The Man – Page 3 – Edgar's Page

Chienne and The Man

23/03/201423/03/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Chienne (Chi for short) as a young puppy

Her name (Chienne) means several things but I prefer the term “Female Dog” Unlike the Man, Chi was not adopted or rescued, Chi was bought by me – well, actually both of us –

from a Pet Shop. Now when you have calmed down and brought your arms back to your side after throwing them up in horror, let me explain. This was a small town pet shop – it was not part of any big group – animals were not generally part of what the shop did : it provided boarding – short and long term, was a grooming service; herself and I knew the owners and the dogs she did have from time to time, were checked by the Vet – who, by the way, is still our Vet. He still looks after Chienne (Chi (Chee) for short)) and has done for the last twelve years.. However, there was adoption of a sorts because – and we do not know why – Chienne adopted Andrew. Andrew moved out years ago but work commitments meant he had to leave her behind but he did come over a couple of times a week just to take her out . Even now, she can tell when his car pulls into the driveway and she goes nuts – the excitement is amazing. Heck she never gets that excited for me when I come back from Adelaide but then I only feed her and walk her, look after her and pay the Vet bills. I suppose by extension Andrew and Trish’s girls get nearly similar treatment. Chienne revels in all the attention from her beloved Andrew and the girls. The Man, on the other hand is different. He is a rescue dog. He had, from all accounts, a pretty rotten time and was sick, matted and looked really sad and pathetic. There were other dogs at the pound that day but for some reason I asked for him. He was brought home bathed and cleaned then taken to the groom. He was pretty sick and spent time in “Hospital” with our Vet looking over him. He had been kicked about the mouth and a good number of his teeth were in a bad way. The Vet tried to save as much as he could but in the end, over

about a year, all his teeth were removed. I just have to cut things up smaller but he eats well. Unlike Chienne he dislikes the girls and tries to go away and hide when they come over. They think of him as a puppy and want him to play so he tends to get grumpy and I have been quite happy a couple of times that he has no teeth. The little one – Tallia – wants to keep picking him and and trying to cuddle him like a little doll and this makes him very unhappy. I generally open the door and he takes off to his secret den in the garage and only comes back when they have all gone. I can understand – he’s old and he doesn’t like being pulled about, poked and prodded not to mention being treated like a doll – it’s just so undignified. I think if the girls went to the UK they would qualify for entrance to one of what I think is one of the top schools there – I believe it’s called St. Trinians :o) The man sleeps for much of the day and although he gets excited when I

get ready to take them out, he only walks for a little while then I have to carry him for a bit, but this is fine – he’s not heavy. In the early days, when we moved here, there were Kangaroos around the place and I would see them when I took the dogs out. However, over the last few years most of the land has been fenced off and earmarked for future house development, so we don’t see the Roos any more, glad in some ways, sad in others. I have looked at two sets of wheels for him, one set being metal the other being PVC – the PVC only recommended for dogs under 6 kilo and he is only 3 kilo. Over the next week or so I will give thought to getting him measured up and the measurements sent off to the United States. And before you ask, I can get a set of wheels made in Australia but it is cheaper to buy the good in the USA have them shipped over here and pay the postage costs than it is to have them made in Australia. Still, it could be worse, they could be made right here in South Australia, then we really would know what charges are all about in the highest taxing state in the Commonwealth. We have a government that wants to play with the big boys but in order to do this, it needs money – so it borrows and spends and borrows again – hence the fact that 1,oo9,000 of a working population have a collective debt of 75% of revenue with an interest bill alone of $780 Million per year – and that’s before it spends the next four years accumulating even more debt. And it will because they are addicted to spending

A Man and His(?) Office — A Man and His (?) Office

because that’s what the big boys do.

Barbecue, dogs and movies

06/03/2014 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Saturday and I spent the morning helping to run a fundraising Barbecue for the RFDS. We were only there about three hours and managed to raise about $340, which is not bad. Herself had a good night last night and after I laid out her breakfast I set off to the BBQ. I did call a couple of times to make sure everything was ok. It’s not been all that bad of a week and we were able to relax for a bit as things calmed down. Monday we are at the hospital again and we’ll see how things go from there. I have been giving the Man a medication that was recommended to me and we have noticed that he is crying a lot less and is much more active. Well, yes, I still have to carry him for a bit, but just to get his wind back, you understand, not that he needs it, of course :o ) On the other hand, if he didn’t run around like a mad thing and expend all his energy in the first five or six minutes, it might be a tad different.

Not sure where I got this from, but it works for me.

Monday and we are back to the hospital again. This afternoon she goes to have an Echocardiograph, which is an ultrasound of her heart. They are, I believe, doing this because she failed the Stress Test last week. Well, she didn’t actually fail it, she couldn’t walk on the treadmill as fast as they wanted her to so they abandoned it. With this test the rules are that we MUST be there on time or the test will be cancelled. Should not be a problem. This will be our last appointment until Friday, so after today, provided all goes well, I should be able to wind down for a little. I don’t know – perhaps it’s just me but I really fail to see what these tests have to do with a blood loss, but I suppose they have to eliminate other possibilities. I am supposed to go to a meeting next Wednesday and I think I might just be able to fit it in. However, it means taking a coach to Adelaide and a coach home. I can get the 6am coach, go to the meeting then get the 6pm coach back home, ready to take her to the Specialist on Thursday. I really need to attend this meeting because I have to write a report and it would be better that I was there and talk to people rather than simply write the report from the information I have to hand – comprehensive thought it might be.

Interesting post recently with reference to the Oscars. The writer asked her followers to list their three favourite movies – mine being, Casablanca – The Man Who Would be King – A Man For all Seasons – these are the three I would take with me to a desert island, but I have to say that there are “Runners Up” that I like: Hatchi -55 Days at Peeking – The Day after Tomorrow ( yes I know the science leaves a lot to be desired, but I like it), Shadowlands – The Remains of the Day – On The Beach (with Fred Astaire not the remake) Braveheart – The Lion in Winter. I would quickly get fed up with the Lord of the Rings, but I would take the three Narnia Movies with me and one other probably surprising selection – Yankee Doodle Dandy – with James Cagney.

I have some worry about the Man and he is not only slowing down but there is a loss of strength and control in his back legs. He still runs about the house like a mad thing, but he does lose his balance a bit and falls. Still, he gets up and carries on. As soon as we get herself settled again, and whilst there does not seem to be any immediate concern, I will get him to the vet for advice. Other than that, this is a long weekend and Monday is a public holiday, so I have the weekend to sit down and contemplate the heavens – or something.

A society addicted to “Celebration”

29/12/2013 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Christmas is an event that takes place from 1st. November to 30th December. Almost immediately after Halloween we start to see Christmas Decorations in the shops along with plum puddings and fruit mince pies. By the end of November and early December the whole thing is in full swing and the advertising machine is on overdrive. In essence things really stop today – 27th December – and by next week all the Christmas Stuff will have gone except some of the dated stuff that didn’t get sold and traders are trying to flog off an a fraction of the cost. At the end of today the Post Christmas Sales – at least the major ones – will be over. The reason for the delay in South Australia is because we are “Adelaide-Centric”and all Adelaide central shops are open for business,- Boxing Day Sales – but the suburb shopping centers are not allowed to open on Boxing Day because it might take away revenue from Rundle Mall and surrounds. They have to wait until today. By mid January, Easter Eggs and Easter decorations will start to appear and the bakers will start to produce Hot Cross Buns – which political correctness requires us to call ‘Easter Buns” With any reasonable luck we might manage to clear Australia Day on 26th January before the madness begins again. As a society we seem to be addicted to celebration – we’re not fussy – just give us a good excuse and the bunting is out and the flags are being waved. In Australia any excuse is good for a party and drink.

The forecast for the New Year is for temperatures of 40+ and Victoria (the State) has been warned to expect the possibility of lightening strikes and bushfire and there is a Cyclone warning in the north of Western Australia. Today is 37c but at least there is no wind – yet! I cannot recall when we had continual wind like we have had this year – it’s quite depressing. Still, I suppose we should be thankful – we are in the middle of nowhere, we don’t do floods and we don’t do fires and if there is a local fire, it’s small and put out very quickly, and, the nearest major fire zone is about 70 miles away in the Mount Remarkable National Park.

still nowhere — -and all around there was empty land

On the last road trip I did take some photographs but there’s really not a lot to see and what you can see is all owned by the army. Sometime next week – after the New Year road madness is over, I want to take a run down to Adelaide and head out to see Alan. I did promise that I would get down and spent some time with him after the Christmas-New Year period, and I would like to do that.

My little Man continues to confuse me – I suppose that’s his job – in that he seems to have difficulty controlling his back legs, he falls down, yet when he is outside in the garden he seems to move like a proverbial hare. I take him out for a walk and he tires very easily, so I lift and carry him for a while – only a short while and he fights to get back down again, but then it’s not long before he is tiring and dragging behind again — I can only walk so slowly!! Other than that, he seems to be quite happy, but he does sleep a lot. I have not yet measured him up for the wheels and I think I might put it off for a little while yet – but not too long I think.

Dogs, Medication and the South Road

17/12/2013 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

There is really not a lot (continual wind not withstanding) of things that frustrate me, but twice now I have had someone visit but I have no idea how to return the courtesy. Work Press tells me that Fred Bloggs thought etc. but there is nothing else – no place for me to go and return the visit, nothing other than a profile containing only a name. That’s frustrating. – so, hello and thank you for visiting!

Took the dogs out walking last night (Wednesday) and only had to carry the Man once I think the head wind was a bit too much for him. He is still eating, which has to be a good sign, but we only have a few days of his medication left. Herself suggests that the Vet knew this so perhaps this is the full course and he does not need the medication after this. I hope that’s the case, but now I have another small problem – how to cure his addiction for cheese. My fault.. In order to give him his medication I enclosed it in a small amount of cheese – now he’s looking for it at night.Still it is only a small piece so I don’t suppose it will do him too much harm. I will keep a close eye on him when the medication is finished and watch for any changes. We wont be out tonight because as I said earlier, I’ll be at the Carols in the Park with the RFDS. Looking forward to this tonight, partly because it’s a fun night and partly because it’s the last fundraising event until 26th January. It’s getting to the time when we go walking with a back pack containing water and a bowl- early morning and mid-evening, we can stop and have a drink – all three of us.

I don’t wish to start an International Debate but Cricket used to be a game played at an international Level by Gentlemen – What happened??

The Carols-in-the-Park were well and was attended by a very large crowd. We were kept very busy and had to phone out for someone to bring more food as we were starting to run out. After we did this twice, we decided that if we run out again then we pack up. We did run out but by then it was fairly close to the end of the night and we were quite satisfied with that. Within the next day or so I will probably be traveling to Adelaide to collect Alan and bring him here for Christmas. This was not part of our plans but his “carers” are going off to another city for Christmas and he will be left on his own. Yes he is in a nursing home but that’s not the point- his step-daughter and her husband are the only family, apart from me, that he has in South Australia. It’s a 4.5 hour drive to Adelaide and a further 1.5 hours from Adelaide to where he is and as you know, the South Road is not my favourite of places. And it will be fun because the temperature on Thursday, when I go down to collect him, will be 42c – lots of water for me and the car.

Chienne, Angus and the Road’s End

17/11/2013 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.

Dogs, Flowers and Fire Bans.

07/11/2013 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

20131102_192125 — Dogs find something interesting to have a sniff at. I think it’s a blade of grass…

The weather has started to warm up a tad and the temperature today was 39c. but a cool change is on its way and it should cool down for day or three before climbing back up again. The official Fire Season will being on 10th November and continue through until Mid-April. When I took the dogs out for their evening walk the wind had started back again. The Man was having some difficulty and after a little while I lifted him up and placed him in the dog sling for a bit – at least until he got his breath back.

Thre are still about 40 fires burning in NSW but the State Firefighters can manage that and our Firepeople have come home.

This must be the worse state in the world for colds and flu and really, it’s not all that surprising. Not when you consider the serious flucuations in temperature. Yesterday it was 39c and hot – the temperature collapsed overnight and today it’s a very cool 24c and the wind started last night when the sun went down. Within the span of a 24 hour period the temperature climbed back to 38c today and tomorrow will be 40c. A total fire ban has been declared in some areas.

One of the things that irritate me is the inability to edit something once posted. I don’t mean this post, I mean comments made. I have gone through a comment to check that everything is ok – and it seems to be – but the very second you press the “post comment” button a glaring error jumps out at you. But then I suppose when you are commenting on a page that has 5500+ followers, one comment probably wont count for much – but still…..

A friend is travelling in the Northern Flinders Ranges and sent some photographs of the wild flowers.

Tomorrow I take the Man back to the vet.

Trees, terrorists and Puppy Food

31/10/2013 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Some may remember this photograph I took some time ago. It was one of two eucalyptus trees outside. Part of this came down in the severe wind we had a week or so ago. This one came down over the road and part of the street was blocked off until the emergency services and the council were able to clear the area. In the background you can see another tree and this has been examined and found wanting – it’s not in good shape and may have to be cut down.

The medication seems to be working for the Man and he is eating a lot better now. I also find that he is a lot more active – when he is not sleeping that is. What I have been doing is feeding him smaller meals but more of them. It means having to isolate him from Chienne from time to time. However, she doesn’t miss out too much and she gets her share of the treats. I have started the little man on Puppy Food and that seems to be working, and the interesting thing is that it is mainly chicken and rice. Don’t really mind as long as he keeps eating and starts to put on a little weight.

The NSW Bushfires are finally under control although they are still the subject of a watching brief. It would be good to say that the fires were all caused by nature – lightening strikes – but sadly that’s not the case. Some of them were deliberately lit, and even sadder is that some were lit by children who are under age to be charged. Well, that may well be the case, but their parents are not!! If a dog attacks and seriously injures a person, we can charge the owner of the dog, so why don’t we charge the parents of the arsonists for failing in their parental duty of care. We talked a lot about charging people who deliberately light fires in bushfire areas with “Domestic Terrorism” but nothing much happened.

I started with a tree and I will finish with the same tree. This is what is left of the tree today. Now, all we have to do is wait and in the fullness of time, the council truck will arrive, cut out the roots and clean up the area. The trouble with being on the periphery – everything takes so long to get here. Not a great photograph. The tree was much bigger than it would appear here.

Vision, Wheelchairs and Dog Slings

02/10/2013 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

My vision is generally excellent, but I need glasses to read and I have had reading glasses for most of my life. I do not wear or use glasses other than reading or, as now, working on a computer. I recently changed my optician and was tested at the start of the year. Since then hardly a week went by and I was in for repairs to the frame. Sometimes I was holding the lens in place with bits of wire. Finally it was decided to activate my insurance and provide new frames. I had them for about a week and they broke. No, I do not use them for digging ditches – I generally take care of my glasses because they are essential to me. After now repairing them twice it was decided that I should have a completely new frame – different from the one I currently have. I will go back in a week and collect the new glasses and the new frames and see what happens – however, I have already decided that I will go back to my previous optician – never had any problems with frames or lenses.

My little man is now getting on for 12 years of age (we think he may be older) and he is starting to show some weakness in his back legs. He’s not as steady as he was and we have noticed his back legs slipping away from him at times. I have already ordered a dog sling – like a baby sling , but for dogs – so that when we go walking and he gets tired, I can lift him up and put him in the sling and carry on walking and he can still see the world. I will do this for a little while then I think I will look for a dog wheelchair. I think the wheelchair is a good option because his front legs are still strong. However the wheelchair is the final option. Oscar is different, he cannot use his back legs at all and I would only use the wheelchair for the Little Man when we go out walks, not for all the time use. We have also decided to take the Little Man to the Vet and get an examination and a talk. At the moment he is driving everyone round the twist with his constant barking. At just after 3am this morning he was standing facing a blank wall and just barking. John has suggested that it could well be that his back is causing him problems and this is possible, but, although as I said we have seen that he is not quite as steady as he was, he has no trouble running around the place in bursts of high activity. I will see what the vet has to say.

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