Meerkats and a Memorial Arch

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
When the world was young
When the world was young

I began writing this some years ago and in essence I wrote it for myself. Actually, that’s not really true – I started off in My Space and I was writing it as a letter for one person. My Space changed and I no longer wrote there. I came on here but it was never the same.  I never really expected to have any “followers” – I felt that that’s something interesting people have. Of course I am thankful for any comment, advice or concern, and for the lovely people I have met but I’m not exactly setting the world on fire now, am I?  But as I said, I started this mainly for myself.  These last 12 months have been something of a revelation, that this is not really going anywhere, discovering personal limits, discovering I am not invincible as well as doing everything possible to wreck my health by living out of a suitcase for

The WWI Memorial Arch - Great Ocean Road
The WWI Memorial Arch – Great Ocean Road

much of the last eighteen months.  In looking back over the last 12 months I have to ask myself what, if anything,  I have achieved.  The answer is, regretfully,  nothing. I only retain  the West Terrace  Committee and that  mainly because it’s working with a wonderful group of people. A refreshing change, which is always welcome.

This next weekend – the weekend after Australia Day –  I will be in Adelaide for three days. I have organized this to make it as stress free as possible. I drive down on the Thursday, perhaps a bit of shopping – a visit to Bunnings –  Office Works – relaxed day; quite night at the hotel, good sleep. Friday, all day session – finish about 5:20, perhaps a bit of late night shopping and a meal in town, quite night at the hotel, good sleep. Saturday, breakfast, check out, drive home – simples!! (cue in cute Meerkat here) – On the way back I’ll try and get time to stop into the Arid Lands Gardens and if I leave early enough I might get there in time for lunch — they make very nice scones!!

Bells Beach where the Australian Surf Championships are held
Bells Beach where the Australian Surf Championships are held

When I visited Alan out at Drysdale we toured the Bellarine Peninsula. I am particularly pleased with this because it was among the last things he did before he before he became confined to a hospital room on oxygen. I only mentioned to Herself the other day that I did wonder if Alan might have still been alive if he had remained in Drysdale surrounded by his friends. Difficult to say.  I was also thinking that I would like to take a trip back to Drysdale and have a quiet trip around the place and tour the Bellarine Peninsula with herself, but I don’t know if

The Big Koala: a refreshing break on a long journey
The Big Koala: a refreshing break on a long journey

she would be well enough for such a long journey. If we did go, it would have to be in small, easy stages to give her a break. But the added concern is that this is Australia and not all than many places are Dog Welcome. I know there is one in Drysdale so we would probably stay there. However, that’s all speculation and quite unlikely. It’s impossible to get her to Adelaide let alone Geelong.

Chienne, Angus and the Road’s End

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

WHEN I began writing this I really didn’t know what I wanted to achieve. I joined the old  My Place and wrote a blog on there for a few years. I didn’t have followers and in essence the weekly post was a way of talking to several friends who had moved away,  keeping them up to date on what we were up to in town and at home. (I still sort of do this on Google+) So it was a sort of public/private letter. A few years ago MySpace changed hands and the blog feature was discontinued. I had an account with WordPress but never used it. Once MySpace closed down, I re-activated it and have been here ever since – well a year or so.

Our house, which we bought some years ago, is right on the very edge of the town. The garden was in a bit of a mess so I thought it would be an idea to write about what I’m doing in the garden. I have two dogs that I love dearly – Chienne and The Man  (Angus)– and they would be included, as would comments about the family.  I dismissed the notion of writing about church activities because  I had this horrible feeling that all that would do for me is fill up my inbox with comments from would-be theologians.   Once I started I began to look for other posts that I felt I would like and be of interest – gardens and dogs and some general interest. Some of the blogs I looked at were interesting, informative, funny and serious and I joined a few. Some people even joined me, which I thought (and still do) was great.

 “Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses that you may the better judge.”

 Lately, however, I am finding that some  posts  have become much too serious – almost taking on the dimension of a Dissertation on The Meaning of Life. My other, and perhaps the more serious concern, is that with all I have to do, one post every week, or even every couple of days – which is how many of these started – is quite acceptable – but three – or four – posts from a single site, almost one on top of the other,  every single day, is too much and my inbox is just clogged up. Like everyone else they started out as a post every few days but this has changed to a post almost every few hours.  So, having said all that, I may have to consider withdrawing from a number of places if only to unclog my inbox for a while. I just cannot handle nor process the volume of traffic. If any I have offended, I am sorry but my continued sanity ( which, to be honest, is not all it’s cracked up to be) demands that I make this change, and the crash gave me an opportunity to do so with the new system – which is still not fully functional as yet. I still have some bugs to iron out and get used to an “All-in-One” system.