Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 28 August 2022

Good Morning. Dull & cloudy here, but dry.

AQ - Often a shock to go back to places from Long Ago. Sounds like an interesting outing, though, & glad you were able to get on a bus at last.

Today's quotes:

You know you're getting older when you order stewed prunes and the waiter says "Excellent choice!"

You know you're getting older when a fortune teller offers to read your face .. ....

Rusty - just seen your post. My sweet peas have also finished - maybe too much hot weather this year? They had plenty of watering and feed.

Morning all:

AQ:  I had a look at Kapunda on Google Earth - the image date at the bottom of the screen showed it was taken in 2014 and there is a bakery (the Kapunda Bakery) on a corner. Seemed like quite a few cars around them, so maybe not a Sunday?   But I'm glad you were able to get out again - I used to enjoy your reports! When's the next one?

Almost-normal days here and yes OG, the dog is missing those two acres back in Arizona to the point where granddaughter and Ms. D will take her back there for a few months until things are more settled with daughter...meanwhile, she's (dog, not daughter!) tossing little rubber balls around in my room - a hint she wants to play, but I don't have time right now..

Meanwhlle, I see the Artemis moon rocket didn't make it off the ground due to technical issue.

Take care everyone.

Hi all, and thanks to Diane for starting us off again. Hope all is well.

Update on our latest pussy - Jasper has turned a corner and has started to trust us. He is coming in a lot more and has taken a shine to sitting on dau's lap.

Had a very pleasant Sunday lunch with wine on the patio yesterday - weather a little overcast but with sunny periods.
Off tomorrow afternoon to a friend of Dau's to tea and cakes in the garden providing the weather holds otherwise indoors. Have to pick up a new sleep apnea test kit on Wednesday to do overnight so hope some sort of results come out of it.

Agree that more should be done with helping the problems with housing, poverty , climate change , rather than journeys to the moon.

HEATHER & ANNETTE - Pleased to see you checked Kapunda on Google. Now that 2014 StreetView is very out-of-date. Major changes even since my last visit in 2019. The corner bakery is now a home decor shop. Across the street the Foodworks “open 7 days” store is now derelict. Instead a new Foodland has opened southern end of main street where Google has a vacant area near Clare Castle Hotel.

Covid has hit country towns hard.  The towns were already struggling – govt closes the school, bank closes the branch, so people have to drive further for basics and then they may as well do all their business & shopping in the larger town. Over the 20 years I have been tripping around the state I have noticed gradual deterioration in services but the pandemic years have sped up the process.

Bus trip saga continued. Next stop was Eudunda to see the silo art which features a local author, born nearby, became a teacher & wrote heaps of books. Have you seen the movie “Storm Boy” about a boy & a pelican set on SA’s Coorong? Eudunda has chosen his book “Sun on the Stubble”, “about the hardships of farming communities in this rural area and shows cattle, sheepdogs, riders on horseback and a dust storm”.  The second silo depicts an aboriginal boy, one of the local Ngadjuri people. Eudunda was as sleepy as it was 6 years ago.

 

Statue of Colin Thiele & pelican in Eudunda park.

 

We travelled across to the Clare Valley, to Auburn, the only town with several coffee/lunch places. In the hour stop I photo-ed all the old buildings in St Vincent St & Main St (last visit I was collecting churches). A craft, mainly wool shop was open and I succumbed to a ball of wool in lovely multi shades of dark pinks & reds. I should get 3 beanies from it, not that I am running out of wool but the colours were lovely. After lunch we travelled on, stopping briefly in Mintaro, a former slate mining town. To be continued.

AQ:  Judging from signs on some of the businesses (several years ago), looks like Auburn is in wine country.  I love the silo murals but still remember those fantastic black and white ones you posted a few years back.

Take care everyone.

ANNETTE - Auburn is in one of our major wine growing regions, the Clare Valley. (Google it!) Those black & white are at Coonalpyn, our state's first silo art. There are now 14 painted silos scattered across SA, not to mention water towers.

AQ - I loved the silo art. What a great idea. So sorry about the demise of rural towns. It is happening round here too. It’s such a shame. It sounds as if you had a good day out though. Glad you were able to do it again.
Lynnette - good news that your cat is feeling more settled. It has realised where the comforts are (dau’s lap!!!)
I got my sweet peas down yesterday. It took ages because I cut all the little bits of string off them which I had used to tie them in. Then the sweet peas refilled the garden waste bin which had been emptied at 11am!!!!
Today I am taking my friend with the broken arm to her orthopaedics appointment. It’s 7 weeks since the accident. I do hope they let her take the brace off. I think she may be quite upset if they don’t. She was certainly feeling very fed up when I went to see her on Sunday.