All go at Dolphin Boulevard

It is always 'all go' here in our house on Dolphin Boulevard, and regardless of making promises to myself to regularly write blogs, time and other activities always seem to get in the way.

Today is definitely a day for writing a blog, due to it raining outside and I am putting off filling in forms to see if we qualify for any benefits here, namely a health care card for me, and perhaps a bit of a top up of pension.   The process for applying for any benefits here is so difficult, and cumbersome and requires a high degree of intellectual mastery of form filling.    And if you fall outside of the normal criteria, then it is extra complex, and no one is ready to answer questions or give any assistance.   Not for free anyway. And if anyone suggests popping along to Centrelink, forget it.    

The rain is falling steadily outside,   One would think, in the driest city, in the driest state, in the driest country in the world, that rain is always desperately needed.   But not so, and I think that we have had our fill of rain here, for a while.  So anyone that lives in the northern hemisphere and is currently feeling envious of us living in a state of continuous sunshine, I can assure you it is not true.   We are not a city with perpetual sunshine.    Mind you, when it does shine, it is wonderful.    But we get our bad weather also, and this is especially so in winter and in spring.    At the moment we are getting a few days of glorious sunshine followed by days of cloudy, windy or rainy weather.   Last week we had a storm of massive proportions, so much so I thought the new verandah would be blown away.   And it took me most of the day to clean out the swimming pool as it was full of dust, leaves and twigs, which had got underneath the pool cover.    

And before I go any further, I must write about our little bit of excitement yesterday.    The door knob on our bedroom door would not open the door, it just kept sliding around.    At 5.50 a.m. the dog, Walter and I were trapped in our suite, namely bedroom, walk in robe and bathroom.   Luckily we had a bathroom.    And there was no climbing out of the windows, because they have security fly screens on them, and are not removable.    Walter tried to open the door with a screwdriver, kept for emergencies in his drawer, but without success.    After a few moments of panic, I rang Steve, who was conveniently sleeping in a bedroom not far away, and he got up and opened the door from the outside.    Thank goodness Emma and Steve were living with us.    'Pensioners rescued from bedroom' is a headline that comes to mind.    Walter went out and bought new door knobs and mechanism, as I would not accept his assurances that he could fix the old door knobs.    The old knobs also had a lock that was part of the mechanism.   Very strange.

But life is not all about door knob dramas, or rain or filling in complicated forms.    It is mostly about having lots of fun, and activity filled days.

We celebrated Jay's birthday, and to be here for the first time on her birthday, was very special.  Hamburgers, with all the trimmings, cooked by Darren, followed by the most enormous pavlova, covered in sweets and fruit., which Billie-Joe brought with her.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and Jackson, Isabel and Jay started the party off, with a game of pool volleyball.

The birthday girl, looking very happy, with Darren, Billie-Joe and Jespa.

We have had another two dogs visit us, a gorgeous pair, who Piper fell in love with, and then tried to dominate.

Piper was also very jealous as both dogs wanted to sit or lie close to me, and Piper also tried to do the same thing.     And I was not feeling ill when the photograph was taken, rather it was a case of trying to have a little snooze on a cold day, with three dogs sitting on top of me.    Very cosy.

One of Piper's favourite resting positions, lying stretched out but ready to bounce up should someone want to play with her.   Hope this pose is not detrimental to her hips. 

Finally, Piper has completed her Bronze level training and she has a certificate to prove it too.   It also means that we get a reduction in our dog registration fees next year.    Happy days.

Our U3A walk last Thursday was held in the atrocious wet and windy weather.   Just about everyone turned up for the proposed walk along the beach, which ended up as a walk along the edge of Aldinga Scrub Reserve, where there was a little less wind.   However we are a tough lot. 

A view of part of the wetlands, which is part of the conservation programme.    Large areas have been set aside for the programme, namely how to manage storm water, rather than let it flow straight out into the sea, which then causes pollution and destroys the sea grasses.    The wetlands have attracted many species of water birds, as well as being attractive areas to walk around.

Aldinga Beach after the storm, when the storm left a large area covered in stones and looking like a beach in England.

We visited Glenelg with Donna, Patrick and Lucy, in order to look at the world Surf Life Saving competitions.     This is a very exciting event for Adelaide.    Sadly the weather has not been pleasant, what with rain, wind and cloud cover plus low temperatures. 

On the beach there is now an area set aside for hiring sun loungers, together with a bar and I presume a restaurant. 

Lucy took the photograph below the previous Sunday, on a lovely hot day, and before the storm the following Wednesday.    Very Mediterranean.

The view of the same area last Sunday, after the storm.   There was a deep ditch in front of the building in order to prevent the waves washing everything away.    We think one of the stands for the Surf Life Saving Carnival was washed away, but not really sure.   The competition was being held in the background.

The competitions in progress.

Some of the swimmers.

Moseley Square, Glenelg, all ready for Christmas.

And a couple of photos of new additions to the house.    Darren used left over timber to build a long garden bed in which I am growing herbs plus a few vegetables, namely peppers, courgettes, tomatoes, silverbeet and a couple of strange looking rhubarb plants.   Unfortunately some of the plants are struggling due to Piper digging up the soil in search of the horse poo which lies at the bottom of the beds.

The new verandah and pool fence, so  much room now to walk around the house and on a couple of hot days we could feel the benefit of the wide verandah.

I managed my second bike ride with a very patient group.   It was a gradual climb all the way from Aldinga to Willunga, a climb that is barely noticeable in a car.    But I should have realised it would be tough, the view from Aldinga is of a town half way up the hills behind us.    Our 'Mr Condescending' or 'Mr Know it all' kept away from me, and generally just circled around, and did a few extra kilometres.   But he was full of information about bike paths around Adelaide, and very pleasant about it, so I decided that he was okay after all. 

And now that I am finished this blog, there is no excuse but return to the paper work.   Ever onwards.