Wetlands – Edgar's Page

Lockdown day 1 – Walks and shopping.

21/07/2021 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Took Benji out this morning for a district walk and, since I decided on a rest from the last few days, I had him out in the stroller. The reason for the District walk and not the Wetlands, was that my son borrowed my car yesterday. He called me to say that his brakes needed attention and he had to get to work. He returned the car just before 10:30 this morning. I told him that we had a medical appointment at 11:30. While he was here there was a NEWSFLASH – as from 6PM this evening South Australia will go into lockdown. Yes there have only been five cases but we know how quickly it can spread so mandatory masks immediately and the lockdown for a minimum of seven days. After 6pm we are to stay indoors unless out for essential reasons. Not really very sure – is walking the dog an essential reason?? I think so but does the State Government? o:) Well, apparently so. – exercise is a valid reason for leaving the house.. However, there are restrictions : I can travel no more than 2.5 kilometres and the wetlands is more than 7.5 klms. away. I can exercise only once a day outside and for no more than 90 minutes, so taking him on a district walk is about 40 minutes. This means that I am well within the area and time limits for two walks – and I have to wear a mask outside – easy. The sunrise at the back area was really great and I was a bit miffed that I could not get down to the Wetlands this morning because the sunrise there would have been spectacular.

Of course it will mean a lot of changes within the State and for some businesses it might just be too much and they will not reopen. The Flight Centre in the Shopping Centre is a good example. When all this is over I think we will be looking at a fair number of tax increases to pay off the damage (financial) that covid-19 has cost the world-wide economy. Of course, it’s not all bad. I am feeling very self-indulgent these days. With a massive harvest and nowhere to sell them, there are Avocado’s by the bucketload available in the

supermarkets right now, with the prices as low in some shops as 65cents. Generally though $1. Anyway, that’s all very well, but I have to tell you that smashed Avocado on toast for lunch is quite nice.

Annabell saw her doctor yesterday and I was called in halfway through the consult. I was called in because the information that was required was in my Filofax. It turns out that

Flinders had not been keeping Annabell’s doctor up to date and informed of what was happening. He knew nothing about the MRI and I had the dates, times and the appointment letter in my diary. Once he had that information, he called Flinders and asked why he had not been kept informed and what this MRI was for. Seems that there was nothing wrong with the X-rays and everything is in place. The purpose of the MRI is to determine that the cancer is still where it was first detected and has not grown nor moved any.. If it has I think surgery may be suggested, but that’s a decision Annabell has to make.

As usual in this part of the world, mention the word close or even Long Weekend and people panic buy. Throw the word Lockdown into the mix and the result is chaos. According to reports and news, less than two hours after the Premier used the word Lockdown ( there I said it again) and shelves in the supermarket were being emptied of stock. People must be expecting to use the toilet a lot since the toilet paper shelf was emptied, despite the Premier and the Supermarket owners telling everyone not to hoard or panic buy because we have plenty of stock and it’s not necessary – they did anyway.

Wetlands; Stroller, Chestnuts and Lockdowns

02/07/2021 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I have to admit that I have not been doing a lot of posts this while back. I think all the trips to and from Adelaide of late have kind of washed me out for a while. They were interesting and I did get my new Laptop, but at the same time they were tiring. I have gone back to walking at the Wetlands in the early morning. I had simply been going around the district but decided to return to the Wetlands. And apparently I was missed. Even in the early morning people were wondering where I was and if everything was ok with Benji, Annabell or even me. They actually stopped their walk to come and talk to me and make sure everything was ok. I was very touched. It was really very thoughtful of them. On the subject of Benji, he is not recovering as well nor as quickly as I thought he would. Ok, so he is 11 this year but he is still good and active. I think the initial attack has had a greater effect than we realised. I have tried walking him and he is very slow and ponderous but he is quite happy to be in the stroller and we are wondering if he is sort of looking on the stroller as a protection barrier between him and other dogs – it lets him feel safe. If that is the case, then I am fine with that and I am also fine with lifting him in and out of the car. The Fitbit then, becomes a semi-permanent feature strapped around my ankle

The weather of late had been fairly cold and overnight it has gone down to 1C. The day temperature is bout 15 – 17c and for us that is cool to cold. I think I said before that the one thing I really like about the winter in Australia is the fact that there are chestnuts in the shops, and I love roasted chestnuts. I think I did say before that one of my joys of

growing up in Glasgow was going into town with my dad in winter and going to the Hot Chestnut men and dad would buy two bags of fresh roasted chestnuts – one for me and one for himself. These days I use a microwave and I am really not sure if dad would approve. I could do them another way but it would mean buying a cast-iron frying pan and I don’t know if Annabell would approve. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place :o)

Took Benji out this evening for a walk around the block. We did part of the walk in the stroller and some walking, He did walk for a bit and he did well, but then he seemed to fade so I lifted him back into the stroller and he was fine for the rest of the way. Just thought I would mention that Benji is not just put into the stroller and that’s that. He is strapped in and he had a good blanket wrapped around him. Well, it is cold and he – unlike me – is not moving so he needs the blanket. Looks like we are surrounded by States in Lockdown. South Australia is not in lockdown but our borders are closed to just about everyone and we have gone to mask restrictions. Actually I have just been sent a new set or Covid-19 Restriction Rules for the church , so I’ll have to read them and print them off so they are available in the church. – That should be interesting;;; singing by congregants is not permitted under the new rules. These restrictions came into effect at Midnight and are to last for one week only but reviewed by the Gov. Medical Team on a daily basis. The week is, of course, flexible, but, provide it ends in a week ( Next Wednesday) it should only be an imposition for one Sunday. The last thing we want to do is go into lockdown, which is what the Premier is trying to avoid.

Adelaide and Back again.

19/06/2021 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Years ago I used to drive down to Adelaide in the morning, do what I had to do then drive home. I don’t do that anymore. One time coming back from a conference I dozed off and I was fortunate that I simply wandered into the grass verge and woke. No harm done to either me or the car, but it gave me a right wake up call – forgive the pun – and since then I do not go down and back on the same day – at least not if I am driving. I will do that if I am on a coach because it’s a five and a half hour journey ( 11 hours there and back) and I can always have a quiet nap. That’s what I did yesterday ( Wednesday) . I was disappointed that I didn’t get the Laptop where I wanted to get it – in my preferred store – and I thought I was going to go home empty handed.. indeed, I felt that if I jumped in a taxi I could make the coach terminal in time for the 12:30 coach home. Then I decided to check out another store and behold, they did have the laptop I wanted at the price I wanted and a special in store 15% discount for the EOFY Sale ( End of Financial Year). How good is that? So, yes, I have a new laptop. I’ll have to set it up over the weekend.

Was “attacked” when I got home last night. You would think I had been away for a week the welcome Benji gave me. He is really looking well and he is

walking well. We went out at 6am this morning( Thursday 17th) and two thirds in the stroller and the last third walking and he has little blue and red lights on his collar, which I bought for him in Adelaide. Because of other things recently, although we have been walking, we have not been down to the wetlands. I will start taking him back there again after this weekend is over.

Annabell has been fairly well since we returned from Adelaide. I had to take her to the hospital once with a new infection but otherwise she has been pretty good. As I said last post new tests were done and we should have the results of those in a week or so. This will determine what happens next. She tends to feel the cold more so I bought her an electric throw blanket for her chair and that keeps her warm and comfortable. Otherwise she is good. Had there been any doubt I would not have gone to Adelaide.

On Friday morning my son picked me up and I drove with him to Adelaide. Quite a number of years ago, during a medical test it was discovered that he had a spot on his brain. At the time his specialist said he should not be too concerned and he told him that he, personally, had two spots on his brain. It could be something or it could be nothing but it has to be monitored. We shared the driving there

Well, that would depend on which one of them I choose.

and back. Going down we became part of the roadworks convoy on the Port Wakefield Road. That wasn’t too bad although after we had cleared the area it did slow down the driving somewhat. It is a 40 klm stretch of road and on the way back – late afternoon – the convoy was pretty big . There is a by-pass road but knowing me, if I took that I would probably end up somewhere in the Northern Territory. Still, we did get home about 7:30, so it wasn’t too bad. Before dropping me off we went and picked up Connor. Benji was glad to see me. I think Annabell said “Hello” but I couldn’t be sure :o) Anyway, an interesting two days to be sure and setting up the new laptop was much easier than I had anticipated. The SSD is smaller than I wanted but it will do for the moment and Solid State Drives are not very expensive.

Still Sinking, but not as quickly!

25/05/2021 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

We seem to have cleared things for the moment. I was in contact with WordPress and they were telling me that it was a common problem recently, but that it is not of their making.. There has been some malfunction in many browsers and the cache is not being cleared. WordPress suggested that I clear the browser history and see if that worked. It seems to have at the moment but we still have a few problems. However, I am happy to know that I am not alone in this particular problem. I don’t know though, I sometimes think WordPress have forgotten the old adage “If it’s not broke – don’t fix it”.

I will take Annabell out for some shopping tomorrow and then take her for coffee. It’s the first time she will have been out of the

house in over a week, so we will see how things go. She is very much better than she was so perhaps the outing will do her the world of good. I would like to go to the photography group on Wednesday but we will see how she is then.. All going well tomorrow should be fine. I’ll take the dog out and then get her breakfast ready when I come back.

Well, so much for morning plans the night before. It has been heavy rain most on the night and still raining now. I’ll do many things for my dog, but going walking in the rain is not one of them. I know, I’m a meanie. However, if it does clear up – as it generally does – I will take him out to the Wetlands later in the day. Actually, I got him into the car at 06:30 when the rain eased off. By the time we got to the Wetlands the rain had stopped and although I sat there in the car for a good half hour, no one showed up, so we just drove back home again. Still Benji doesn’t mind as long as he was out in the car, that’s all that matters. The reason for not going out is simply a concern that if anything should happen, there is no one around to help or call for help if needed. Mind you, calling for help is a bit of a joke ATM. Last night (according to the news) a lady called emergency as her son had an accident. She was told that she should take the boy to hospital herself, or call for a taxi since there was no ambulance available. . No one wants to talk about it but our medical and emergency system is in trouble across all of South Australia and we had to bring an ambulance from 50 miles away (Port Augusta) to respond to emergencies here. Take our problems here and multiply them by 20 and you just about have the current situation in Adelaide. There were 17 ambulances ‘ramped’ at the Flinders Medical Center and a similar number at the Royal Adelaide – emergency patients stuck in an ambulance at the hospital because the A & E was over capacity and was unable to cope. This was repeated in all the main city hospitals over the last two nights.

I really don’t want to abandon WordPress and I would prefer to stay, but this is driving me crazy—- let me re-phrase that — more crazy than I already am. There are alternatives to WordPress, but none of them come anywhere near the market leader. I already looked for alternatives but was not really impressed with what was on offer. I thought that it was probably better to “stay with the devil you know”. The song from the Muppets Movie comes to mind –

“You can’t live with em, you can’t live without em, there’s something irrisistabullish about em, we grin and bear it cause the nights are long, I hope that something better comes along.”

We had a telephone call from Adelaide and we now have a date for the day surgery at Flinders Clinic. I take her to Adelaide on Monday 7th June and then to the Clinic for day

surgery at 8am on Tuesday 8th June. All being well, we should be travelling home on Wednesday 9th June. I have the feeling that I did mention this but the way things are, I can’t go back and check. I keep saving this every few lines just in case I lose it all again. Goodness – talk about paranoid.

Benji is as well as can be expected. We missed our walk today and since I have had to take Annabell out this afternoon, I wont have time. That should please him no end. He can complain – but what about me? It’s not doing my fitbit any good this no walks. Once he has had this operation, I shall really miss being wakened by a bark at 2am because he wants up on the bed beside me, and since he can’t jump, I have to lift him up. Honestly – the things we do for “family”

Benji, Walks and Photographs

16/04/2021 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

One week today since Benji was injured in an attack. He is recovered fairly well and we are out walking again, but on a different route. Actually we are back on the original route which is in the opposite direction from the area where we were injured. He still has antibiotics to take twice daily and I will take him back to the Vet on Tuesday as a follow up when the antibiotics finish. Apart from the surface wounds there seems to be no internal damage, for which I am most thankful. After three days in the stroller, he was ready for walking. He was glad to get out again and enjoying the walks and the fresh air. We stick mainly to the Ada Ryan Gardens, the Wetlands, the lighthouse and Stoney Point during the day when there are very few people with dogs around. Since we are surrounded by National Parks and Conservation parks, there is not many places we can go to. There are a number of places further down the coast that are pet friendly and the nearest of them is 70 miles away so just going there and then coming back again seems to me very wasteful. In order to justify travelling that distance it is necessary to make a day of it. At the moment I am not happy going off and leaving Annabell. Yes the boys are here and that’s fine when I have to go to Adelaide for Presbytery, but leaving her on her own while I go off on an unnecessary road trip with my dog is a different matter altogether, I think the term self Indulgent kind of fits the bill. When we have to go Adelaide and the Clinic, John usually looks after Benji, makes sure he is ok and feeds him. With the dog door, Benji can get in and out as he needs.

The weather over the last week has been great and the boy and I have got out and about. However, with the cyclone in Western Australia and the effects reaching to us, this will change over the next few days with forecast rain and high winds. Well yes, it was a bit on the windy to very windy when we were out walking this morning but we didn’t get blown away and made it back to the house safe and sound. Sitting hear I can hear the wind rushing through the carport. It’s not constant and comes in waves. Anyway, a very warm welcome to Bogie. He is lovely and I did reply to the post but it seems to have vanished into some void. I am finding this with a lot of things recently.

There is a photograph exhibition in May and I have been thinking of submitting photographs to it. I like my photographs but I’m not so sure others will. I was at the photograph club

last night and photographs that I thought were good were criticized by the judge who found many faults with them. I guess the idea is that the criticizing and pointing out the faults – as the judge sees them – is supposed to assist you in doing better, grow and mature, so to speak, in all the aspects of photography. I shall never succeed in this because I found many of the comments, pointless and excessively picky. Just as well I had no photographs there or he would have had a field-day, What I have is an excellent camera but I don’t know how to use it to get the best out of it. This group is “Competition Based” with only some minor practical nights. They are really very nice people but this is not what I want and really not helping me much. Many years ago the TAFE (Technical and Further Education) ran a number of Community Courses. A course on Photography – a Basic Computer course, the wife of one of the local doctors, ran a course on Indian Cooking, another lady ran a course on Italian Cooking. The fees were reasonable, cooking people brought the ingredients as required each week, and so forth. There were no Diplomas nor Certificates at the end, but they were well attended. But the Government of the day spent money on other things and when it needed money, it started closing down TAFE Campuses. It tore the heart out of the TAFE system and it never really recovered – it still has not.

I seriously dislike Blocks!

02/04/2021 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I had already completed a post with over 800 words and several pictures but a malfunction in WordPress – or me – lost everything. It had gone back to blocks and I tried to get it and load again in Classic and lost everything. I have no idea if this will survive. Anyway – What I do remember from the lost post is that I did recall on seeing an item in the news about a unit that is similar to a pacemaker only this unit is for the brain. Once activated it send signals to the brain and can reduce the trembling of hands as well as other aspects that are associated with Parkinson’s Disease. There was a demonstration on the news and once activated the difference in the man’s hands and in his overall demeanor was incredible. The reason I mentioned this was not really to highlight a breakthrough in Parkinson’s but the fact that the Medical Scientists are looking further and feel with further investigation and development it could be used to control and contain the effects of epilepsy. That would be some breakthrough.

Apart from a few days here and there, we didn’t have much of a summer. However, this early weeks in Autumn have been glorious, mild to warm and sunny – warm and sunny during the day, still warm in the early evening and cool to cold at night and in the morning. Yesterday Benji and I went for a drive in the car out to Fitzgerald Bay and the Shingle Ridge, from there to the Lighthouse. From there we drove to the Foreshore – which was busy so we went to the Wetlands and had a good walk there. This was followed by Ice Cream , Vanilla for him and Almond for me ( but don’t tell Annabell)

During the week I attended a Memorial Service at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. Brian, a member of St. Mark’s, was also a good friend to us when we needed help. He died last year but because of Covid-19 nothing could take place. As of Midnight Tuesday most of the restrictions in South Australia were lifted and, with some assistance, I have put all the pews back to their positions and removed the seating tags.

Had a telephone call from Flinders yesterday and the reports from our last visit and not great but not bad. The cancer is still there but not moved nor enlarged. However, we will go back down to Adelaide in about six weeks and spend a few days there, There will be an investigation of what is happening and day surgery to replace the units. They will be left in place for six weeks and if there is no progress then they will consider chemotherapy.

The weather since the beginning of Autumn has been great – this is the weather that we should have had over summer. Yes we had a couple of heatwaves that lasted a few days each time, but other than that it was not all that great. This weather coupled with the Easter Holidays has people swarming to the beaches and

Part of the Shingle Ridge from the roadway.

holiday spots. After church today (Friday) I made sure Annabell was ok then took Benji for a drive in the car. We had a great time and went to Fitzgerald Bay, the Shingle Ridge, the Lighthouse and back to the Wetlands ( no ice cream) – a pretty busy afternoon and since we went much further along the coast road, this time, slightly different from last time. I drove to the end of the bitumen and went on the gravel until I was able to turn around and head back. When I go out I always make sure I have my phone with me. When the hands free speaker tells me I am “disconnected” I will turn back and get my phone. It does this about 100 yards away from the house and out of range. If Annabell were to call me I am only about 40 minutes away from home and can soon be back.

Saltire, Birds and strange “gifts”

17/02/2021 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I came across this yesterday. Do you think the someone is trying to tell me something?

I took Max home on Thursday morning after special arrangements were made. I did say that we used the garage and I did not come into contact with anyone in the process. Of course we talked over a distance. I have to admit that I kind of miss him although, to be fair, Benji does not. Friday morning, nice day and Benji and I went out on our morning walk. First time in four weeks we have done so. In was good to be able to get out and be able to walk at a reasonable pace.. In the past weeks with, rain, sun, heat, cold, rain, rain and then sun again, the weeds at the church have grown something shocking. Thankfully the gardener, who has been kept very busy, will be with us this morning. I’ll go down presently and open the gates for him to get in. The weeding will cover two days. Today he will spray weed killer on the area. In a day or so he will come back and check and clear up.

Strange thing happened the other day. I took Benji to the wetlands and had a good walk – also photographed the Black Swans and their young. Got back to the car and headed for home. On the main road I noticed something red on the windscreen, I thought it was just the Remembrance Day Poppy that I keep there, but that’s on the inside not the outside of the windscreen so no idea what it was.

Since it was not obstructing my view I didn’t bother with it until I got home. When I examined it I found that some unknown person had placed a large Kabana (Polish Sausage) under the windscreen wiper. I took it inside and discussed the issue with Annabell – where and when I discovered it. We believed that it was meant for Benji but with no indication from where and from whom it came, the safest course of action was simply to dump it in the bin – which we did. We also discovered that the package had been slightly opened so that was a concern. It had to have been done at the Wetlands, not here since Benji would have been barking and I would have investigated. Anyway, it’s done now.

We had a telephone call from Jim yesterday and we will not be having Yogi to look after. Jim is still going to Western Australia but he is now going for three months and he will be taking Yogi with him. Actually I am glad about that. Yogi is old, has medical problems, is deaf and partly blind. I hope to be proved wrong, but I don’t think Yogi will be with us for very much longer and I would hate for that to happen whilst he is in my care. Selfish – perhaps – but I have enough to do worrying about Annabell without also worrying about a visitor dog. However, in March, after the Flinders Medical visit, we will have Dougal staying with us for 10 days. Dougal is a very lively Maltese Terrorist and we can go out on walks as normal.

In the morning I head off to Adelaide for two days. This should be the AGM but with covid restrictions still in place and some people still using Video Conferencing – particularly those from the South East – it was decided to postpone the AGM until May when we hope all the restrictions will be lifted. At the moment we are meeting in two places, the south East people meeting in one location and the Adelaide and the North people meeting in another location, with the intention to re-join sometime in the future.. Although in my view I don’t think it will make a difference in the long run. We were two separate bodies before and I think that’s the way we are heading again – as the hymn says ” In this world of darkness, so we must shine, you in your small corner and I in mine”. Our weather is now heading in the general direction of 45c. That’s ok just as long as we do not have a North Wind – like last week. At the moment it’s 37c with not a breath of wind. That’s fairly tolerable.

Sanity returns – for a while.

23/10/2020 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Ah, thank you WordPress. I have now returned to Classic Editor – at least for the time being. I hope I can stay in this program and be able to return after a close down. I was not impressed with the block editor and I have to admit that I found (find) it confusing and awkward to use. Apart from which, I’m all in favour of change – unless, of course, if affects me, in which case I am totally against it LOL….. Went out with Benji last night and used the stroller. He is starting to get used to it and is a lot more relaxed. Before he kept standing up much of the time, now he is starting to sit down and still watch what’s going on around him. I still have him clipped in – just in case..

After several days of 30 – 32c warmth, which was very nice, it has been raining for much of the morning. Not the heavy rain of the other week, more like light showers, which, in Scotland we would call a drizzle. It’s still warm – but wet :o) Over this week Benji and I have spent a fair bit of time at the Ada Ryan Gardens. Not so much the wetlands at the moment mainly because there seems to be a lot of dogs around the area. I think I already said that this is why I don’t join the 6:30 am Friday Wetland Walkers, because a few of them bring their dogs. The Wetlands Kiosk has become the ‘in ‘place at the moment. It is closed Monday and Tuesday but open the rest of the week and open late night Friday and Saturday. I asked about the closures and I was told that it is to give the staff a break from working flat out when they are open, daytime and late nights. I think credit is due to the council workers for the time and effort they put in to keeping the gardens clean, tidy and really looking well kept. There is no Pageant nor are there any activities in the gardens at all this year, which is giving parts of the gardens time to recover from stalls, marquees and people. Given the current “state of play” it’s unlikely that there will be any activities in the gardens until Australia Day in mid January 2021.

Seems the hospital is unwilling to let me off the hook. Not had to take Annabell there for a bit, but got a call this morning to say that Jim had fallen and was waiting for an ambulance to take him to hospital because he seems to have broken something. He wanted to know if I could come and collect Yogi. Well I was dressed for church, and I drove down and picked up the dog. A short while ago – 3;30 this afternoon – he called me and asked if I could come and collect him from the hospital. I did, of course and he asked me if I could hold on to Yogi for a couple of days. Not a problem, Benji and Yogi get on well together – except when Yogi tries to encroach on Benji’s sleeping spot at night. Yes, Jim has broken his wrist. He was telling me that he will not be going to Perth at Christmas. It is unlikely that the Western Australia borders will be open before next year and he is not going to go into a hotel for two weeks hotel quarantine in Perth and another two

when he comes back to South Australia – all of which he would have to pay for.

We did not go out walking yesterday nor this morning. Yogi has a number of medical problems – which I aware of – and requires medication. I really don’t know how fit he is and although we three have gone out walking in the past – it has been a while and I don’t want to take any chances. It is only for a couple of days and Benji can manage that.

OK, Jim took a bit of a turn and telephoned me and asked me if I would take him up to hospital. I went down, picked him up and drove him back to the hospital. It was decided that he should be admitted so I stayed with him until they were ready for him. I made a couple of telephone calls to let others know he was in hospital. This means that we will have Yogi longer than was intended. Oh well, he’s really not too much of a problem at the moment.

Tomorrow I take Annabell into hospital for the Exploratory Examination or whatever it is. I will let you know how things progress. Hopefully it will be nothing serious.

Spring has Sprung..

11/09/2020 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Spring be here! With the warmer weather and there being no restrictions, the wetlands has become a busy wee place. There are a number of reasons for this, the weather is nice, it’s quiet and peaceful and the kiosk is very popular. The food is good, well cooked, tasty and reasonable priced. Benji likes his Ice-Cream so when it’s been warm and we have completed our walk I have taken him to the kiosk, bought a dog portion in a cup for him and a cone for me. I get Rum and Raisin, he gets Vanilla. We have not been around to the ducks and geese for a little while. Benji has been having a bit of a problem with his paw so I thought it best to keep him off the gravel path. The serious gravel at the back of the Wetlands going down to where the geese are, I generally carry him over. Irrespective of the weather, the Wetlands has become the ïn” place at the moment and although the walking areas are fairly quiet, the kiosk is always active – and the Ice-Cream is nice.

Yesterday was a lovely day, hardly a breeze and 24c – really nice and yes, the Wetlands was packed. There was not a parking space to be had. I drove through drove to the foreshore and

we spent the afternoon there. There was more seagrass than there was sand but what sand there was Benji enjoyed. We left just before schools ended for the day and were able to miss the traffic through town. Today – another nice day – the Wetlands was busy but there were spaces in the carpark so I parked there and took Benji for a walk, doing our figure of eight (8) We start off at the bridge and go around until we reach the other side of the bridge, – we cross the bridge and walk in the same direction, returning to the bridge and completing a circuit of the area. I took a few photographs and we went home. At home I removed the disk from the camera to load

The New Jetty – still not complete yet. Should be open in a few weeks.

the photographs onto the computer and had lunch. After lunch the boy and I took off to Hummock Hill and the Foreshore. I tried to take a photograph and could not – I had forgotten to get the disc out of the computer. I drove up to the Electrical Retailers and bought a new disc – I needed a spare anyway. From there we drove back to the foreshore and Hummock Hill and spent the afternoon there. It was a lovely afternoon and the place was quite busy with a good number of people around.

This week was the AGM of the local Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) and I was asked to resume the role of Secretary- which I did. Annabell wasn’t terribly happy, but although I have had concerns I feel that the organisation and its goal is bigger than petty differences. Anyway, due to Covid the group has not been operational for four months so it was a fair break. Time to get back to work. Having said that, we have had three funerals in the last four weeks (the latest this afternoon). We hadn’t even started this funeral today when we were told that another of our friends had died. Sad, yes, but we wont be involved with that.

It’s only Wednesday and already I want the weekend to hurry up and get here. It’s been a very strange week – funerals aside – and up to a point Benji has not been given as much

attention as I would like. Sunday, sometime after the boys had left, I ended up taking Annabell to the hospital; Monday the RFDS AGM: Tuesday, Ladies Coffee evening: tonight just

We will have Yogi back for a few days next week.

too tired to do much and Annabell wasn’t feeling the best. The funeral today took a lot out of her. The Church Newslletter/|Magazine is due out next week. Well, that’s not going to happen! I would like it to but I am less than halfway through it. I do want our magazine to end up like the State Magazine to which very few contribute – which is very sad.

I had Annabell at hospital at 1am this morning and I have to take her back at 8:15 this morning when the two doctors are on duty. She is not a well lady and I am concerned about her. Acording to the nurse this morning she may require a whole bank of tests to determine the problem, so we will just have to look after her and support her. I need to be at church, but other than that I will cancel all my activities for this weekend – Annabell is more important.

Warning – photograph heavy.

24/07/2020 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Today Benji and I went wandering to the Wetlands, the Foreshore and the Ada Ryan Gardens. I have not been to the gardens in the evening to see the pathways with the new lighting, but it’s on my list. I have visited the gardens a few times in the last week and it has been quiet, despite it being school holidays. I did take a few photographs especially of the birds, but trying to get a good photograph through small one inch square holes is not the best. Still I did try. I also look at one of the plants – not really sure what it is but I did like the butterfly. The other yellow bush

is an Australian Wattle Bush at the Wetlands. The birds were difficult but not impossible, so I was able to put the camera hard against the cage and photograph through the bars. Not all were successful.

I am pleased to say that the Kiosk at the Wetlands is going well and most days it is very busy. It still has only limited seating due to the social distancing, but there ample seats and benches close at hand and there are seats at the barbecue area which is fairly close.. The council have made an extra entrance into the area so it’s much easy to access now. I have not been round the back of the Wetlands for a little while which means that I have not been feeding the geese and ducks. The reason for this is Benji. The back area is all gravel paths and Benji does not do too well in gravel. Some of the area is a “softer”gravel but where where we have to go is down through the hard stuff, I generally have to carry him. On bitumen, concrete, dirt and grass he’s fine, but not gravel. I did notice that the Black Swans are gone and I have not seen the Pelican for a while so perhaps he/she has also gone home – wherever that is. After our walk around the Wetlands we drove down to the Foreshore, but it’s still school holidays and I felt

Some more birds. Not great quality, but ok through steel bars.

there were too many dogs there so I took him into the Ada Ryan Gardens instead. Same flowers but no butterfly this time. It’s interesting that we are in the middle of winter but the temperature is starting to warm up just a little. For example, yesterday was a nice 22c – still a bit on the cool side but not bad. Cold once the sun goes down.

In South Australia we have only had 1 case of COVID 19 in the last month. However our borders are closed as the State of Victoria has recorded some 300 new cases, a figure that has been increasing over the last week. New South Wales is not quite as bad but our border there still remains closed. It is now fairly certain that the second wave of cases in Victoria are linked to the two protests and the rally that followed.. I mean Victorians could not go fishing or play golf as individuals, but the government allowed two major BLM protests and a rally to take place. In New South Wales, the police want the BLM protest banned and are going to the Supreme Court to get the authority to stop the protest but they expect that the Greens and other left radicals will turn up anyway. There will be fines of $2000 for those who do and the police chief has said they could set back the New South Wales economy by 10 years. Our borders remain closed with a two year prison term for anyone breaking the border restrictions. The reason for the prison is that the fines ($2000) just don’t seem to deter them.

I did go up to the Gardens later when the lights had come on. I was pleased with the time, but I don’t think I had the settings on the camera quite right and was not very happy with the final outcome. Out of the photographs I took I was only really happy with one – possibly two. Still, I suppose it’s better than not being happy with any. The last few mornings have been cold and foggy, so not walking weather.

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