Tag: walks

Thunderstorms, Lookouts and a Goldfish Bowl

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Tuesday 19th May – time 3:48 am. Last night around 9:30 we had a serious thunderstorm – the works, thunder, lightening and heavy rain. Chienne was not a happy lady. By 11:30 it seemed to have gone and everyone settled down. The rain had gone and more importantly the thunder and lightening. By 11:30 I went to bed, herself went to bed and Chi settled  down on her bed. At  2am I was wakened by an incredible crack of thunder and the storm had not only come back, it seemed to be right overhead – the combined noise of the  thunder and the rain crashing on the roof was almost deafening and to say Chienne was going gaga is definitely an understatement. At the moment things have quietened down somewhat and Chienne is spread out on the floor at my feet. The poor thing must be exhausted – two very stressful periods so close together.

I finally got back to bed and reset the alarm for 7am which gave me an extra half hour. Poor little lady. Must be horrible to have such sensitive hearing where even a loud noise

From the Lookout
From the Lookout

can set you on edge. She’s not neurotic – the word I would use is skittish. Other than unexpected thunderstorms, Chienne has been good and  there has only been a couple of nights this week when we have not been out for a walk.

I was out and about today and I actually remembered to take my camera with me. Nothing much happening but I thought I would take a couple of photographs from the Lookout Area,  The large building slightly left of centre  is the High School. At the outbreak of  WW2 ( you must have heard of it – it was in all the papers) there was a shipbuilding industry here. It was believed that it needed to be protected so the hill was fortified with big gun emplacements and like Singapore all pointing out to sea. But then again, there is one of the world’s largest deserts behind us so it is unlikely an enemy could have at us overland. In the second photographs there is a hill to left of centre – this is where the gun emplacements were

We had a lunch at church today and I was talking to one of the ladies. We got on to the subject of photography and it turns out she is a keen photographer and is a member of the local photography group. I  expresd surprise since I was unaware that there was a  local photography group.  It was an interesting chat and it looks as I might be going to a couple of meetings when I get back from Naracoorte and we’ll see if it meets my needs. At least I will have some photographs to have  judged from my stay in Naracoorte and, of course, for anything interesting I see on the journey.  On the subject of Naracoorte, I leave in the morning and the agenda only arrived this afternoon. And it was in a very odd format that my  computer did not

Another from Lookout Point
Another from Lookout Point

recognize, so I asked for it to be resent and it was. Just as well since it seems I have been allocated a role in the Second Sederunt . So much for my plan of having a leisurely breakfast and walking in at the morning tea and biscuits break  :o)

A couple of the ladies will keep an eye on Herself during the week. She had a bit of a fall last week – nothing too serious, but worrying. We have everything set up and Andrew gets back from Roxby Downs tomorrow so he and John will also keep an eye on her. Great – nothing like living in a goldfish bowl  :o)

The keys to life!

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace.”

― Milan Kundera

The weather over the last week has been odd, to say the least. It’s still cool in the evenings but the days are starting to warm up. But it has also been odd in that we had one day where the temperature shot up to  41c – crashed overnight and we had a gale and a thunderstorm.  In some parts of the State the Country Fire Service are still fighting fires that were started by the lightening strikes during that storm. I have been ill, herself has been ill and we ended up taking her to hospital because she had difficulty breathing. She was put on a ventolin machine for about an hour and that helped.  I have been unwell to the point where I have not been taking any calls and not moving out of the house much. However, I am well on the mend and have started getting out to the garden again. Even started taking the dogs out for a walk. And that’s the odd thing about the weather – it was a lovely day yesterday but quite cold when I took the dogs out in the late evening. I came back for a a jacket.  It’s been odd. During the week  I was involved in a Fundraiser Event for the Royal Flying Doctors Service and whilst it was warm and pleasant during the day, the minute the sun started to go down, the breeze got up and it became cold. Fortunately I had a jacket in the car that I could get. I suppose,really this is typical for this area and our closeness to the desert. In summer the hot wind comes off the desert and pushes the temperature up, but at  the moment it is cold.  Very odd indeed.

Most of the time I have been spending out has been cleaning up, since I am surrounded by trees – tree leaves and wind don’t go too well together. At least we are not in Queensland that is once again being battered by storms. We are too close to the desert and we really don’t do floods – the occasional  puddle with lots of water, but not floods. This cold and damp weather seems to have gone on forever, so it will be nice to  spend some time talking about the heat for a change  :o)