Port Augusta – Edgar's Page

Wetlands, Stroller and Adelaide.

May 17, 2021 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The wounds from the attack have cleared up and the fur is growing back, so there is no on-going concerns there. However there is a concern in that we know what is causing the limping on the right back leg. It appears when he jumped off Annabell’s chair to run to meet me when I came home, caused more than a sprain when he landed badly. Examinations at the Vet. show that he has torn the ligament.

Presently he is in no serious pain but I have to go to Adelaide this weekend so I will get him booked in for day surgery as soon as I get back. I cannot do it before I go since Annabell would not be able to look after him, as would be required. And here was me thinking that a few days in the stroller and he would be as right as rain. Oh, I have ordered a new stroller/ walker since this one is doing him good and killing me :o) This one is way too low for me. Pushing it for any distance is really painful on the arms. I thought at first that it was mainly because it was many years since I pushed a pram, but it’s more than that – the lowness of the unit itself. So, the new stroller should arrive on Friday and that is 105cm at the rear – the pushing end. I think that will be a lot more comfortable; well for me. Benji just goes to sleep in the mornings. The new stroller is larger giving him more room to spread out and it is easier to set up and collapse

We do not go walking around the area at the moment. There are too many dogs. We still go out at 6am, but I drive to the wetlands and we do our walking there. There are quite a few people there at that time even although it is still dark – mainly female walkers and joggers. They are all very friendly and Benji has a bit of a fan club.. I was asked to go with the Wellness Group on a Friday morning, but they have several people with dogs, and dogs are what I am trying to avoid at the moment.

I was given an old camera – a Canon Power Shot S1 IS. I was asked to take it to a shop in Adelaide that deals with Camera equipment and the best offer I got for it was $25. It is a very old Digital Camera – good in its day and has been well looked after but it was suggested the best I could do is donate it to an op-shop and let them get a few dollars for it. I didn’t and I still have it. I was instructed to get the $25 and donate it to the RFDS, so that’s what I will do. There is also an old tripod that goes with it, but that’s not all that great, so not really worth anything – I wouldn’t use it.

The drive to Adelaide was uneventful, although there are road works everywhere – and I mean everywhere, the Port Augusta Road for about 30 klms. The main North Road. the Port Wakefield Road – three places including Port Wakefield itself. The road works are so extensive, with single lane traffic and in one place, a convoy system. I was at meetings all day Saturday and did not arrive home until after 6pm. Annabell was a bit concerned because she knows I do not like being on the Port Augusta Road at dark because of the problems of Kangaroos. Not a good idea to hit one at 110 KPH.

The Old Canon Camera – still in great condition after 12 years.

The funeral I spoke about in a previous post is this coming Wednesday. I’ll travel down Wednesday morning and come back home Thursday Morning. Benji wont be too pleased that I am going away again, but there we are and unfortunately it means delaying the operation on his back leg for another week. Yes, today this is a fairly simple day surgery but he needs to be looked after until he is recovered and Annabell – unfortunately – can’t do that.

Normality is an illusion!

January 4, 2020 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Me feeding the wild geese a few days ago.

Thursday: January 2nd 2020. Things are going from bad to worse to catastrophic. Nearly 4000 people trapped on a beach as fire destroys their town. Royal Australia Navy ship will rescue close to 1000 people each trip using their boats and any other boats available to ferry people from the beach to the ship. This is the only way out. New South Wales has declared a State Of Emergency and close to 10,000 people are moving out of the area ahead of the monster fire. Currently 17 people are missing and there are grave fears for their safety There are serious concerns for the remnants of the Cudlee Creek fire here in South Australia that was only just contained and there is concern that it may breach the containment lines. The Middleback Road, about 30 klms from here has been closed due to fires and the two sealed roads between South Australia and Western Australia have been cut off due to fires. Nothing is moving and trucks are backed up. The Service stations and two small towns have run out of supplies, including most of the basic needs, bread, milk, water and toilet paper. I did mention that we had a thunderstorm, but as I also said, bashing, crashing, flashing but no splashing and this has been a problem since the dry storm lightening strikes started other fires. It has been cool here the last few days but it is set to reach about 44c from tomorrow. Even just writing this, it is hard not to get emotional.

I picked up young John at just after 1pm and we drove to Port Augusta. I wanted to visit better Home Supplies to get a replacement canopy for the garden swing. This,

sadly, got caught in the wind and was badly torn. I also wanted some special bouncing balls for Connor that I couldn’t get here. Visit the Arid Lands Botanic Garden for some tea and scones. Well, I failed at the canopy – there was nothing there. I tried several places for the balls without success. Then as we were leaving and heading to the Arid Lands B.G. I came to a halt at the Reject Shop and decided to try for the balls in there. Well, they did not have what I wanted but they did have something that would fit the bill – the important thing was that the balls did what I wanted – light up as they bounced. I bought one at a stall at the Carols in the Park, and Connor was fascinated by it and everyone got involved in playing with him. I only got the one, but I really wished I had bought more. Didn’t make that mistake this time and bought three. Office National was closed until next week so failed there. On the way to the Arid Lands BG, John had a look at the time and decided that perhaps it was best to head for home, so that’s what I did. But overall a good afternoon, pleasant drive, not too warm but sadly too warm to bring Benji.

Friday 3rd January:

State of Emergency in effect in NSW and Victoria. There are now 8 confirmed deaths with 28 people unaccounted for. One reporter spoke to the firefighters who said that they did not want to be looked on as “Heroes” because calling them “Heroes”overstates their ability to control the fires and downplays the long term psychological effect of fighting these fires. The road between Western Australia and South Australia remains cut off and is likely to be so for some time. In one service station some 250 trucks are stranded all loaded with produce. The Supermarkets have already warned that this could lead to severe shortages in some areas over the next few days. Emergency supplies have been dropped in to several of the roadhouses. In Victoria over 100,000 people

have been urged to leave making this the largest evacuation in Australia’s history. It is 16:00 and my thermometer is reading 48c Goodness knows what it’s like in the fire areas. I did not post any photographs of the fires. I think there is more than enough of these in the main media and on television, including the BBC. Haven’t been to the wetlands for a few days since it’s been too hot, but if it calms down tomorrow I’ll take a run out with Benji and I have bird seed for the ducks and geese. LOL notice how the seagulls stay back. —– I have been told that the Middleback Road Fire is still burning and the road is still closed..

I read a post recently and I was totally lost for words. It was about a modern day city that merely bears the same name as a city I knew and worked in over 40 years ago. But the city this lady write about is a very different city from the one I knew over 40 years ago. This is a fun place, a vibrant, exciting place and my problem is that since this is not the place I once knew, I really don’t know how to respond. I’m stumped. Perhaps some time in the not too distant future, if the fires don’t burn us all, I might try and organist a visit and see this City for myself.

Beach, Wetlands and Dougal is Back

August 10, 2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

On Friday I set out to Port Augusta -80 klms away. Annabell had been sent a cheque from the UK and it was in Pounds Stg. – no one here would even look at it because it was a foreign currency cheque. Added to the fact that it was a crossed cheque, meant that the trip to our branch in Port Augusta and back was necessary. We set off around 9:30 – oh “We” that’s me and Benji not me and Annabell – but I did the medication in her eyes before we left. Benji really likes road trips. He gets his car harness on, is clipped into the seat and he settles down. He watches me just to make sure I am concentrating on driving and not being distracted. We have this all worked out, I drive, he supervises – it’s a good arrangement.

The bank was a great help even if it did take up more than an hour of our time. The cheque had to be confirmed by Adelaide which required a confirmation email, paperwork to sign and wait. Left said bank, got Benji out

of the car and took him for a short walk. Back to the car, seat belt on and I went back to the bank. The email had arrived from Adelaide and I had to sign an agreement that meant I paid the fee of $15 for the clearing of the cheque and the depositing of same in Annabell’s account. That done, I drove round to Big W and did some shopping, then went for some lunch. I had fresh cooked chips (French Fries- sort of) and a bottle of water. The Benji had cooked Chicken and share of my water. I have a collapsible silicone bowl that I keep in the car for just such times We sat on a bench at the jetty and watched the world. That done, another short walk then headed for home. I would liked to have stopped in at the Arid Lands Botanic Garden, but no dogs are allowed, so that was out.

This afternoon- Sunday – we took a walk down to the beach. I didn’t stay there long because I only had a single waste bag with me and the Council have not seen fit to replace the bag dispensers. The area was almost empty. There was a few children in the new play area with parents close beside on benches, but otherwise, not busy at all. As you can see from the photograph that the beach is all but deserted I used the bag I had and decided to drive back to the wetlands. The wetlands has become very popular and the Kiosk was crowded again. I managed to get a place in the car park, got some bags from the dispenser and set off. Like Friday, it was another warm and sunny day – bit cool at times but generally a good day for walking. We did find the birds. I have asked some people who know these things and I am informed that the birds are “Feral Geese, Domestic, Non-Native” No one seems very sure where they came from, but they are there and settled in by the looks of things. Apart from the geese there are Muscovy Ducks and an interesting little bird – black and white with long pink legs – which I discovered are called Black Neck Stilts – apparently native to much of the USA but we do have them here in Australia..

Annabell is improving, just in nice time for the grocery shopping tomorrow. She goes to the supermarket, I do all the other jobs, post office; newsagent,: chemist then meet up with her

to help her finish off and then checkout. After that – generally a coffee before we head home. Ina has has to be taken to Adelaide for check-up and more tests. She is not a well lady. Sam is taking her down tomorrow (Wednesday) and later on this afternoon he will bring Dougla round here. Annabell and I will look after him until they get home – they hope Friday but probably Saturday. I don’t mind, Dougal is no trouble and he and Benji get on well together.

Dougal came to visit not long after I brought Annabell back from her Coffee Morning, and after a little while I got both Benji and Dougal ready and took them down to the Wetlands. We had a good wander around the wetlands and although it had been my intention to stop off at the Kiosk, the fact that there were people with dogs there already deterred me from doing that. However, we did go down to the foreshore and had a wander and a play on the beach. I understand that Yogi is not a well dog at the moment. I hope he gets better soon. Still, he has a good Vet. – not the same Vet as Benji, but a good Vet.

The Sands of Time and a Crazy (Confused) Dog

July 30, 2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Tomorrow (Saturday) my son and I along with another person will be running an RFDS fundraising event at a local hardware store: We did this and I tell you it was the coldest I have ever been all winter – thus far. It was freezing cold down there with practically no shelter from a cold, biting wind. I did have a jacket on but it was a light jacket and not a lot of help. Still we got through the day. Otherwise it has been a pretty quiet week. Last week one of the coffee days was cancelled because of the lack of numbers and the evening group has also dropped in numbers – not quite as bad as the Wednesday morning group, but still down from when I set up this place for them coming here. I set out the room for seventeen ladies now there are only about 11 of them. This week Annabell will be part of the missing number as she drops out for the two meetings. On Monday (tomorrow) I have to take her to hospital for 7am and she will undergo an eye operation. It’s day surgery and she should be out in about three hours and I’ll take her

home and watch over her for the rest of the day. I was told for at least 24 hours after the surgery. I am also responsible for getting the drops into her eye three times a day. I was given instructions about washing hands before administrating the eye drops, use A bottle first – wait ten minutes, wash hands (in case I may have touched something) and use the B bottle. I have to administer the first bottle for a week only and the second until finished. So, for the next week or so I am Chief Cook – and bottle washer, as well as being chauffeur, although my driving duties are somewhat curtailed until such time as she can go out without dark glasses.

You gotta love the timing – as I am in the process of re-decorating and painting. I did stop painting for a few days whilst she recovered but I am back into it again and hope to have everything finished by this evening. True, I get almost as much paint on me as I do on the walls, but still, I find it enjoyable and therapeutic with the added joy of pulling one end of the

blue masking tape and watch it all fall off. I know, I know – small things and all that :o) I did finish the painting this evening. cleared up and tidied up put things back together for the moment until everything has to be moved for the new floor covering to be laid. Presently I am sitting in front of the computer with a coffee which I will sip quietly whilst contemplating Annabell”s words to me – “You know the bathroom is looking a little jaded. Could do with a lick of paint”.

I had come to the end but something happened this morning that I want to mention. Because of the painting I had taken Benji’s bed into my room and that’s where he slept these last few nights. Generally he sleeps at my back so I felt a little bit abandoned. Anyway, I got up this morning and made ready to take him out. He didn’t want to go. Fair enough, it was a tad cold. Sat at the computer and after a few minutes he started pawing at me. I asked him if he wanted to go out – the ears came up and the tail wagged, so I took that as a yes and off we went. We walk some 1.75 miles in the early morning, come home and he has his after walk treat, then he heads to bed. He wandered over to the area where his bed generally is – no bed.. So I took him through to my room and he went into his bed. I left the room, he followed and went back to sniffing the area where his bed should be. I think there might have been some message in this so I went to the room (he followed) picked up his bed, brought it back to where is should have been. He had a sniff, jumped into his bed and promptly went to sleep. Perhaps it’s me! Perhaps I’m just a slow learner and should have realised that the bed should have been available right after he had taken his human for a walk. It’s a worry.

John’s wheels, Benji and the WaWa

June 23, 2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Took the dogs to the Wetlands this afternoon. The rain we have had over the last week has had a reasonable effect but it still needs more to bring the ponds back to capacity. The boys were very good and walked well – like old pals, in fact. Pity they could not behave like that at home. Still to be fair, it’s not the fault of Max – Benji is the culprit here and as I said, for some reason he does not like Max. On Sunday, Max went home.

I have just returned from a trip to Adelaide. My son’s car has “given up the ghost”so he needs a new car. He asked me to take him to Adelaide since there was nothing here that he liked. There is only one car dealer here and private buys are a bit “dodgy” I took him to a decent dealer, “Adelaide Auto Sales”at Mawson Lakes. We spent some time there looking at various SUV models and he finally settled on a Ford Territory. Personally I preferred the

Sliver-Blue one, but he settled on the Black. The reason for the SUV is the high clearance which on the back roads could get him out of any trouble a lot easier. I had booked two hotel rooms but having got his vehicle, he decided he wanted to go home, so I led him back to the Port Wakefield Road and after a stop at Bolivar when I asked him to call me from Wakefield, any other stop and to call me when he gets home. I went back into town and did some shopping before heading off to the hotel for the night. John called me from Wakefield, Tin Man and when he got home. I had intended to head out to Bunnings this morning but decided I would follow John and head for home. I started out at 6am expecting to be in Wakefield by sunrise and continue the rest of the way in the daylight. I did, of course, but it was not without its interesting moments. There is a lot of reconstruction and road works at the bridge where the Northern Express branches off. It was dark, I was unaware of the situation so I followed what I thought was the right traffic cone-lined lane and ended up on the Northern Expressway. My GPS, which I had programmed for home led me off the Express to the Penfield Road, exit then to Virginia and back to Highway A1 – The Port Wakefield Road, and all of this was done in the dark and I don’t like driving at night. Still the Port Wakefield Road if a fairly large, well divided four lane highway from Gepps Cross in Adelaide all the way to Port Wakefield and I generally drive this in the dark to be in Wakefield for the sunrise so that I can continue by daylight. Wildlife on the Port Wakefield Road is unusual.

After my unscheduled detour I drove directly to Port Wakefield and stayed there for breakfast before heading off to the Tin Man. I decided, since I had sufficient fuel, not to stop and drove

directly to Port Augusta, did some shopping there and headed for home. Crazy Benji went gaga and I eventually had to sit on the floor with him for a bit until he settled down. You would think I had been away for weeks instead of just a day and a half,. After I emptied the car and sorted out my case, I took Benji out for a walk. That made him happy, just him and me together. I actually do miss him when I am away. However, all being well, I wont be away again until August and then only for a day and a half.

I have been looking through some old photographs and I came across photographs of Kongsoon ( the WaWa) and oddly enough, I do miss her and wonder how she is. We never hear from them

so we’ll probably never know. Sad, but there you are.

Dogs, Heaven and the RFDS Jet

May 31, 2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

… then I’ll hike it through Glen Falloch where the mountain breezes blow

And I’ll draw up in the evening in the Valley of Glen Coe.

Of course, in my idea of heaven the road wouldn’t be there and all the dogs I have had throughout my life would be with me. There would be cloud and mist but it would never be cold. There would be sunshine sometimes, but not too much and if food was needed, then it would just be there as required. I think there would be no people – I have never really been much of a people person – at least I don’t think so because really, I prefer solitude. I loved the isolation of being in the mountains, away from noise, people and civilisation and yet, many of the things I do or am involved in, are serving or helping people.I used to think that this was God’s idea of a practical joke – He knows I am not really a people person, so He sees to it that all the things I do I am involved with people. But then, God is just and to balance this out He also gave me a love of dogs, and over the years all the dogs that I have had, each one has been the joy of my life, all in their own different ways. In a blog I read recently I wrote about this and mentioned that for some time after Benji was adopted I was calling him Chienne, but he was very forgiving. You know, you read it all the time but it never really becomes trite “A dog is the only creature on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”

We definitely cannot have Max back again. I know I keep saying this but twice already today there have been several ‘spats’ between the two and when Annabell and I have to go out, we do not leave them together – something we have never had to do with any other visitor – not even the WaWa. There has been rain and high wind over much of the State. We have had some rain and some wind but nothing like the lower areas. About twenty miles further out in the bush there was some flooding and the road to where my son works was flooded. He decided to come in the back way, which, as it turns out, was not a great decision. He ran into a pothole and damaged the converter and tore the exhaust system. We got it back and into the garage and his ‘detour’ will set him back about $600. I will be leaving the post as Secretary of the RFDS Branch at the AGM in July. Don’t know what happens after that – we’ll see. I decided to leave because at one point I was concerned for Annabell after the car crash and the fact that we never seemed to be away from the hospital or the Doctor Surgery. Things have calmed down, everything seems to have cleared but we have a young lady who is very keen to be secretary and she has sort of taken over, and come the AGM, we will elect her as the Secretary and I will bow out. Well, not really, there are some things I said I would continue to do

People said it couldn’t be done. They said no one could do it. So we tackled this thing that couldn’t be done and we did it – a world first. The Royal Flying Doctor Service was under a bit of a cloud with the new Intensive Care

Unit (The new Jet). People were concerned that it wouldn’t work in South Australia because it wouldn’t be able to land on a dirt strip in the far northern outback of the State. So the RFDS organised an outback Sheep station get the airstrip ready because the jet was coming. The sheep station is 370klms north of Port Augusta, a 7 hour drive from Adelaide. The jet covered the distance in just under 40 minutes and made a perfect landing on the dirt runway. It made just as perfect take-off. There is a you tube of the landing, which I have saved, and I hope it works. In areas further north than the Flinders it would take the normal RFDS Aircraft about 1 hour and forty-five minutes to cover the distance back to Adelaide. The Jet will do it in just under an hour, which makes a big difference in a life emergency.

We have not seen the jet up here and it is unlikely that we ever will – well not for a medical emergency anyway – perhaps for a goodwill visit. —- I have deleted the You Tube Video as I have been told that it is a channel 7 video and thus copyright.

Heatwaves and temperature crashes.

January 19, 2019 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The highest temperature recorded in the town’s history, was how the temperature of Port Augusta was described. The “Official Temperature”was recorded as 48.9c but the temperature monitor in the center of the town recorded 52.6c. Here, my monitor recorded a temperature of 43c as did the monitor of a friend in another part of town, yet the “Official Temperature” only recorded 37c.

Part of the local legend and conspiracy theory is that in the early days of the town, the temperature of the area was “adjusted” so as not to discourage people from coming here. It was advertised as having a “Mediterranean Climate” although off-hand I can’t think of many places in that area that experience temperatures of 40+C. Anyway, the higher temperatures meant lower and sometimes, no wind. I thought this was great and suitably attired, I managed to get almost all of the leaves swept up. Didn’t bode well for my plants despite the daily watering and monitoring. It’s also been a busy week in that I have had three medical appointment that were unplanned. What I mean by that is that doctor called and said he wanted certain tests for Annabell and I took her for these. And a call that he wanted to see her – that’s later on this morning.

Last night it was suddenly quite mild and Benji and me visited the Wetlands and had a good walk around the place. The thing I found surprising is that despite the coolness of the evening, there were not very many people about. I was, however, disappointed to discover that the Wetlands Kiosk was closed. I would have thought it would have remained open late, which would attract more people to the area in the mild evenings. There was not a breath of wind in the air. The water of the ponds were still and calm – sort of like me, really – still and calm — Yeah in my dreams!

Today – Friday – the wind came back, the temperature fell to the low 20s and we had a few spots of rain – so few spots I think it was scared to show its face after being away for so long. The heat, is some parts of the state and the country, only served to exacerbate the drought, pushing our farmers further into depression. Many of my plants did not survive and I did have concerns with my young Mulberry Tree, but it seems to come through ok – as far as I can tell.

I was hoping to go through to the Port this week and then on to Quorn Hospital but all these doctor dates with Annabell kind of knocked that on the head. She is ok otherwise. She coped reasonably well with the high temperatures this last week and we are going to look at replacing the Air Conditioner in her room with a reverse cycle Air Conditioner. It will give her more control to regulate the temperature to what is comfortable for her. I took Benji out for a walk this morning and it was – as they say -“Fresh”. In fact it was so fresh that I was sorry I had put on only a light jacket – and yes, that’s how far the temperatures have fallen. Sort of giving us a breather before the heatwave forecast for next week. Today, and tomorrow I have fundraising days for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. This will take up much of the day. Fortunately it’s not a hot day – I think about 24c. We should be ok today and the team out tomorrow should have about the same,

Trip to Port Pirie Pt. 2

September 10, 2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Having had lunch at the Tin Man, we had a bit of a walk before going back to the car and heading off to Port Augusta. He did his usual – curl up on the front seat and go to sleep – whilst I concentrated on the driving. On arrival at the Port I managed to complete the remainder of the shopping and we had a small snack and a good long walk along the Esplanade, sat down and had a bit of a break. Oddly enough, although it was quite warm in Port Pirie, Augusta was not quite so warm and instead of the A/C I put the heater on for a bit. The drive back was uneventful and as we neared the town, I noticed a cloud of dust. As I drew near to the source of the dust I discovered that it was caused by several of the Army Tanks heading towards the live-fire area. (more on this later) The boy and I had been away since about 8am and it was now approaching 4pm, so all in we had a good day out together, The Shopping Center at Pirie was really interesting and I would liked some time to explore it. I have a ‘thing’about shopping malls and centers and find them fascinating places. It probably comes from the fact that when we were growing up in Scotland there were no shopping malls or shopping centers. In fact there weren’t supermarkets until the mid 1970s – and they were few and far between. Most shopping was done in individual shops – Fishmongers – Fruit and Veg at the Green Grocer – Grocers,( butter, milk, cheese, bread ) Butcher, Baker and yes, we did have a Candlemaker. (Shearer of Govan) We had two big grocer shops close to us, Galbraith and the Co-op. There were probably others that I don’t remember. All-in-all, we had a really good day out – well I did, he just curled up on the front seat.

Flowers along the pathway at the Wetlands

On Friday, Annabell had medical appointments so not much doing. Saturday I spent the day working in the garden sweeping up leaves and doing a general tidy up. I bought two new plants and will attend to them on Monday. On Sunday (today), after church and lunch the boy and I got in

the car and drove down to the Wetlands. Lovely day with a nice temperature of 25c, just the job for a circuit and a half together. Flowers out and to add to the day, the Black Swans were back again. The Kiosk is still not open. It was supposed to be open this week but there you are – perhaps next week.

This morning (Monday) was a bit on the cool side for our morning walk. Still it is supposed to be around 28c during the course of the day. A nice day in the Arid Lands. On the subject of Arid Lands, the Arid Lands Botanic Garden is under a cloud – re. funding. The ALBG was started many years ago as an initiative of the Port Augusta City Council, but with budget being “tight” the Port might not be able to keep the funding going for much longer. However, having read that I have to say the recent trip to Pirie showed me the amount of redevelopment going on in the port. The Feds and the State Government will start construction on the new major bridge soon. so there will be a fair amount of work at

Not too bad looking – but who minds as long as the coffee is good and it sells scones.

Port Augusta. I have started extra work in the back garden and have planted three new plants – two in the front garden and one (so far) in the back. The soil here is poor and thin so I do have three raised flower beds – two front and one back. They contain 280 ltrs of potting mix rather than soil. In the front I have a Plumbago and a Coleonema and at the back I have a second Coleonema. I also have a growing Sturt Desert Rose which I will plant in a different area. I have

a lot of hope for this because the native plants are growing well. I would like to get time this week to drive out to the ALBG but in order to do that I would have to leave Benji at home – and he wont like that. He does not like getting left – not at all. It’s bad enough when I have to go to away for days at a time.

And the winner is……………………………….

August 14, 2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I left home on Friday morning, it was quiet, no rain, no wind and the sun was showing its good side. For most of the day the weather was good for a winter day and I had a fairly enjoyable trip down until I reached the city, that is. I had programmed the GPS to take me out to Adelaide Airport and the RFDS Base. Never having been to that end of town before I had to rely on the GPS – bad mistake. It took me the best part of an hour and a half to get to the Airport as the GPS led me into just about every street in the entire side of the city. “Take the second turning on the left” or words of a similar nature are words that I came to hate. Speaking to friends later I was told that I was in roads that I should have been no where near. However, I did arrive at Adelaide Airport only to discover that the RFDS Base is not there any more. It has moved to a new area. After being told where the new Base is I set off again, with similar results. I finally gave up and pulled into Harbour Town. I telephoned the Base from the car-park and was told that I was only minutes away and that the base was in the Airport grounds behind Harbour Town. Three minutes later, and after instructions from Lindy & Mary (RFDS Staff) I was at the Base. I wasn’t lost, you understand – I do not get lost, although from time to time I do become “Geographically Misplaced” I collected all things that I needed to collect and made my way back out. Tapley’s Hill Road, took me to Sir Donald Bradman Drive, which I knew would take me directly to town and less than 20 minutes later I was in town and heading out to North Adelaide. Not my best day and by now it was raining. After a coffee in my hotel, I decided to go into town. By this time the rain was pretty heavy so I gave that a miss. I never got half the things I wanted to do. By the time the Conference finished on Saturday, It was chucking it down , so I decided to go home rather than go shopping. Driving out of town was an illustration of what I have been saying to you – the further north I drove the less rain. By Snowtown (150 klm North) the sky was blue and the clouds were white rather than gray. A few spots at the Port and that was about it.

In the last two years I have lost a number of people that I did not expect to lose. I felt all was well, but they just stopped writing – well at least to this page, I still see them on other pages. In the last two months a further two have left and I can’t help wondering who will be next. So, I am considering what I do from here.

Not a lot happens up here. At the moment we are like a potato – everything that is really good is underground – waiting. I would not go so far to say that our glory days are over and that we

just go quietly into the night, but there are promises and we live on promises – many of which remain unfulfilled. The buying of Arrium; the company brought from the brink of death by Mr. Gupta and the GFG Alliance. Lots of promises, lots of plans, but not really a lot on the ground. Impatience?? Perhaps but it has been a year this month since Arrium was bought and whilst there is some returning confidence, it’s not as much as was expected. Some things will have to change, no doubt about that and at the moment we have no real idea of what these changes might be. We look outward and see that one of the largest construction companies, involved in multi-million government projects, has collapsed and closed its doors, and many people came to work on Monday morning and by Monday lunchtime, had put their personal belongings into boxes and were out the door for good. It was that fast. That could have happened to us, but it didn’t. Theirs was a sudden shock, ours was a long, slow, painful decline and we are still to raise ourselves up from that. There is supposed to be a “Big Announcement” today by Mr. Gupta and GFG Alliance, with Mr. Gupta here in town. So we will see what that brings.

RFDS, Travels and New Friend

May 15, 2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

In the wee small hours of Thursday (3rd) the rain came pounding down. By 9:30 there was still rain and heavy cloud cover and I was just a tad concerned that this function would go ahead, but by 9:55 the RFDS aircraft touched down. Everything went well and the food provided was extraordinary brilliant catering. Our two major sponsors were represented – CEO of Elders and CEO of SA Power Networks, the Central Operations Chair and CEO, the RFDS Coordinator, one Flight Nurse and the Pilot. The event was well attended and there were Long Service Awards (10 years ) for a number of our members. There were, of course, speeches, but short. The newspaper people were there and after the speeches and the traditional Cutting of the Cake, everyone was free to

wander around, chat and mingle. I – of course – had the camera. I am not the world’s greatest photographer, but if I have the camera and wander around taking photographs, I don’t appear in any. Clever -yes?? Since there were no other aircraft due in, we were free to wander on the apron and inspect the RFDS aircraft, talk to the flight nurse and the pilot. By 11:30 it was time to go and head off to Jamestown, the last stop on the three day tour. We said our farewells, snuck in a few more photographs and by 12:00 the aircraft was on its way.

Going back to the weather. It rained for hours on Wednesday and Adelaide, for example, had more rain in one day that it has had all this year. Ours was pretty heavy too, and I have yet to go and see if the rain has made any impression on the wetlands. : Quick response – it didn’t. However, it did clear up just before the RFDS arrived at the airport as I said earlier.

I just returned from Naracoorte last night after having been away since last Thursday morning.. The drive to Adelaide was cold and wet and with a sudden rush of blood to the head, I let the GPS take me to Elizabeth via the Gawler bypass instead of going the way I generally go via the Salisbury Highway. Wont ever do that again!! By the time I got through all her – turn left at the next / turn right at the next/ and on and on, I could have piloted the space shuttle to the moon and back. By the time I finally got to where I was going I was starting to feel like a modern Allan Quatermain. I stayed in North Adelaide overnight and headed off to Naracoote in the morning. It was cold and damp

and other than fuel, I didn’t really stop much. I stayed overnight in Padthaway and drove to Conference on the Saturday morning. It was understood- or at least that was the expectation- that we would be finished by about 2pm and I was quite pleased about that since it would give me ample time to get to Tailem Bend before it got dark. Yes, well, by 4.45 pm I was on my way and got as far as Keith and stayed there overnight. Another thing I wont do again! Suffice to say I had a troubled night and was not quite at my best when I left as soon as the dawn hit the sky – 6:20am I believe. I drove through to Port Wakefield and had a coffee. From there to the Port Augusta – more coffee and fuel – and then home, where I sat on the floor for a good twenty minutes until Benji settled down and for much of the night I could hardly move without him. Annabell said that he did his usual – sulked in my room, came running through when the doorbell rang and when Annabell opened the door and he saw it wasn’t me, he went back to my room again. I discovered on this journey that I have a very odd wife. This is the first time I have been away on Mother’s Day, so I telephoned her from Adelaide and asked if she wanted anything for Mother’s Day. She said “Yes” so I asked her what she wanted and her answer was “you home safe and well” Jings, I would have thought after all these years she would be glad of the peace and quiet. Anyway, apart from Padthaway this was not quite my best journey. For some odd and strange reason it was filled with concerns and frustrations . Still that’s me home until August.

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