Edgar's Page

Now that things have settled down and I hope to be done with hospitals for a while, I have to say that  I had a lovely letter from Denver, which I much appreciated. However, I have tried to get internode deleted and it’s much harder than you might think. They keep sending me emails informing me that I need to pay their fees if I wish to continue. They sent me one email that said they would delete me if I did not pay the fee by a certain date. My reply to that was simple ” yes please – delete me”  They did not delete me, they suspended my account pending payment of the fee. To add to my overall concerns I had and still have, some concerns with Benji. He wouldn’t eat the food that he has been eating for the last six months. I tried other “dog food” but he wouldn’t eat that either. I gave one of his treats – he took it from my hand then dropped it on the floor and walked away. A tad concerned, I got into the car and drove down to the  supermarket, which was still open (closes 9pm) and bought a half kilo of chicken mince and cooked that and  rice. That lasted for three days. On the forth day I went back to dog food and he walked away from that, so I went back to the supermarket again and more chicken mince, but by the time I got home, the food  had gone and his bowl was empty. I bought two half kilos and put them in the freezer as a stand-by.        I also noticed that the treat he had dropped on the floor ( which I did not lift) was also gone.  Last night he only finished half his dinner, but I’ll wait before  taking one of  the other things out of the freezer.

Other than that, life has been fairly quiet, although I think the problems with internode is affecting  other areas of the computer, particularly the mail system. John, as I said is back in his lab and I have gone back to looking after Benji -or is he looking after me???   I still meet up with my friend Barry but with a slight change. Barry used to visit me with coffee and muffins and we sat together with Benji and chatted. Then over a month  ago, Barry was involved in a car crash. Both drivers were unhurt – thankfully – but the other car caused damage to Barry’s main frame. This is what happened to me some years ago – damage to the side door but also damage to the frame. When that happens the car is generally written off, which is what happened to me and has also happened to Barry. However,  his insurance will get him a new car once he pays the extra – which he has. Now he is waiting f0r the car to arrive. So, on a Friday morning, I go get the coffee and muffins and I visit Barry – except the two Fridays I was in Adelaide with John. Barry,  and his wife Fay,  were very helpful and kept in constant touch during the whole time of Annabell’s illness.

I did go back to the church, once,  but I found it  traumatic  and kept looking to my left expecting Annabell to be there. I left as soon as I could and went home, got changed put Benji and the stroller in the car and drove to the Wetlands where I stayed for over two hours. photographing the swans and the wild geese. The wetlands is my “go to place” when I am troubled. By then I had calmed down – the ice cream probably helped – and headed back home. I have not been back to the church since. The church was a great part of my life for over thirty years and I travelled much of the state on its behalf. Anyway, that’s over now and at least I wont be travelling around the state again. However, Benji and I still do our walk in the morning – well I do the walk he relaxes in the stroller, Two thirds of the walk takes us back to the house – I go into the carport, take him out of the stroller and we finish the last third of the walk together. We average about 15,000 steps per day, which for some people is not a lot, but I consider it a fair day.

In a week or so I will be heading to Port Augusta again for the Karate up-grades. John is not upgrading and he is not participating in  training. He wants his shoulder to heal before he starts training again. Last time I was there the hall was like an ice-box. We are  expecting a 36c heat around then so it might be like a mini oven this time. I’ll probably take the Canon Camera with me rather than the Nikon. I  have decided to either sell or trade in my Nikon 7000D and going back to Canon. But we’ll see how the Canon does.

John Jnr is still on sick leave. We went down for his checkup a couple of weeks ago and we age going back down this coming weekend and he hopes that his doctor will give him clearance and he will be allowed to drive. This means that he can get back to work. If this happens I’ll drive him down and he can drive part of the way home. I hope he does get cleared since he is going slightly gaga being confined to the house all these weeks and relying Andrew and I to drive him everywhere – including his shopping. John wanted to drive down – have his appointment and drive back – 750 miles there and back. I wanted to do some things in Adelaide so I proposed that we head down on the Sunday, I do what I want to do on Monday morning, he goes to his appointment and we drive home. That works for me!

I spend much of my time with Benji – which is as it should be.  I suppose I’m not really much of a people person. I enjoy walking around the wetlands with him and visiting the swans. I think I did mention before that I never saw a Black Swan until I                           came to Australia.  A few years ago (?) my mother took me and my baby sister to Richmond Park in Glasgow, to feed the Swans and the Ducks. I loved out outings to Richmond Park. I did likewise with my children and took them to Bellahouston Park – Bellahouston Park didn’t have a  pond though. Still, on a nice summer day it was a nice walk with  Annabell, John and Andrew still in a pram. Sadly I do not have any photograph of the boys when they were children, including the visits to the various Abbeys. A tea chest full of our things were left behind to be sent on once we settled here. That never happened because mum and dad went on holiday and whilst they were away their shed was broken into and the tea chest along with other things were stollen. I suspect the photographs and the photograph albums were just dumped. All the camping and fishing photographs are all gone as are all the hiking photographs with Annabell. The boys are all grown up now but I still get the same feeling I once had when  walking in the Ada Ryan Gardens and the Wetlands with Benji.

Benji will be 15 next birthday and at 14 I think 2.5. miles at 6am is a bit much for him. I do the walking, he relaxes in the stroller. I have him in the stroller when we are at the Wetlands but not at the Gardens.  The weather here shas been quite mixed – not too bad during the day but very cold in the mornings and at night. Tomorrow, for example, the temperature  will be  3C in the morning with a high of 26C in the afternoon The wind coming off the Spencer Gulf at the moment is cold and at times quite a high wind. One time I gave up the wetlands and had to come back to the car. Trying to push the stroller against the wind was just too much.

At the end of last month I went back up to Quorn. I found it a bit sad going  through the Pichi Richi Pass and it was with great effort that I turned to the left at the junction instead of driving  straight ahead to Flinders House. However my reason for going to Quorn was to take photographs of the Afghan Steam Train. All the time  Annabell was in Quorn only the Diesel Train was used even although the timetable said it was a steam train that would be running. The steam trains run is dependant on the weather and the availability of volunteers. However, I didn’t want to go all the way to Quorn if the steam train was not running.

It was due to leave from Port Augusta and take over two hours to travel from Port Augusta to Quorn, with a stop at Woolshed Flat.  It’s only a 20 minute drive by car. I drove to Port Augusta and went into the station and asked if the Quorn train had left ( I knew the answer to this) I was told yes so I asked the “real” question  ” was it a diesel train or a steam train?” I was told that it was the steam train, so I left and headed up to Quorn.  I had time for a coffee and some plain biscuits (Cookies) that I shared with Benji.  No… he was not out of the car. Quorn is within the National Park so I waited until I was clear of the park on the way home before I pulled off the road and took him for a ” Pit Stop”.  The Afghan Express is the smaller of the Steam Engines and if all is well, the Explorer , the larger Steam engine should be running  at the end of this month, so I’ll head back up there – all being well..

I was thinking about a new camera but I would be reluctant to trade in my Nikon D3500 since that was the camera Annabell bought me for our  Wedding Anniversary some years ago. I am still happy with the photographs and perhaps if the photographer was better at his job, they might be a lot better. I’ll really have to have a think about this – no rush.

I have often said that I like looking at photographs and the real closeness to actual   flowers. I like Coleus and grew them for a while until the jinx hit and things I bought and planted just died.. It became so serious that I really felt I should just buy plants, take them home and throw them in the bin to save all the trauma. I didn’t of course, but it was a thought. On the subject of plants and flowers one of the largest retailers in the country, and many others, are under fire from the State and Federal- Governments for selling what had been determined as an invasive weed. This will include many other garden centres as well. It is a very pretty flower, but it comes from South Africa and no one is sure how it got to Australia. The plant is called ” Gazinia” and it is sold in many places across South Australia. I don’t have any but I have taken quite a few photographs of the flowers. But it seems  they grow like wildfire and are a threats to the  lands of the farming industry. We had the same problem  with a Weed called Salvation Jane – but better known in South Australia as Patterson’s Curse. and  we are still trying to control it – without a lot of success. Salvation Jane was brought to Australia by Jane Patterson as seeds to plant in her garden.  She brought the first seeds from Europe to beautify a garden, and then could only watch helplessly as the weed infested previously productive pastures for many miles around.   Paterson’s curse is now a dominant broadleaf pasture weed through much of New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania and also infests native grasslands, heathlands, and woodlands. We did the same in Scotland. The wealthy and rich landowners brought a plant  from Northern Europe to Scotland. It was used as a ornamental plant to line the driveways up to their mansions.  It  got out of control and spread but no one was too concerned because the they believed the snow and ice of the Scottish winter would take care of it. What they didn’t know ( nor did we for nearly a century) is that the plant has its own internal system in its sap for protecting it for such an event. It thrived the winter and when the sun came out it was ready to take off like a rocket covering  great areas of land before it was finally brought under control at the end of WW2. It is a most beautiful plant/bush and I love it – but there are islands in the North of Scotland where the plant is forbidden and pretty hefty fines.

What is the bush? Some may recognise the bush on my left – the Rhododendron Ponticum. It won’t grow in South Australia – I know because I tried and although I covered it with love and kindness it died. Of course, then I didn’t know about the problems it caused. I would never do the same again. It grows very well in New South and my sister lived  not far from Orlinda Research Garden and she had Rhododendron in her garden.

Change of subject:

I had Benji down at the Wetlands this afternoon. I saw three of the swans for a little while, then they seemed to in ( to wherever they go) and we never saw them again. Still it was a Reasonable afternoon and we enjoyed our walk. It made up for me abandoning the walk due to the  cold this morning.  I did take him out at 6an as usual but even with heavy jacket and gloves I was still cold – I mean very cold – 2c kind of cold, so I gave up and came home.  It had warmed up some so we went for a wander. I have been invited over to my son’s place for dinner tonight

Interesting discovery. Sometimes I forget things so these days I look up the name of the thing on the computer.  I used to ask Annabell now I have to find what  I want on line now.  It’s a bit of a pain and much slower  :o)  I have watched some of the Olympics – thought the opening ceremony was interesting but a bit too much to take it all in and the pouring rain didn’t help and I felt that actually getting finally to the cauldron to light was too drawn out with too many  handovers. I expect I’ll watch some but not a lot..

It’s been a while but things are finally starting to settle down and I think the bills have stopped coming in. Things are moving along,  although,  I have to confess that I still have  ” Moments ” but other that, things are fine. My son chastised me for always responding to his question “How are you, Dad” with the answer ” Fine” I mean, what else am I supposed to say? I mean I could say that I spend ,my days crying in my beer, but that he knows to be untrue because I don’t drink beer!  If he wasn’t so serious it would be quite funny. But he means well and I know he is concerned and he does care, but I am “fine” and getting on with things.

Benji has been good these last weeks. I am hardly able to move and he is at my heels. Several times now, he has repeated his climbing up on to my lap whilst I watch the evening news. I take him out with me most of the time and, as I said before, he just curls up

on the front seat and sleeps. Despite the cold, Benji and I have been spending time at the wetlands. Both of us are well rugged up, which is just as well since he is slowing down a bit.  I lift him into the car these days.   Saturday and Sunday – dressed, Breakfast with the RFDS at George Avenue, then down to the Wetlands and our  walk and visit with the swans. Interesting today (Monday) in that I had just taken a photograph of the swan when it decided it had to go and spread its wings and take off and yes I did  photograph this — not, perhaps as good as I would have liked, but it did come as something unexpected, so I was not ready for it. When it took off I really thought it weas going to go head first into the bridge, then it suddenly swooped straight upwards, well clear of the bridge.  The other pair were  just swimming around in the pond beyond the bridge.

I am heading off to Adelaide on Thursday of  this week. I have a major account from the SA Ambulance Service for the transport of Annabell from Quorn back to Whyalla and I prefer to take that to my insurance Co. rather than post it down.  When I was  taking Annabell to the Cancer clinic I got into the habit of taking accounts  that were covered,  to the insurance for payment. Apart from which I really want to get out of town for at least a day and spend time  wandering around Adelaide Centre. John is going to look after Benji for me  and then pick me up from the Coach Station later at night. Apart from the Ambulance account I really haven’t much to do in Adelaide but the break will be most welcome.

The unfortunate thing about Adelaide is that for a major city it has a pretty poor excuse for a Coach Station – the seats are not the best – actually they are pretty poor, there is no place to buy anything to eat or drink and if you want something to eat of drink it’s a ten minute walk to the  Central Market and back.  There were other Coach companies when the place first opened, but they have since moved out leaving the place almost empty except for the Whyalla /Flinders / Flinders Ranges service. People don’t really like it because it is

too far a walk from the city centre. True, the old Coach Station was just across the road but at least it had a canteen which served hot food and drink.   I wont have time to go to the big  centres but I will be able to get to Central Market and if  you include Rundle Mall that’s  big enough for the few hours I have there.

However, I will probably spend much of my time in Rundle Mall in the city. I want to look for a new coat for Benji. The one he has he has had for a long time and it  is getting a bit worse for wear and there is no Annabell  to make him a new one, so I will see what I can get for him. If I can get a tartan one so much the better – but I doubt it. If I fail, I might try and have a  “nice talk” with one of the RFDS ladies and I will supply all the necessary material. – We’ll see…

The weather has been cold and many people – including me – have mentioned that it has never been this cold that we can remember. This could well mean that – like you – we could be for a very hot summer.  We have had some rain, but not too bad although the wetlands could do with a drop more, but I just want some heat..

Saturday 29th

I neglected to include one of the photographs I took when I was at the Wetlands with Benji. The reason for not including it was that I thought it was too far away to be useful. I have had another look at it and perhaps it is not as far off as I thought it was. I did get up with the alarm this morning and decided that it was cold, wet and miserable and not really a good idea to go out walking. Benji was still sleeping and I doubt he would have been really happy with me if I were to drag him from a nice warm bed out to the cold and the rain  ( drizzle). Actually, I really didn’t  fancy the idea myself, so we just stayed home.

I have to drive through to Port Augusta tomorrow and the weather is supposed to be  cold, but dry. As I said the other day I will be watching the boys and the Karate Grading for the next level. Once the Karate Grading  is done I will do some shopping and perhaps  spend some time at the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens before heading home. I would like to take Benji with me but I do not know how long the Grading will take and dogs are not allowed in the Arid Lands B.G. so I really don’t like the idea of him being in the car the whole day.  The grading  and the driving, took up all of five hours. Two hours driving there and back and three hours for the grading, results, presentation of  new belts, so as I suspected – too long for him to be in the car and I didn’t get to the Arid Lands anyway.

However, it was good to be home again and I think he was pleased to see me. Tomorrow, being Monday,  I will not be going to watch the boys at training bur rather I will be attending the AGM of the Royal Flying Doctors, Local Support. I think I did mention before that there is a move to have me returned as Secretary again, but I will do my very best

to kill that off – who am I kidding – I will not accept any  nomination. It’s much too early and as I said before, my successor,  the Present Sec. is doing a good job. Through one thing and another, I have been out of things for much too long, and  the system I  created  here on the computer, is long gone. Apart from which, I really don’t want to  be tied up so much. I was secretary for over 11 years and I sort of feel like Australian _ “Been there! – Done that! – Don’t want to go back again!!”. I just want to spend my time with Benji and the boys with  helping out in the occasional  fundraiser.

The Karate grading yesterday was quite interesting. I understand, however, that changes had to be made, mainly because there were no matts available.  Apart from their problems I had  my own problems ( as did most of the parents present) – the place was like a blooming ice-box. There hours of that was quite enough. At least the next grading will be in November – summer! But that aside, it was interesting. Andrew did not up-grade, but he assisted across the area when needed and to assist others when required.  John up-graded to a Brown Belt and young Connor upgraded  to a Blue Belt, and I just sat quietly and froze!! Was glad to get back to the car and get the heaters on. I did get over to the market but there was nothing there that I really wanted, so I just made my way home.   By the time I got home I had heated up somewhat so I  got Benji and we went out for a short  walk together.  A new week begins and, we hope, a bit drier and a bit warmer that the week just gone. The sun is out but there is,  presently, no heat in it

Things are starting to settle down and I am attending to things I need to attend to – which at the moment – mainly – involves Benji. Benji has been very attentive these last few weeks and I look after him as he looks after me. We have been out in the mornings, but not all mornings. Some mornings it is cold and damp, so we just don’t go out. Once things have settled down and I am organized, we  drive to the Wetlands and spend several hours wandering about there. Still a bit on the cool side so not a lot of activity from the Swans. There have been a few but too far out in the pond to take any decent photographs.  The sun might have been out but so was her mate – the wind-  and at times the wind could be quite cutting and cold. Mind you it is winter.

Generally, in the morning we go out with Benji in the stroller. When we go round the Wetlands, he was also in his stroller, but he seems to be quite content to sit quietly and let the world go by and let “daddy” do the work. Benji will be 14 next month so he deserves a bit of pampering. The disadvantage with the wetlands is that once he is in the stroller, that’s him until the end of the walks. When we do the district walk here at home, we go three quarters of the walk in the stroller, which brings us back to the house – I cross over and  get him out of the stroller, attach a leash and we finish the walk together, but I think I mentioned that before :o)  This morning I had a visit from Barry and we sat for a few hours chatting and drinking coffee.

During the week I spent time with some good friends that were over from Canberra.  Although I write to them fairly regularly, I have not seen them for some time, so it was good

to catch up and have coffee with them.    They have their caravan parked at Port Augusta and  will  be heading to Quorn – Andrew is a steam train enthusiast and is a member of the Quorn Steam Train Group. Once things settle down and the weather improves, I’ll start going a bit further from the house. I have a small camp griller, so if I was  away for  hours, I could make coffee and something to eat for both of us.

I  photographed this little fellow the other day. Not quite sure what he/she is – some kind of wading bird I suppose. We have  two resident pelicans but  they alternate between the Foreshore and the Wetlands. Didn’t see either of them on the day we were at the wetlands so I assumed they were  “holding court” at the foreshore.  There was a time when we only had one Pelican and he was named “Percy” Now we seem to have two and since no  one seems to know which is which, they both get referred to as  “Percy”.

This weekend the boys, are doing their grading for their next Karate Belt.  Since it’s a regional thing it’s being held in Port Augusta and I said I would go through and be there to watch them.. I have already been watching some of the practice sessions here with them. I found these quite interesting. And yes, I was asked if I was interested in joining. I thought this was a joke, so I laughed – but I also said NO.   I don’t think that it really is my “style”.

As a follow up from yesterday I decided to take a wander around Ada Ryan Gardens. Not such a great move. Been ages since we had been there and   he was stopping every feet or so. It was  a frustrating walk so I cut it short and came home. By the time we cleared the Gardens it was starting to become quite cold and the wind was getting up.  The best place was in a warm room with a hot coffee  – which is where I am now. We had only just got home when it started raining. I have to mention that  this morning I had a hand delivered  lovely Sympathy Card from a former student. Her comments were very touching and I was much moved.

Annabell’s funeral was held on Wednesday 12th June. It was very well attended because she was much loved. Since then it has been a very trying time getting things sorted out, but I think I am slowly getting there. At least I am holding things together. The staff at Whyalla Funerals have been wonderful – very helpful, friendly and very considerate. They could not do enough. The boys are both working so they have not been able to give as much help as they would like. Benji has been very attentive and has looked after me. – I feel much loved.   However there is still so much to do, and this cold weather is not really helping things., We have missed our morning walk sometimes because I have been unwilling to get ready and face the cold, or he has decided not to go out. Still, we have made it up in other ways – like afternoon wanders around the wetlands, followed by coffee and treats. Interestingly, in the last few days I have been asked by a few people if I  have stopped walking the dog in the morning, because they haven’t seen me as they head off to work

Actually, it has been quite interesting with Benji, and I can hardly move and he’s at my side – as for going out in the car without him– Forget it! I think I said before that Benji is not a “Head out of the Window”  kind of dog – he’s more of a “curl up on the front seat and go to sleep” kind of dog, but if he thinks I am going out in the car – he’s at the door before I am. Even if I am only going to check the mail, he’s there. Well, you can never be too sure! The photograph of Benji and me was taken by Andrew

At the weekend Andrew will be in Adelaide, so  I want to get some help from John – depending on the weather – and have the trailer taken to the dump and emptied. Yes, I dare say I could do it myself, but it would be quicker and more efficient with the both of us working on it. I also want to try and  drive through to Port Augusta and get some things for Benji that the shop here doesn’t  seem to be stocking at the moment.

Both  John & Andrew have placed a kind of dilemma on me. They want to know why I do not go back to the church. My reply was that I did not think I would we welcome back. Andrew suggested that it didn’t seem like that when they were all over me at the funeral. My comment was  that funerals are different – so don’t judge – that was all for the sake of your mother – not for me. I resigned for a reason and although the reason behind my resignation may no longer valid, my thoughts and feelings for  doing so  are not.

As I said above, the weather these last weeks has been cold – particularly in the mornings and in the evenings. The days are not too bad but as winter progresses that will probably change. The swans are still around although I have not seen much of them recently and I have noticed when I have been there that the water level has dropped considerably. I hate to say it, but we really need rain – lots of rain – to  recharge the ponds and bring the water level back up. There has been no rain to speak of for quite some considerable time.

. You know the old saying – “always be careful what you wish for” well, I didn’t quite wish for rain but I did suggest that we could do with some and it has been chucking it down all day. Still, I suppose I should look on the bright side and think about how this is all helping to refill the wetlands ponds.  If this weather keeps up, the next few days should be interesting. I really don’t mind the rain but I dislike the cold.