Tag: water

Winter rain cometh!

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
In happier times
In happier times

It would appear that the “Parcel”thing may well have been some sort of scam. What the purpose of it is or was, we have no idea but it

The WaWa
The WaWa

would seem several people across the town received such an email. Anyway, it has been deleted but it seems such a strange thing without any definable purpose.  After we dropped Andrew back at his place yesterday, he apparently continued to work on the cleanup after we left. Andrew’s house is an older house – actually it is two houses joined together – professionally done – and he has rooms everywhere inside and sheds and garages out the back, a cubby house and  what used to be a home office – similar to mine. There are trees and bushes planted out front and they have been allowed to become overgrown. To the right of the house (left of the main garage) there is a water outlet, which feeds water into a “river” that runs along the front of the house, under a bridge and ends in a pond at the left side of the house. Over the years the  bushes have become overgrown, the  river is clogged up and the pond is full of leaves and branches. We discovered solar lights and gnomes fishing there. Andrew has not really done much since it’s only in the last seven months or so that he stopped running back and forth to Roxby Downs – the  big South Australia Mining Area – ( he’s a Systems Engineer) and settled in to home. So he has this project of cleaning everything up and  getting it all back together again. He says he has reservations about  getting the water flowing again, but he does want the  “riverbed” cleaned up.  Me?  I would go all out to get the water flowing again, but that’s just me. I had a waterfall here and it grieved me when we discovered that it had  deteriorated too much to be put back  into use. But I did work on it and turned it into a sort of rock-raised flower bed.  But these things are not uncommon here –  many people built water features in the days when water was water and plentiful. Most of them would have been turned off forever when water ceased to be water and became a major source of State Government Revenue –  and South Australia has the highest water costs in Australia. We also have the highest gas prices, the highest power prices and the highest State Government charges. We are in the process of building the third most costly building in the world- the Money Pit known as the New Royal Adelaide Hospital. But we have a spendthrift government – and I believe Arrium is merely an example of a system, which might not quite be broken, but has bits falling off it. It’s a borrow and spend culture.

I have started to do some work on the back garden.  Shared my ideas with No. 1 son and he was not too impressed. He thought my ideas were good but some parts were too big for the available

And the RFDS were there
And the RFDS were there

space. Anyway, I’m working on it. I have emptied and moved the first of the two sheds and I hope to have the second one moved to its new location sometime today.  (didn’t happen)

Thursday 16th: That was yesterday and today the rain is pounding down outside and the lightening is lighting up the sky. Rain was definitely on the weather forecast for today. At the moment I can only hear – it is still too dark to see anything yet. And yes, you may assume that we did not go out for our morning walk. Call me a wimp if you will, but walking dogs in the middle of a rain storm, with the accompanying thunder and lightening,  does not fit into my definition of a good morning’s exercise   :o)  However, I will go and check up on the WaWa – Benji is curled up asleep. – as is the WaWa.

To add to the gloom of the place, our Mayor – Mr. Jim Pollock – died and his funeral is this coming Monday.

 

Gardens and dogs – too much heat.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

My HumanIn South Australia we are used to the heat of summer – that does not bother us too much – but the last couple of years we have experienced high levels of tropical humidity. This means that it is 35c during the day but only dropping down to 29/30c at night. Most people are getting tired through lack of sleep. Many, like me wake up in the morning as tired as when we went to bed. The overhead fans  drying things out. It’s all right for the dogs, they have an air conditioner and are fairly cool.  The humidity at this level and for so long is not what we are used to and it’s draining. We had the door open and the nets up (keep the flies out) so the dogs could wander in and out at will. It has been so humid and  draining that we have had to close the door just to keep the heat out and the cool air in. And the tiles of the laundry are  cool. We are used to arid and dry, not hot and humid. Today, for example, the temperature is 38c but that’s ok – it’s hot and we can deal with that – not sure about tomorrow though – 42c.

Needless to say, the dogs have been inside most of the time. We closed tot doors to keep the hot air out and they bark at the door when they need to go out.  They have been good and spend much of the time “resting” and having differences of opinion as to whose turn it is for the raised bed. We have two inside a large one and a small one and they argue over who gets the large one  :o)

According to what we have been told, this is the last  of the string of days over 32c and by Thursday we should  be down to mid to high 20s again.  As I said at the start, I don’t mind the heat, but the humidity is draining. The garden is suffering because although I water at night after the sun goes down, I have already lost  many of the vegetables I planted when I thought the very hot weather was over. Most of the flowers, with the exception of the Lavender, have survived. The Lavander might, but it looks decidedly  unwell at the moment.  Of course it being the hottest day of the week thus far, and I get a call to come into work. Oh well, I suppose my extended holidays had to end sooner or later.

Someone sent me this photograph so I thought I would share it. If I have breached copyright o something, I am sorry and I will remove it if asked.

Dogs, ramps, vets and cyclones – no change!

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Yogi2The Terrorist is not a well  little boy. At the moment he is not too bad but we have had to curtail our walking for the moment. I cannot take Chienna out because he would go  slightly spare and I would have to take him, but then after about ten minutes I would be carrying him. I don’t mind that at all, but it is not good for him. Anyway, I saw a dog ramp in a catalogue the other day so I will dig that out and have a serious thought about it. Actually, as an aside to that I have ordered one so it will let him get up onto his bed without any trauma. It should arrive within a week. He has slowed down quite a bit and he has difficulty jumping on to the raised bed. I will make an appointment with the vet and let  him have a look and see if we can  determine the cause of the problem – other than just getting old.

Summer is “officially ” over and we are now into Autumn.  Cannot say that I noticed all that much difference. It’s still sticky at night and I still have the overhead fans on and I still get up in the morning drained and slightly washed out. Herself suggested that I should have a bowl of water on the floor to  overcome the dryness of the fans but knowing me I’d probably get up during the night and step in it or kick it over. My room is the warmest and I have not been to bed in 90 days. – Let me qualify that – wearing shorts and a Tshirt, I lay down on the top of my bed and sleep, I don’t actually pull back the covers and get into bed – too warm for that,  and it’s only really a problem if we have a sudden change and the temperature drops more than a couple of degrees during the night.  The latest suggestion is that the Australian  weather has been on steroids this summer. Well that works because it now appears that a good number of our athletes have been. Certainly  Cyclone Rusty was a bit of a fizzier but now on the opposite side of the country a new cyclone is building up in the Coral Sea. Between fires, floods and cyclones it has been an “interesting” summer.  However, I believe summer is over when I can go back into bed again.

Still waiting to see the Vet about the little man. At the moment he seems ok and I have  made a temporary step for him.  During the course of today I will wander around some of the hardware shops( actually there is only three) and see if they have any polystyrene that I can  have  and make into a step for him. The photograph is the dog that I was looking after for a few days – an affectionate little thing – and I finally managed to sort out the orientation.

It’s a tad warm (Part 2)

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

fire threatWent out a short while ago and checked the thermometer  under the  shade area and found that the temperature is over 50c. Well, the  unit only goes up to 50c and  the mercury is over that. After that I decided that I would sit down and have a read in the coolest part of the house – the laundry, where the dogs are. I went in there with the dogs, took a cushion  and plonked myself down beside them.  The Air Conditioner is not coping too well, despite the place being closed up and the awnings down. It is cooler inside than out, certainly,  but no where as cool as it should be.  The official State Government website says 47.9c. I have half a mind to move the desk into the laundry with the dogs because the ceramic tiles are cool and they are more comfortable than I am.

According to the news we have broken a long standing record. Up until today our highest ever temperature was 45.8 now the new high record is the same as the State Government Web Site – 47.9 – so the 50c on my outdoor thermometer is fairly conservative.  We move 80 Klms South East of here and we have a temperature of 48c  – another new record.

Ok, so that was yesterday, which topped off several days of searing heat ending in new records across the state. Today, after a record 47.9 the temperature has crashed to  a forecasted 26c – currently it is 21.6. This morning at 7:15 I took the dogs out and were they glad to be “free” for a while – well “free” as in they are on  15 foot extendable leads. They were – like me – just so glad to get out again. It was just too hot to take them out these last few days. I think they missed ” checking the mailboxes”  I know animals have a greater sense of smell then we do, but how a dog can stand sniffing a blade of grass, or part of a bush for ten minutes, is a puzzle. Still, 21.6 – seriously thought about a pullover to keep me warm  :o)

Over  85 properties destroyed and one life lost as fires rage out of control in Tasmania – out of control fires in Victoria and one major fire burning out of control some 80 klms south-east of Adelaide. Nothing up here, which is something to be thankful for.

As expected, many of my plants have died. I did water them  every night after the sun went down, but the heat of the day still  burned them up, which adds to my comment about ” Full Sun” – that may well be, but not for this little corner of the world.  – and before I water the plants at night I have to let it run for a bit before I do  because the water is hot for the first few minutes. The long range forecast is for very high temperatures starting again in the next day or so, but in the meantime, I will enjoy being outside, but again, because of the North Wind, I  need to redo all my work and sweep up again.  Still, if it were not for the trees I am certain that the places would be a lot hotter.

It’s just a tad warm.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

firiesThousands of Firefighters are  being placed on standby as the temperature soars to 44c and above. To add to the problem, we have a North Wind, which is helping to dry everything out. We are not, officially, in a heatwave  – yet. A heatwave is defined as five consecutive days when the temperature is above 35c. So, if you have, 36,36,42.35,31 – then it’s not a heatwave and if the 6th day soars to 44c.,  then that’s the start of another five day cycle. What you have to remember is that 44c is the “Official” temperature. It is not ground temperature and it is not what the sun is beating down on your wee head. The official temperature is taken in a shaded area not in the direct heat of the sun – like your head.  The dogs are sleeping inside and I have renewed the  bowl of water I have at the end of the drive. In weather like this – when I am home_ I change the water every couple hours to stop it getting hot. This is for dogs, or indeed, any thirsty animal to drink from. The birdbath has a slight leak and needs to be replaced/ repaired. It has been empty and I was intending to do  the repairs soon – however, I have filled that with water also at least the birds can cool down, if needed. The Weather Bureau has warned that we are on track for temperatures above 40c for the next seven days. All the more reason why anyone with a lick of sense should have at least 6 litres of water in the boot (trunk) (for the radiator) and  enough water  for drinking.  Today was 41c, and tomorrow will be 46c – official temperatures so I expect the dogs will be inside all of tomorrow. Actually, unless I have to go out I think I will be inside for most of tomorrow.