Month: February 2012

From about  the middle to the end of last week the temperature was in the high 30c low 40c and hot outside so I did little work other than keep up the watering to the plants in the evening. This week I have been called in to work for the first two days and today – although I am not working and at home – it’s chucking down, and has been all night. Not a lot going on really.

Amazing the end of summer already. Apart from a few blasts of heat ( like this current blast) it has been a fairly mild summer. There have been a few days of extreme temperature when the mercury has reached the low 40c but all-in-all it has been fairly mild. Although, having said that, the mildness has been the companion of a constant wind, Unlike the northern hemisphere, in this part of the world a North Wind is a hot wind off the desert and right at the moment with the temperature at 41c. we have a North Wind. Here it’s not the heat that drags you down,it’s the wind that sometimes goes with it – like now. Needless to say, I am not really in the mood to go out in this heat and start swinging a socking great sledgehammer to break top the cement and start to remove the old washing line system.  I’m not really keen to do much at the moment other than get up close and personal with an air-conditioner. Once a cool change comes through, I’ll

see about  making a start again. Although having said that I did do some work. I removed the  big bird-bath from the front of the house and brought it round to the back. Probably in the next day or so I’ll clean it up and have it ready for going back once I finish the front of the house. The think was badly leaking so I had it resealed and  painted a light blue. The birds seem to like it, but then, I suppose they like anything that has water in it. In warm, but not hot days, I still take my laptop outside and I still have breakfast with the dogs, but when it’s too hot, we bring the dogs inside.

Once herself rises I am going to head off to Port Augusta – about 48 miles east of here. I  want to visit a particular shop then nip into their Garden Centre on the way out of the city. I don’t expect to find much, but it’s a different place to go and look at. I have increased the herb garden by adding Radishes and Oregano, so we’ll see what happens there. All the flowers in the shade house are alive and well, so perhaps the black thumb is not quite as black as it once was. One can only hope. On the other hand, my Poinsettia is not well. I don’t rightly know what’s going on there but I will keep trying.

I didn’t get what I wanted in Port Augusta and I  did visit the Augusta Garden Centre on the way back out. I didn’t get anything there either but  I liked the idea they have  of selling the red chips in bags as well as in bulk.  I suppose some would say it was a wasted trip but I don’t see it like that – it was a lovely day for a drive, 34c, the roads were clear an I had  a good drive there and back and an enjoyable few hours away from Whyalla – that has to be good. At the moment I am stuck until I get assistance to move the rocks from the front so I can get the trailer in and get the black bark lifted. I would do some digging, but at 41c. it’s a tad warm too warm to be swinging a socking great sledgehammer..

Over the weekend my son and I drove to Adelaide (478 klms) and went out to Ikea and Bunnings. John bought  some nice chests of drawers and I bought a walnut bench for my office. From Ikea we drove to Bunnings and I bought the 12 meters of green outdoor carpet that I wanted for the washing line area as well as a new timber doghouse. I also discovered that the new clothes line will not fit into the old system so it looks as if I am going to have to dig the old  section out of the ground and cement a new one in its place. This could take a while. Anyway  driving to Adelaide was not  an indulgence and I had to go to Adelaide  for a conference on Saturday morning, so we thought we might as well take the trailer and  kill two birds with one stone – so to speak. There is a service station and food place about halfway between Whyalla and Adelaide. It’s called  The Tin Man and it’s sort of an unofficial meeting place. On Saturday as John and I drove home we stopped at the Tin Man for fuel.  I was just paying for the fuel when my other son walked in. He and his friends were going down to Adelaide for a concert and the friends wanted to know if this was an arranged family reunion :o) Yes, all round it was an interesting weekend. I built the new house for Chienna last night and she seems to be accepting that although I think the little man has his eyes on it.

Ali had his ditty “Dance like a butterfly – sting like a bee”  Dance like a butterfly is to constantly move around – to flirt from space to space – and that’s really what I am doing. I cannot start the washing area until such time as I go to Adelaide and get the 12 meters of synthetic grass. That being so, the washing line area has come to a halt for the moment. I decided that, since I didn’t really have a lot to do,  I would not hire a backhoe but would clear the front garden myself. Three hours after I started it I decided to go inside, search the telephone directory and find the nearest  mental hospital so I could book myself in. What was I thinking? Ah well, it’s started now. This “ground cover” (weed) has had ages to get established and getting rid of it will not be easy. I think I sort of realised that, which is why I thought of the backhoe – not back break. I have partly cleared about one third and will start again today. Why am I doing this? I think if the so called ground cover had been at all nice and colourful I would most probably have tidied it up and left it, but it’s not and underneath it is the dirty bark that I hate. It has to go. Once – in the distant past – it was new and blonde. Now it’s just old, tired and dirty black and needs to be replaced. Kind of like a lot of things at the moment. Now I have come to a halt again until I get the trailer to the local dump.

There are three projects that are part of the upgrade. The shade house was the first, the crazy paving is the second and the front garden is the third. The reasons for the crazy paving area being next is to return the Hills Hoist to where it originally was. I moved it to the back of the house to give herself a better surface to walk on. However, as I said it really is too far away from the laundry door and difficult for her to carry the washing that distance. “Well, buy her a trolly, silly”  Actually, I did but she only uses it to rest the washing basket on once she has carried it out there or to leave it there for me lift the washing off and bring it in for her to sort. It is too light for her to have confidence in – if it should move away from her and she fell, it could be a disaster. Something with the weight and stability of a big shopping trolly would probably help.  Better I give her a flatter surface to walk on and one that is closer to where she needs it. And don’t blame me, I never built the original area.  In the photograph it might look flat and even, but believe me, it’s not. A glass or three of a good red and one could very easily trip.  The front garden project will be much easier – get a backhoe and driver and flatten the area to get rid of all that  awful bark stuff. Then I will take my time and rebuild that as I want it. I have already decided what I would like to do there and I will work on the plan I have in my mind.