Tag: snow

Raining Still (2)

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
I still miss that little face
I still miss that little face

There has been some flooding but the rain seems have stopped for the moment. The RFDS function at Mitre 10 was a loss and our function at the church was reasonable. Not well attended but in the rain I never expected it to be and the fact that the carpark was closed off didn’t help. At the moment I have not seen any reports of property damage only  road flooding and the town cut off for a while. Both of my water tanks are overflowing so that’s good. * Diversion*  There used to be a saying “if you ever hear that the world is going to end come to South Australia – everything takes 50 years to get here”. Well not quite fifty years but three months at any rate – the time until Father’s Day in South Australia.  Sorry if I seem to have neglected to say anything but since Father’s Day does not happen here until September, I forgot. 

There is a doctor who writes an interesting blog and in a recent post she said that she is a terrible

nothing too bad and not in town - access roads.
nothing too bad and not in town – access roads.

single parent – the children go to bed when they feel like it, pizza every night, heaps of movies, no bath, no dishes done and sleep in street clothes. I thought  I would mention that I was available for adoption, but everyone seemed so serious in their comments and it was a tribute to her husband, that I decided just to select “like”and leave it at that. I thought my frivolous comment would be out of place. I felt like the Joker from Batman “Why so Serious?” or at the very least Frank Sinatra  “I tried being serious once, all I could get was construction work”.  But the interesting thing was that it was only in reading that  post that I discovered that today in Father’s Day in The United States. Yes, other posts came in too but that was the first. I understand holidays and special days that are specific to the USA  — 4th July or Thanksgiving — it’s the days we “share”that confuse me at times —  Father’s Day and Mother’s Day.   Mother’s Day in particular because you have a day in the USA, which is different from the Day in the United Kingdom, which is different from Australia.  It’s all very confusing – I feel like Paddington “I am a bear of very little brain and long words confuse me”.

Most of the flooding has subsided and the rain has finally stopped. The sun is shining and the ground is starting to dry out. The forecast is for no rain at least for most of this week, but then I believe weather forecasters make things up   :o)  If the new concrete path at the church is to be done, the concreter will have to clean out the  channel and get rid of the water before anything can be done and once it is done it will take at least a week to cure.

The WaWa is still attacking Benji and I  believe that  none of what is currently happening was ever taken into consideration. With BJ being such a placid and lovable dog we made the assumption that he and the WaWa would get on well together. On that premise I made the promise that I would look after the WaWa for Sooah until she returned. However, the WaWa has been a one girl dog was treated her like a baby, who has now bonded herself to Annabell and sees Benji as a threat. Bj is paying a high prise for my promise.

I have started to put my ideas for the back garden onto paper and I still think they will work. I don’t accept  John’s comment that some of my ideas are too big for the available space and I wont accept that until such time as I get to Bunnings and see the things I want for myself.

And as I leave I have to say that it is Tuesday and it is raining again. If people want the rain, please come and collect it. We’ll give it to you free of charge. I would be delighted to swap you for some of your snow, but people in this area would probably kill me if I did   :o) By the time summer gets around we shall all be nice and brown – not suntan – rust!!

Trees, Oil, California and snow in Arizona.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
SAMSUNG
Native Trees – What Joy!!!

In our little corner of the Commonwealth, the temperature has dropped down considerably and back to manageable levels – a pleasant 25c. Dogs are back out in the fresh air.  I said that my soil was tested and  the less we say about that the better. The  large pots and planters is probably the best way to go. The two Desert Roses  (new) that I have out front, in sunken pots are doing considerably better than the actual roses in the ground. The same is true of things at the back of the house – although I do have the added problem of trees that shed leaves at the slightest puff of wind. Actually I think the threat of wind makes them nervous enough to drop leaves by the bucket load. I also bought  an English Gooseberry  Bush and have that in  a large pot. It’s also doing well and survived the heat. The Mulberry – in the ground – did not. But depending on how the gooseberry progresses, I might try again with a mulberry in a large planter pot.

On the subject of heat,  Australian Eucalyptus trees, because of the heavy concentration of oil and the letting off of oil vapour in heat,  have a tendency to explode throwing fire and flaming debris 20130222_095157across a wide area and overshooting fire-breaks. The oil makes it pest resistant so nothing eats it and keeps it in check. Once imported into an area it becomes messy, very hard to get rid of and flammable – and the wood is not all that much use for anything.  In the late 19th century  Australian trees were imported by the bucket load into California. The climate suited them very well and now Australian trees are everywhere in Calif. and  are responsible for much of the intensity of the fires that occur there. I have said before they are messy, shallow rooted, with a tendency to drop branches and fall over without  a lot of warning. These are the “Native Trees” that this council wants to plant everywhere.  The do say that they will plant them on the medium strip, not near houses.  Well, that’s encouraging – at least they will only drop branches and kill drivers =- heaven forbid they should damage property.

Watched our state news this evening and there, confirming what I had already been told, was the snow falling on Arizona. I’ll bet that was a shock to the system.  I was always fond of winter and snow – not so much on the aftermath, rain, slush and mud. No matter how hard you tried it was net to impossible to keep your feet dry and more often than not we arrived at school with wet feet. Not fun.

What you see here is the debris created by a single tree and these trees were  scattered over every footpath in the town. This is what the council wants to inflict on the median strips. Yes they require very little water, but to offset that, is the mess, the shallow root system and, like a second rate boxer, take a dive when the going gets tough. Can you imagine what a whole forest full of these things is like.?

It’s not even halfway through winter and I’m over it.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
The Christmas Plant.
One of my Plants – this one was given to me as a gift.

Australia, like Florida, is generally associated with  sun, sea and sand and fairly laid back lifestyle. Much of the time this is generally the case but these last few years have been a trial and our weather has been very strange. We had some hot weather for a couple of days last “summer” and the same the “summer” before that but we have not really had what Australia would call a “summer”.  It wasn’t so long ago that I was saying that I was not too fussed about the heat and looked forward to weekends and barbecues. My barbecue  has cobwebs on it at the moment. I only used to a few weeks ago when we had a gas failure and no gas for four days so I cooked everything on there barbecue. The long warm, sunny evenings sitting outside with the laptop and a glass of wine- seem like something from another time and place  We have unprecedented rain and flooding and only last week two mini-tornadoes struck Adelaide causing a fair bit of damage.  Cold, wild and wet and this is global warming??? I think we should re-write the Song ” I come from a land down under, the place of rain and snow and thunder”  Raining Monday and a good part of Tuesday. It’s Wednesday and thus far it’s dry.

I  have to head off down to Adelaide this week. Normally I would call the Dog Rescue and see if there is any dogs requiring transportation and take them down with me, but this time, it’s not my car so I won’t be able to. I might try and organise a trip to Adelaide the following week – at least an overnight trip. Tomorrow I will get the Standard Roses and  plant them as soon as I get back from Adelaide.