Posts about my interests in life besides travel
Here’s hoping to everyone who follows me and to those I follow that you all have the most wonderful Christmas. I’ll be looking forward to reading and writing more posts in 2025.
This little outing was taken during the last school holidays and it’s also just down the road from me. The Claremont Museum is somewhere I’d never visited even though we’ve lived here for 20 years. I thought I would check it out with my two munchkins.
The building was actually a school once upon a time, called Freshwater Bay School opening in 1892. It was subsequently used for a place of worship, a boarding house for young men and also a police station.
There is no entry fee which was surprising and when we entered the kids were given clipboards by the lady in charge with photos of tiny lego men which were hidden all around the museum.
After spending a good hour in here we wandered down to the small river beach and as it was a hot day, they decided to have a paddle and build sandcastles.
Sand and water provide endless entertainments for kids.
After I had taken this photo I zoomed in and was taken aback at how creepy and ugly these mini sculptures were!
“Kids, hallowed be thy youth. Enjoy it while it lasts.”
― DON SANTO
Oh! to be young again is many a lament you often hear from old people, but I’m not sure I would want to be a child again. I’m very happy I don’t have to go to school anymore, especially not hundreds of years ago anyway.
“No matter if you’re 14 or 90 years old, you’ll never be this young again.”
Matt Purcell
Tina from Travels and Trifles is the host this week for Lens-Artist and the topic if you haven’t guessed is “To be young again”.
This February has been one of the hottest here in WA for decades, so I decided to get myself off to the beach most days. The sea is always chilly to start but you slowly get used to it, or maybe you just go a bit numb! Most days have been between 37 and 43! Everybody has the same idea so before 9am or earlier is the best time. The water has been like a mill pond and absolutely wonderful to swim, or water walk.
It’s also school swimming month and the sea fills up pretty quickly with small bodies. My own swimming lessons were a far cry from this, and if you are English and reading this you will know what I mean. Having to get on a bus for a 30 minute ride, changing in a communal room and those funny wooden pallets all over the floor. The overwhelming smell of chlorine still to this day brings back memories.
I met two of my friends on some of the days and after we treated ourselves to breakfast.
I’ve been lucky enough this week to have dinner out twice, once for a friend’s birthday and another night to our favourite restaurant.
These three are my wonderful group of friends, I can always rely on one, two or three to join me in most outings. So very blessed to have them in my life.
La Pizza is like a Woman,
you have to look after her, tend to her, check on her…
I saw this in the restaurant the other night as I watched the chef lovingly shape and pat the pizza dough.
On Saturday Elena and the munchkins came for a sleepover which Anthony and I always love. After fun and games in the pool we came in and played more games. At 3 and 5 it’s great to be able to play a proper game like memory.
Today – Sunday – we went to the beach again. I think all of Perth had the same idea. We spent around 45 minutes driving along the coastline to look for a carpark. The rangers were out in force and I saw many cars already had tickets for parking illegally. Finally we spotted one at the “dog beach”. We parked and walked down to the beach. I don’t think I’ve seen so many dogs jumping in and out of the water.
I’m very fortunate that I live so close to some fabulous beaches and have changed my habits a little by getting up earlier to avoid the extreme heat later.
Well that’s my week over and done with, the next week is going to be much the same weather wise, hopefully I can get down to the beach on a few days.
Posted also for Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share and Sue’s Weekend Traffic Jam
Since I have a historical books to share this month I decided to feature a painting of 19th century ladies reading forbidden books. The artist was Alexander Mark Rossi painted in 1897. Historical novels are one of my favourite genres and I love putting my feet up and travelling back in time. Even if you were privileged and had money life was still difficult for a woman, especially so if she couldn’t have children or didn’t conspire to what her husband’s idea of a wife should be.
A rollicking royal romp as described by Goodreads and I totally agree. The story of Lady Augusta and Lady Julia, two 42 year old twin sisters living independently in the 18th century. Lady Augusta is the feisty one and prone to getting herself in all sorts of trouble. After helping a friend out to retrieve some letters from a man in Vauxhall Gardens, they decide to start helping other unfortunate women. In the course of their adventures they meet Lord Evan, an outlaw who has escaped his imprisonment in the colonies. I loved this book and am hoping for a sequel. It wasn’t all polite tea parties and music assemblies I found, there were some very gruesome details thrown in. A very well researched book into women’s lives during this period.
I always enjoy this author’s books and this was no exception. I hadn’t intentionally set out to read two books of a similar theme and was surprised to find references to a terrible practice in the 18th and 19th century in both books. This book features Lady Caroline Corsham who sets out to find the murderer of her dear friend Lucia. She later discovers that Lucia was not in fact a “lady” but a high class prostitute. Lady Caroline enlists the help of “thief-taker” Peregrine Child. Both Lady Caroline and Peregrine Child featured in the earlier book Blood and Sugar. There were many characters in this book and I had to concentrate to remember who was who. I whizzed through the pages and look forward to reading her next when it comes out.
A light story featuring many of Jane Austen’s characters. All of whom I had heard of but couldn’t remember in which story. Very clever how the author intertwined their plot lines throughout the book. I had to use a Jane Austen character website, which was very useful! I did think this was more of a YA story, but then again I don’t know many young adults these days reading Jane Austen type stories.
“The happily married Mr. Knightley and Emma are throwing a house party, bringing together distant relatives and new acquaintances—characters beloved by Jane Austen fans. Definitely not invited is Mr. Wickham, whose latest financial scheme has netted him an even broader array of enemies. As tempers flare and secrets are revealed, it’s clear that everyone would be happier if Mr. Wickham got his comeuppance. Yet they’re all shocked when Wickham turns up murdered—except, of course, for the killer hidden in their midst” – Goodreads
The two youngest guests Juliet Tilney and Jonathon (the oldest son of the Darcy’s) set out to discover who the murder is. An easy and enjoyable read.
What’s on Your Bookshelf is a challenge hosted by Deb, Jo, Donna and Sue every month. If you need any recommendations look no further than these wonderful blogs to find your next riveting read.
This last week has been another busy one for me, beginning with entertaining guests from the UK. I have been chatting a while now with Little Miss Traveller (aka Marion from Love Travelling Blog) and when she emailed and said she would be visiting Perth with her son Mark I immediately invited her to stay. They had a few days in the City before joining us for their last few days. We hit it off immediately and Anthony and I showed them around different parts of Perth.
Perth was in the grip of a heatwave and the temperatures were late thirties, but we still ventured to Kings Park the next day. We enjoyed a good walk around the park but I had to concede in the end and sit in a cafe while Marion and Mark carried on for a while.
We then drove into Claremont my local town to have lunch and a look around before heading back for a rest (for me anyway!). That night we had dinner in Fremantle at a beachside restaurant.
On Sunday we drove to the Perth Hills to one of our favourite wineries, Plume. We always receive a lovely welcome here and the service is outstanding as are the views.
I had told the lovely owner that I would be bringing guests and she arranged a wonderful table for us overlooking the valley and vineyards. We enjoyed a delicious charcuterie board and a dish called Flammekueche a German style pizza.
We stopped off on the way home to take some of the views of the Perth Hills and the Perth Skyline in the distance.
Over the next two days Marion and Mark took themselves off and explored other parts of Perth, which I’m sure Marion will be posting soon.
On Marion and Mark’s last night we had an early dinner overlooking City Beach to watch the sunset. It was one of my favourite restaurant/pubs Clancy’s Fish Pub. Unfortunately for Anthony in my haste to take a photo of the sunset I knocked over a whole pint of beer into his lap and over his dinner! Luckily the manager replaced these free of charge, but poor Anthony had to sit through dinner very wet indeed. He was extremely gracious about it.
It was a pleasure to meet Marion and her son Mark and we did compare other bloggers who we follow and found we had quite a few in common. So many of you will recognise Marion. Meeting someone in person, especially when you have been communicating a while can be daunting, but we certainly had no worries on that score and got on like a house on fire.
This is a new challenge for me and it’s hosted by Donna @ Retirement Reflections and Deb @ The Widow Badass
I have been trying to find the perfect stuffed eggplant recipe for a while now and in the end I’ve just come up with my own. I won’t be writing it conventially but just some text with the photos I’ve taken along the way.
Start with two medium sized eggplants/aubergines. Cut them in half lengthwise and score and salt. Leaving them for 30 minutes to sweat out the bitterness.
In the meantime, saute two brown onions and two to three cloves of crushed garlic in olive oil. Cooking them slowly will make them go nice and nutty flavoured.
I then added 2/3 tomatoes and sauteed them down.
Wash the salt of the eggplants, dry and brush with olive oil and sprinkle on some paprika. Put in the oven at 180 degrees for 40 minutes.
Add 500 grams of free range pork mince and cook until brown all over.
Add two to three teaspoons of spice mix in a little water to make a paste. I used this one as it has a mixture of ginger, cardomon, cinnamon, pimento, nutmeg, turmeric and mace.
The eggplants should look like this, with liquid seeping through. Now press down with a fork and add the mince mixture. I scooped some of the eggplant out to make more room. Sprinkle some cheese on top and bake for 15 minutes
Serve with salad and rice. You can add your own variations. I also did this with chickpeas and mushrooms and a moroccan spice.
The secret for me was cooking the eggplants first and not scooping out the flesh beforehand.
Anyway I’ve posted enough for this time!
Brian from Bushboy’s World has challenged us to post the last photo on your camera/smart phone. I took these yesterday.
All ready to go trick or treating. I had to give them quite a few treats to get them dressed!
A little video of Rufus trying to look for more.
Changing Seasons is really the correct phrase to describe Perth at the moment. We had a mini heatweave last week, like a summer’s day but it’s Spring and a few days later wind, rain and cold nights again, but another heatwave at the end of the week.
This challenge is hosted by Ju-Lyn and Brian from Bushboy’s World.
The first ten days of September I was still in the UK, where they also had a late summer heatwave. The trouble there is you can’t sleep at night as there was no breeze at all! Just can’t be happy can we? I spent those days going to visit my mum in the care home and catching up with old friends and family members.
My mum was so sad to see me go, it was heartbreaking for me. She had forgotten that it was time to say goodbye. She has made a new friend though.
I also had a quick visit back to my childhood home to clear out some more “stuff” with my brother. It will be odd not staying here again.
I popped outside to take a few photos of the garden and saw this cheeky fox, which is undoubtedly the fox I have taken many photos of before. Peeping through the fence (which ties in with Sunday Stills – Fences).
Soon after I returned to Perth we had a visit from Laurence and Maddy, which I’ve already posted about. That was a wonderful week. Rosie also turned 3!
It was also half term here in Perth and I was on duty with “Ninny Daycare” for the munchkins for two days. Exhausting but loved every minute. We made cookies, went to some parks and a cafe. They are such lovely playmates and Lachie is so patient with Rosie. I remember when my brother and I were a similar age and all we did was fight, it was always my fault though, I was a mean girl! Luckily we get on so much better now, well most of the time anyway. I’ll never lose that bossy streak.
The Perth Royal Show was on in the last week in September, I didn’t go this year, but I could see the fireworks from my bedroom window.
Not great images but not too bad for a free show!
Lastly for Brian’s last on the card is my attempt at snapping the full moon with my S22.
Joining in with this week’s Lens Artist Challenge – Recharge.
There’s nothing like a walk with friends to recharge your batteries and even better if it’s by water. As I live very near the Swan River in Perth I often meet friends here for a walk, or it could be along the beach or around a lake. We are spoilt for choice in Perth.
Unplug your mind, Recharge your soul
I don’t walk often enough as I feel I have to have someone with me, whereas my dear hubby can walk for two hours a day with our boys, Zac and Rufus.
My Dad, who passed away earlier this year also liked to walk along the river.
Swimming in the sea is also a great way to recharge, although better if it’s warm! The beaches in Perth are fantastic and we have miles and miles of coastline with many choices. It takes a while to get used to the coldness but once you’re in, so refreshing and you definitely come out recharged.
I’m looking forward to a long summer here in Perth, which is always guaranteed.
“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just
need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens.”
Mandy Hale
Have a great week!
This week was the last of the school holidays and I went with Elena and the munchkins to the WA Museum, Boola Bardip. I’ve never been before so was interested to see what was there.
Boola Bardip means many stories in Whadjuk Nyoongar;
the Country on which the Museum sits.
A fantastic museum for all ages and takes visitors on an enchanting journey through the ages. There are many exhibits to see and also interactive displays and games for the kids to enjoy.
We all had the best time, especially as naughty Ninny said yes to a stop in the gift shop!
The rest of my week was spent shopping, a zumba class, dinner with friends and of course Bridge.
I was surprised that Anthony agreed to accompany me to see Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning. What a hectic ride of a film, so many car chases and implausible stunts, I read Tom Cruise does his own! Anyway I enjoyed it especially the scenery, set in Venice and the Austrian Alps. By hook or by crook, I will visit Venice one day. The film went for so long that we missed our restaurant booking but managed to get a table at the next door Indian, Bollywood which was delicious.
Today (Sunday) Anthony suggested a winery in Bickley Valley. About a 45 minute drive from our house and it has been a beautiful sunny day. I chose Plume Winery which has amazing views over the hills and vineyards.
Posted for Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share, Weekend Sky for Hammad and Pull up a Seat for XingfuMama
