Could we start again, please?

The first creditors meeting was held the other day and the term “Business as usual” was challenged with one supplier suggesting that  means  he keeps suppling to
Arrium and Arrium continue  not to pay him. Already he is owed $700,000 and on these figures he wont survive for much longer. He was only one  creditor and there are many that are owed a lot of money by Arrium and if the company is to survive the suppliers have to keep up with supplies, but still not get paid – yet.  One supplier has said that he will supply until he reaches the stage where he has to borrow money to pay his people – then he will pull out because he is not going to allow his business to go under for Arrium.  On the other side there is  a suggestion that with  profits of over $35 billion a year, the Robber Barons could write off the $1.8 Billion owed by Arrium. However,  taking into consideration the  Bank love of money ( we only made $6 billion this half year ; we’ll have to increase charges and close down a branch or three), this is unlikely to happen.  There will be another Creditor Meeting in four weeks and that will be the crucial one – at least that’s what the  talk is.  There is still a great deal of uncertainty and some people have lost jobs due to a downturn in sales as people are restricting their spending.

The WaWa we are looking after for a few months
The WaWa we are looking after for a few months

This is our last weekend with three dogs. Friends return on Tuesday so we hand Yogi back. It’s been a good two weeks and after a bit of initial territory disputes, Benji and Yogi have got on very well together. It has been interesting to take them out walking and watch them walk side by side – like brothers  :o) We had Benji at the Vet the other day. Nothing serious;  just that I noticed him limping when we were out walking so I wanted it checked out. I  sort of knew what the problem was and really I just wanted it confirmed. He’s fine but we believe at some stage  a toe on his back right paw was damaged or broken and this has caused the nail/claw to  grow at an odd angle, which, as he fills out is causing a bit of discomfort when he’s walking. We will keep a close watch on that nail/claw and ensure that it is cut often and if it gets too much then we can think about surgery and have the claw/nail removed. And yes, he is a tad overweight – 600gm. With Yogi gone, this will bring us back to two dogs. If anyone has any ideas about  what to do about a  constantly yapping  wawa, my nerves and I would welcome your suggestions.

Most of today (Saturday) I was involved in a fund raising event for the RFDS. We did fairly well I thought. No idea how much we raised but

The front just about finished
The front just about finished

 

The toy at the bottom of the steps behind the wawa is the hand puppet
The toy at the bottom of the steps behind the wawa is the hand puppet

it was a reasonable day and I was glad to see that people are still supporting us.  However we were steady but not as busy as we have been in the past.  My son is still continuing with the Local Office and at the moment things are being sent up to him, but the long term outlook is that he will have to move to Adelaide, although the major problem will be his house. The chances of getting it sold are remote at the moment – and probably for some time, so Adelaide could be problematic.

I have been “playing”with the wawa – sort of. Sooha left a whole bunch of toys, one of which was a hand puppet. I was able to put that on and play with the wawa for a while until Benji thought  enough was enough and I was paying too much attention to this female “it’s my daddy – not yours” She is still yappy but she is starting to settle down a bit more now but still very  “protective”of Annabell, and that’s probably a good thing. I can touch her and scratch her ears, ( the dog, that is!!)  but I am still very wary of her.

I have just about completed the front area with the 20mm Tregalana stone and the two raised flower  beds. There is an area behind me (where I took the photograph) that is under the shade of a tree and I’m thinking it might be a good place to put in  a third raised bed with ferns. I think there is enough shade for them to survive. I need to be sure because ferns are expensive here. Going through my very strange mind  this last little while has been a song from J.C. Superstar and the words:-
“I’ve been very hopeful so far,
Now for the first time I think we’re going wrong
Hurry up and tell me, this is just a dream
Or could we start again, please?

Weeds, Stone and Windows 10

I've made a start
I’ve made a start

I have to admit that it is not the prettiest  of things but it’s clean, neat and tidy and since I  don’t seem to be able to grow anything here, clean, neat and tidy seems like a reasonable compromise. That’s only part of the area I am doing, I haven’t even thought of starting in weed central yet. The stone is called Tregalana and is, I think,  20cm. I have two days in Adelaide and I hope to have the backhoe work completed, the area laid out and partly covered in stone by the second day and look at the Hexagonal Pergola that I would like and organise  getting it home. Probably mean a third day with the trailer. That’s not so bad in mid-spring when the days are longer. It means I can go down with John, get what we want and drive back, with John taking a turn at driving. Yes, that would work. The stone for this area will be about two trailers ( about 1.75 tons)  but for weed central, could be a lot, lot more.

I know I said a fair bit about the new Wetlands and the work being done there but I really am impressed with  the way

Another area of the wetlands
Another view of the wetlands

the area is being developed. When it is finished and the  plants have grown it will look nice.

Well that was exciting!! I received a notification that Windows 10 was ready to download on this computer so I went ahead and began the upgrade. By late afternoon it had froze on “32%” and stayed there for most of the day and well into the evening. Using my tablet I found out that 32% was a common problem  and there was really not a lot I could do about it. What I did do was unplug the computer and restart the computer, Windows restored Windows 8.1 and aft5er a few scares it restarted with no problem.  ( HA!!)   I left the  computer alone for a while and went off to help herself. When I came back the machine had gone into “Sleep Mode”, which is normal. What was not normal was the fact that I could not get it out of sleep mode. Again I closed down and went for a restart – not this time, The machine refused to reboot. I tried several things but nothing worked. I got out the copy of Windows 8 and put that in ( yes it had power) and tried to reboot it on that – again nothing. Left it off overnight. This morning I tried again – same result – nothing.  Then I had a thought.  ( don’t be concerned, I recovered quickly)  Some time ago I had a problem with the printer and after trying many things to get it working I hit on the idea of  disconnecting it from the mains – and on re connection, it worked.  I had my doubts that something as simple as this would  work on the computer, but I went ahead and carried out the process of disconnection

Almost....
Almost….

and re connection. Hit the on button and, yes it worked and to prove it I am here. Now here’s the problem, I didn’t  rescue everything and I lost some things – mail being one of these things ( Outlook – go figure) I also have a few programs that are not working as they should and I may have to reinstall them. I think I will give Windows 10 a miss for the time being.   The icon is still sitting there in the right corner but it can stay there for the moment. Once I fix things I’ll stay with 8.1 for the time being.