Tag: White Cedar Tree

The rain it falleth on the Just

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
Nice Rain Clouds - these ones didn't amount to much but the others did.
Nice Rain Clouds – these ones didn’t amount to much but the others did.

On Monday the tree people came and had a look at the White Cedar and gave me a quote for trimming it back somewhat. Tomorrow (Wednesday) they will come and do the job. I am quite pleased about this because I really am tired of spending hours on end every other day sweeping up these  “berries”. Once this is done I can then think about how I am going to cover up the crazy paving so that Herself can walk on it with safety.  The Sturt Desert Rose has taken off again and I have masses of blue/purple flowers. They are very delicate and do not last long, but there are a lot of them and they are constant during their flowering season.

I am convinced that weather people make up the forecast as they go along. Yesterday they promised heavy  rain and even thunderstorms for today and up until now (6:46pm) it has been a lovely day – nice – not too warm – just nice. Not a whiff of dark clounds. This is good in one respect – it means that I can continue to work at clearing all the gravel  ( cheap stuff) that the previous owner laid down. But in other rerspects it’s not so good because my knee is killing me and I need a break – a day off – so I am equally unhappy with the less than accurate weather forecasts.

Benji continues to settle down but there is still that accusing face at the window if we go out without him. There was a RFDS Barbecue at the weekend and I took him down to let people see him. They made a fuss over him, which he loved,  and he got free grub.  Bummer – I had to pay for mine   :o)

The long predicted thunderstorm finally arrived and it was a beauty. I was delighted to see that Benji gave not the slightest attention to the noise of the thunder and the heavy rain.  Reports are that there is a fair amount of flooding and structural damage across the peninsula. The thunder started about 5pm followed by  more, heavier thunder lightening

These chicken samwishes, look nise, daddy..
These chicken samwishes, look nise, daddy..

and the heaviest rain I have seen here for a long time. I believe there is some damage to the shopping center. I’ll have a look at that in the morning.  It’s almost midnight and it’s still raining – not as heavy as it was earlier, but still raining. It did go off for a while and I managed to take Benji for a quick walk, but the rain was back again before we got home –

not too wet  :o)

Benji, Trees and Firefox

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
How can that be comfortable?
How can that be comfortable?

Sunday; and for the first time since  we adopted Benji, we had a family dinner. This meant that for the first time the two girls were here with Andrew, Trish and, of course, John. I was a bit concerned about how Benji would react to the girls and how the girls would take to Benji. As it happened,  my concerns were ill-founded and  everything went smoothly with the girls and the dog taking to each other quite well. Overall it’s been a very quiet week and not a lot has happened really. I worked at two fundraising ventures for the RFDS, with a third one this weekend. Herself has been busy writing letters to all the other churches and inviting them to the 36th Anniversary Service of the Women’s Association. I have also found ( well I knew, really) that,  since my  unexpected stay in hospital at Christmas, some of the temporary restrictions, plus all the medication, I have put on weight. This I am unhappy with, so back to my diet again and get rid of the extra kilos. Once we get into spring and  the winds start to abate  I should like to get back out on my bike – and yes, before you ask, I am very much a fair weather biker. There is a dedicated Bike Track down at the Wetlands but it’s like everywhere else here in spring and summer, the flies  become a nuisance. I sometimes  find that rather than deter the flies, the personal fly-spray seems to attract them.

Haven’t  done much outside other than never-ending sweeping. I have an Australian White Cedar which has to be – more than gum trees –  the messiest tree in

White Cedar problems
White Cedar problems

Australia. I have spent days on end sweeping up  the mess from the Cedar and can well understand why the council had them removed many years ago. Pity they replaced them with  gum trees. These berries, or whatever they call them, come down in the tens of thousands and clog up everything and cost the council a fortune to clean up the mess and unclog drains.  The other problem is that everything about them is toxic – the berries and the leaves. This gentleman in the photograph, in Adelaide –  has a problem with the White Cedar in the front of his house and the fact that the berries are all over his garden and he has two young children. Many councils are undertaking programs to have the White Cedars removed. The photograph is from the newspaper and I thought it best to block out faces. I need to get a quote for the  trimming back of the one I have, which in the last year has just about doubled in size. Other than sweeping, I have  had words with herself about just where she wants the washing line. I think she wants it moved back  to where it was. Certainly the  crazy area is closer to the door but it is now over hanged by the Ceder – tree – branches – birds – washing – thus it has to be moved. In the short time that I laid down the weed matting and  placed in the stones, the place was covered in “Berries”.  Fortunately I have a blower that is  powerful enough to move them but not so powerful that it moves the stones. Herself could not believe the amount of “Berries ” cleared in a a few hours, so I can well understand the Adelaide Father’s concern for his children. For me, well Cedars of Lebanon I could live with, Cedars of Australia, not so much.

wetlands
wetlands

This last week has been a week of on-going frustrations with the computer and more than ever I realise the truth of the  saying  “To err is human, but to really stuff up takes a computer”. It’s been a week that saw my  Mail Server crashing ( Outlook Express) the crashing of Firefox, which  meant a delete and then a fresh install, and just general frustration. I gave up banging my head on the desk, put the  lead on the dog and we went for a drive to the wetlands to watch the swans.  That  did help and I came back, fixed the computer and got back to work.