For “homeless grey nomads” we tend to settle in and feather the nest. We do have the use of Ben’s car but other than taking Will and Molly to netball and basketball practice after school or doing some grocery shopping we have yet to venture far. I know we have the super dooper bright yellow shopping trolley but we seem to leave the shopping longer than we should. We end up looking like a couple of pack mules struggling home along the footpath. The car works well!
Grandparent duties have been a lot of fun!! Supervising homework is the number one priority – but I must say it hasn’t been a chore. Will and Molly are keen. Molly will try and read a whole weeks worth of readers/library books on the first night – she gets very tired towards the end!! She also loves to help walk Raz and Sasha – our house sit dogs. She has mastered the art of picking up the “poos”and is very proud of herself. We also had Will visit for the day – not well enough to go to school. He improved remarkably quickly and by lunch time was starving and bright as a button. They – Ben, Komala, Will and Molly – are away in Bali at the moment having a holiday. We still have their two chooks to look after so not completely off the hook! We take the dogs for a walk and chill out while the chooks have a scratch in the garden. Their food and water is topped up, eggs collected. A very pleasant way to spend our time.
Now our walks with the dogs are pretty much snail pace. Sasha pulls on the lead to go quicker – but Raz is lucky to get past a slow trot. He is 17! So in order to get some more vigorous exercise I’ve started walking along the river’s edge in the early mornings – well maybe not always “early” mornings and maybe not always that vigorous! The river – more of a narrow stream really – is only a street or so away from us. Lots of walkways to use and little parks to visit. Reg came with me this morning – nice to have the company. There’s some outdoor exercise equipment in one of the parks so we stopped and did a mini workout. I really enjoyed it. Hope to keep it up while we’re here.
We’ve been into the Adelaide city centre a couple of times. Very pleasant main shopping mall – not too big, not too busy. Lovely Botanical Gardens on North Terrace – nice for little walks. Yet to visit the Adelaide Museum and Art Gallery but hope to get there – it’s been years since we’ve been! We did have an unexpected trip into the Royal Adelaide Hospital to visit our son-in-law Matt – Marni’s husband. Matt works in a mine in outback South Australia – one week on, one week off. He had a sore throat that developed into tonsillitis, that developed into quinsy. Quinsy is a throat infection/abscesses and can be very dangerous – the related swelling can block the airway if things get out of hand. So Matt was flown to Adelaide by the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS). It took hours as they had to drop off at Port Augusta to pick up another patient. He was on heaps of medication the whole journey so by the time he arrived at the hospital things were looking much better. The next day he was back to his normal chatty self and we were all accusing him of being a fraud! It was really interesting to hear about his flight with the RDFS. Such a tiny space – medical equipment hanging from the ceiling, things stored in every possible nook and cranny. The RDFS staff are amazing – they’re trained to handle just about anything! Not a lot of extra help in the middle of the Aussie desert and it’s a real skill to work in a little shoe box! After making sure the swelling and infection were under control the hospital doctors gave Matt the all clear. He and Marni drove home to Loxton. A happy ending!!!
We are already “very fond” of Raz and Sasha. They’re such lovely, happy dogs. Very content. They now sleep in our bedroom every night. Raz has his own little bed – out of the way in a corner. It’s so easy to trip over him in the middle of the night on the way to the loo! Sasha has a thing for sleeping under cabinets or tables – anything with a roof really – so she has found her spot under our bed. It was a slow process of them wheedling their way into our room but now they just head there when we start to brush our teeth. I will miss them!!
Love as always
Di and Reg
PS still get to catch up on Frodo’s adventures at Mourne Park – he’s as cute as ever!! Still rolling in fox poo at every opportunity!
This entry was posted in Australia, House Sits, Vale Park, Adelaide
Looks so great there guys. Weather looks amazing too. Just slightly warmer than here I think!! Little Frodo star again! 🙂
Yes, can’t keep a good dog down – Frodo’s star continues to shine. The weather here has settled into the low 20s now – much nicer!