Weekend Coffee Share – Travels with Ali

~ Taking it Easy – Perth, February 2025 ~

The Summer school holidays finally came to an end here in Perth. Master Lachie would be starting year 2 and Miss Rosie would be entering kindergarten. Time for new shoes. I took both munchkins to our local shopping centre to have their feet measured up for new shoes. Everything is so sophisticated these days, and feet are measured electronically. Back in the day your foot was put into a wooden contraption with a slide bar.

Rosie was going two and three days a week, so I can still have my days with her.

Out shopping for her favourite toys.

We had some extensive tree cutting and bush pruning performed by professionals. Although my dear hubby said he would do it all – eventually – it’s the removal of all the debris that is a problem. Now I have an empty flower bed to replant, which I’ll be getting advice about.

I’m looking forward to discussing ideas with a lady I found locally.

The weather is turning slightly cooler in the mornings and evenings which is a relief. I’ve been able to sit out in the mornings with my coffee. This little guy has been visiting every morning and having a morning feed. Luckily Zac and Rufus didn’t notice.

Hubby and I had a lovely lunch in Fremantle last week. We tried a place that was new to us but I’d heard good reviews. It was such a beautiful day, we managed to get a table outside.

A couple of sculptures caught my eye. The dog is so cute.

Say hello to Dwert (noongar for dingo). Created by sculptor – Martin Jaine.

The above is a life size sculpture of a memorial to the migrant children. Between 1947 and 1953 over 3,000 children (many unaccompanied) from UK and Malta migrated to Western Australia. They went to voluntary and religious organisations. Many of these children we now know were little more than unpaid workers. They suffered untold abuse which has only come to light in the last ten years or so. The children were told they were orphans. Some of them were. Others had mothers who, due to extreme hardship, had no choice but to let them go.

We stopped at a local delicatessen to pick up some goodies and this exotic lady was posing in the middle of the shop.

Please don’t touch. I am very fragile. My name is Caffe’tina. I was made in 12 days. Arrived 8th January 2023. Multicycling in Brazil.
Coffee beans used on me __ kilo ___ grams.

I thought this was so clever and must have taken ages to put together. I wonder what the answers were?

Well that’s February done and dusted already. Have a lovely March everyone.

I’m joining in with a few challenges.
The Changing Season hosted by Brian and Ju-Lyn
and also Dan’s CFFC – Blue and…
PPAC by Natalie

~ Postcard from Perth – 12-18 Feb 2024 ~

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.

**The famous stone elephants outside Indiana Tea Rooms**

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.

**The container port at Fremantle in the background**

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

💌 Post from Perth 💌 – Dinner Dates and Lunch Liaisons

Who receives post in the mail these days? We never get anything exciting just bills and junk mail. I remember when I first moved to Hong Kong and I wrote to my mum and dad and friends once a week, and my return address was “Poste Restante”, Hong Kong. I used to go often with my passport to the General Post Office and wait with excitement to see who had written .. or who had not! Poste Restante is a general mail service worldwide where letters are sent to the General Post Office awaiting collection by the recipient. Has anybody ever used this service?

A Glimpse of My Week

Starting with our dinner date last Saturday, I had booked a table at a restaurant that was also a music venue. When we arrived we were seated right at the back but on a high table. This turned out to be a good thing as the music was so loud. The menu was fairly limited so I treated myself to a dessert, Lime Cheesecake with a Gin and Lime syrup. There was a gluten free option so I went for this. The keyword being “option”! How hard would it be to use gluten free biscuits. It was a wonderful venue though and the band were great.

Play at low volume!

Monday and Friday were also dinner dates, Monday a girls’ night and Friday with friends.

**A birthday celebration for Vivita!**
**Enjoying cocktails on the terrace of a newly renovated hotel in our local town of Claremont**

On Friday there was a special dining night at the golf club (I don’t play golf, just a social member!) a Latin American themed menu with tables on the terrace. We enjoyed the temperature and the wonderful evening sky.

Also on Friday I finally caught up with a very good friend for lunch, and when we checked our diaries couldn’t believe that it had been five months since our last lunch. Where does the time go? We had more than enough to talk about in the short time we had.

Every other Wednesday I play bridge socially at the golf club which is followed by a lunch with the ladies who are playing. I’ve just joined this group so I’m gradually finding out about all these new friends.

Well not much else to report, Anthony’s passport finally turned up three months later! I did return to my “dancing in a line” on a Wednesday evening – a year later… I hope the steps come back to me eventually! They have learnt an awful lot of new dances, it was hard to keep up.