Tag: Family

~ Postcard from Perth – February 2024 ~

The week before last Laurence and Maddy flew over from Melbourne for one of their friend’s engagement. As we have known his friend Harry for the same length of time we were also invited to the party! I was very excited to be going, not so my dear husband. He said he would only stay a while, which was fine by me as I had both children there and their partners, so would be well looked after – or “babysat” as my daughter so kindly put it. 

I had bought a new dress, red wine in colour. When I told Elena she sent me the invite again “black /white cocktail dress”. What to do? Wear it and hope no-one noticed or do as I was told and dress in black or white. I’m so glad I did as I was told, as the fiancee wore bright pink in a sea of black and white. 

It was such a fun party and I was reluctant to leave but Elena and Damian were also going home and I didn’t want to hang onto the tails of Laurence and Maddy. I had also had a few too many! 

Many of Laurence’s old friends were there and it was good to see them all again. All grown up into prosperous young men, which I may have doubted back in the day when I used to find bodies all over the house in the morning. Our house was a bit of a hub for gatherings and sleepovers, of which I was grateful for, on most occasions. Getting woken up at 3 am by the doorbell was a fright I had many a time. I would look out of the window first to see if there was a police car, breath a sigh of relief when there wasn’t and stomp down the stairs with great anger saying “how hard is it to take a key”.

Me and my Babes

Sunday dawned and I didn’t have much time for a lie in as I was also going to be out for most of the day. My friend Lisa had bought ten tickets to & Juliet. We were going to the matinee performance at Crown Theatre, Burswood and having brunch before. 

I think it was unanimous that it was a day well spent. The musical was magical with marvellous performances from all the cast. I’m not that keen on musicals when I don’t know the songs, but we all knew the songs taken from a modern day playlist. 

The story of this musical follows Romeo and Juliet if they didn’t die as Shakespeare wrote. Anne Hathaway decides she doesn’t like Shakespeare’s ending and wants to rewrite the story. At the end of the performance everyone was up and dancing by their seats, it was a great feel good musical.

The rest of the week has been extremely quiet and I’ve hardly left the house. On Monday I thought I would sweep the leaves at the front and pull up some stubborn weeds. By Tuesday I was in agony with a pulled back muscle. I’ve been to the physio and due to go back next week. I feel a slow recovery happening. Until then no dancing, zumba or aqua aerobics. Plenty of binging tv shows and reading. My family think I have a low pain threshold, but who knows someone else’s pain – what is low and high. 

Me last week!

Posted as part of Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share

~ A Review of My 2023 ~

Jumping on the bandwagon with everyone else and thinking about my year that has flown by.

There have been highlights and lowlights (not just for my hair) but we have all ended up healthy and well and that’s all we can ask for. The fact I don’t live anywhere near a war zone makes me all the more thankful for this good life I lead. 

I have travelled far and wide and to places I’ve never been before and enjoyed every moment. 

January

January saw me travelling to the UK to celebrate my mum’s 90th. I took this trip alone and was able to stay with my parents. I could see my Dad was becoming more frail and my mum was slipping into dementia. However we had a fabulous party for her and I’m so glad I was there to be with her. I also took a sneaky side trip to Dublin.

I enjoyed Dublin very much and it was thanks to my neighbour here in Perth who was also there at that time.

February

Back in Perth we continued to enjoy the summer, relaxing on the patio, catching up with friends and trips to the beach.

March

Once again I was travelling back to the UK but this time with Elena and the kids. My Dad had taken a turn for the worse. We arrived just in time for him to see Elena and Lachie again and also to meet Rosie for the first time. A few days after he slipped away. I am thankful that we made it back to see him. He was 91 and had lived a very fulfilling life. 

There was still entertainment to be planned for the children though, so we went up to London and visited parks and playgrounds. They managed to keep themselves very amused in my mum and dad’s house with just everyday household objects. They took the net curtains off one of the windows and used this as a flagpole, found a rolling pin for a microphone and were fascinated by the letter box.

I was hoping any passers-by would not think they were being held hostage!

April

Elena and the kids returned to Perth in April and Anthony arrived. We would be taking care of my mum until the end of the month when the funeral would be held. I caught up with a great many relatives and friends during this month and Anthony and I did manage some days trips to nearby villages and up to London. I was lucky with the support from my relatives and friends in caring for my mum.

Essex Sunset
Farewell Nanny Jean

Anthony was missing Australia so decided to have a makeshift BBQ in the back garden. 

View from my brother’s garden, South Fambridge, Essex

May

After a sad goodbye to my mum we headed back to Perth. We had a fairly quiet May and began our preparations for another trip to Bali, Lake Toba and Penang.

June

This month we travelled to Ubud, Samosir Island on Lake Toba and Penang. We enjoyed all three destinations. The highlight though was definitely Samosir Island, the stunning scenery and the pace of life was just so relaxing. The people are some of the friendliest we have ever encountered. 

July

It was time to visit Melbourne again to celebrate Laurence and Maddie’s engagement. We all went and I’ve already posted about the awful accommodation we stayed in! 

The Happy Couple

August

It’s hard to believe that I again took a long haul flight back to the UK for the third time this year! This time for my cousin’s wedding. It was a spur of the moment decision to go back, but I’m so happy I did. The wedding was such a joyous occasion and enabled me to see my many cousins again. I also had another little side trip to Paris, with the same neighbour and friend who was staying there at the time. It was a fantastic three days, and to travel through the Euro Tunnel was an added bonus.

Gallerie Lafayette

September

It was Laurence and Maddy’s turn to visit us and we had them for a week, which we loved. We managed a couple of lunches and dinners with them, although their feet don’t touch the ground while they are here.

October

Enjoying some down time this month and catching up with long forgotten jobs! 

Ready for Trick or Treating

Elena bought costumes for the boys and I have to say it was a hard job putting them on. 

November

Time for my girls’ trip down south to Dunsborough. We had the best three days, chatting, laughing, drinking and eating.

The dearest friends

December

So here we are at the end of the year already. I’ve only just posted about recent trips to Bali and Hong Kong so won’t go over that again! Just to say another trip is planned in March to Bali, basically to collect my engagement ring which I left in the bathroom at the hotel! I have to ask myself why I didn’t listen to my dear hubby as he said “do a last sweep”. So I lifted my head and scanned the room. Fortunately I got in touch in time and they had found my ring. Ironically the day before at immigration I had found a “diamond ring” on the floor and asked around if anyone had dropped it. I put it in my pocket and forgot about it. That’s karma I suppose.

And so that’s a wrap as they say and if you have read to the end, my thanks to you. 

I wish everyone a fabulous 2024 but most of all a healthy one.

~ Postcard from Perth ~

It’s been a wonderful week here in Perth with the arrival of the newly engaged couple, Laurence and Maddy. We’ve had family lunches and dinners and days out with them. There’s nothing like having all your family around.

My featured photo is the golf course that I live opposite, I have to say though I’ve never been tempted to take up golf. My Dad used to love coming to visit for their annual three months, where he would take up a temporary membership. Just recently I have been walking to Bridge which is the other side of the golf course. I could walk straight across, but I’m not keen on dodging the balls and also don’t think the players would appreciate a random walker suddenly appearing between holes.

Walking around the golf course is like walking through an aviary. There are so many birds flying around now it’s become warmer. I can hear parrots squawking, kookaburras laughing, crows cawing, cockatoos screeching and magpies trilling.

The red Bottlebrush trees are in full bloom along my street. As you can see there are many trees, so not quite sure why our council has seen fit to plant 1,500 more trees along our street and the surrounding suburbs. Maybe to stop the many golfballs that come flying into our driveway. Only last month Anthony’s back windscreen was smashed. The Golf Club do pay for repairs, but it’s the inconvenience of getting it repaired.

Nedlands Golf Course

These birds are all very tame and quite happy to pose and then fly on their way.

I saw a wonderful mural walking back from Zumba the other day and had to stop and take a couple of shots.

“A Single Act of Kindness, Creates Endless Ripples”

I loved the quote to go with it.

Also last week I went to watch my 5yr old grandson during his swimming lessons. I felt a bit sorry for the teacher trying to stop these little guys jumping up and down, they looked like tadpoles, such excitement. It’s amazing what was achieved in two weeks with the majority now water smart and being able to swim. I remember going for swimming lessons but around aged 8 or 9, not as young as 5. I came away being able to doggy paddle.

Now the house is quiet again as the happy couple have left for Melbourne, so we will have to start planning a trip over to see them.

Laurence and Rufus watching the footy

We had one last family BBQ before they left.

Linking up with Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share

~ “It’s been a while” ~

It’s been a couple of months since I’ve written anything or joined in any challenge. Life has been challenging enough for a while!

I returned earlier than expected to the UK with my daughter and two grandchildren to see my dear dad. Fortunately we were just in time to spend a few days at his bedside and for him to see his great grandchildren, I believe he was holding on for us. My dear dad passed away a few weeks ago, having survived a year longer than expected. It was a blessing for my mum to have the children and my daughter on hand to keep her distracted.

After they returned I now have my wonderful husband to help with things. It’s unfortunate that my lovely mum has to go into a care home, but we have found a good one and I hope to have her settled before I return to Australia. It will be a wrench and on my conscience for a long time that this is has to be the outcome.

My dad was 91 and lived a long and mostly healthy and happy life, has left a gaping hole in all of our lives.

Even though I live in Australia and before that Hong Kong, having moved from the UK over 35 years ago, my parents came out every year to see us all. It was great having them every year for three months at a time. They were very independent and drove themselves around, with my dad joining our local golf course and making friends of his own.

A few years ago I bought him a book “Dear Dad, From You to Me”, on each page there was a question about his life and what I meant to him. Who knew he would turn into such a prolific writer, and he wrote pages and pages, filling up notebooks and finding old photos. Once this was written I read this, sometimes with tears but mostly with laughter. I typed this up and in the end had it made into small booklets.

My Dad – Ronald

1931 – 2023

Born in the East End of London and one of eleven children. He was the youngest boy, with five older brothers, two older sisters and two younger sisters. He was born a twin but sadly his brother died at six months old.

He was a fairly naughty boy, being led astray by his older brothers but doted on by his older sisters. My dad tells tales of playing in bomb craters and lighting fires, being dressed up as a guy and carted around in a wheelbarrow for “penny for the guy”.

During the war years he was evacuated twice. He seemed to have come through those years unscathed. The lady he lived with, reading between the lines, treated her charges as little slaves, perhaps this is the reason one of his older sisters brought him home before the war was over.

My dad could put his hand to anything, decorating, do-it-yourself, photography and sketching. We didn’t always see eye to eye being made in the same mould, but he was always there for me and helped me out in numerous ways over the years.

I will miss my facetime chats with him and my mum every week, but I know when I think of him he is with me at all times.

A few of my favourite photos

❤️ “Forever in my heart and in my thoughts, dear Dad” ❤️

🎅 December in Review – 2021 🧑‍🎄

December started off with a bang, literally, as I went to see the latest 0️⃣0️⃣7️⃣ film with a friend at our local cinema. It was the last one for Daniel Craig and we both enjoyed it, although it’s a mighty long film. Full of twists and turns and action packed as usual. The gadgets getting more techno every film. Daniel Craig has done a good job throughout but for me James Bond = Sean Connery.
As I came out of the cinema I saw one of my first Christmas decorations.

“let me out”

~Time for the tree to go up ~

On 2nd December Lachie decided it was time for the tree to go up. All the decorations we could find went on the tree. He was very happy with the result.

Also this first week was the start of the parties, brunches, lunches and dinners. Anthony and I went for dinner one night to a local restaurant, Miss Chow’s and had the most delicious dinner.

Sang Choy Bao
Sweet and Sour Pork
Spicy Crispy Squid

The tree and decorations in the town of Claremont, WA

A few days later it was our Zumba Christmas Party, held at our lovely instructor’s house in her amazing beautiful garden. The food was delicious and of course there was dancing.

A week later there was another zumba party, this time it was brunch attended by 55 ladies! So much food. It was held at another lovely instructor’s house, Laura. We were all asked to bring a small gift to put under the tree for Secret Santa. I couldn’t stay too long as I had another Christmas lunch to go to at the Bridge Club. I struck lucky with my gift, herb scissors and a basil plant, very useful.

It was a very hectic month indeed with a couple more parties and dinners with friends, but such a wonderful lead up to Christmas Eve. This was when the summer really arrived with temperatures in the forties for Christmas and Boxing Day.

We always celebrate Christmas Eve with a seafood dinner. On Christmas Day for the past few years we have been going to our neighbours for Christmas lunch as daughter and son visit respective parents. It is always good fun as they host for around 16 people!

Christmas Eve Table

Just a small table this year as Laurence and Maddy were back in Melbourne, due to the closure of the borders, but still a delicious menu of Cucumber Soup, Smoked Salmon, Cold Prawns and Potato and Green Salad.

Before
After

Santa also brought a big green slide that he spent nearly all night trying to assemble!

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

From Boxing Day until the 29th December we are gradually clearing the house up for our departure to England, we are off to see my parents. Thankfully Elena and Damian are moving in to take care of our two boys so they don’t have to go into kennels.

What a rigmarole to fly back, tests to be taken, forms to fill out, boosters to be had and more tests once we arrive. It will be worth it though to see my parents after such a long time.

My December gallery

Time for a swim!
Jacaranda Trees
Crayfish Salad
A hazy sunset over the Swan River

Hoping everyone has a healthy and happy 2022

~November in Review ~

Taking a look back at my November. Another month gone past in a flash and Christmas is now just a few weeks away. Here are some of my memories of November.

We started off the month with a little trip to Dunsborough which I’ve already posted about.

💜 My precious little peeps 💙

“Pull up a Seat“

Oldest and youngest

In the middle of November we had a day’s outing to a winery in the Chittering Valley to an event called “A Taste of Chittering” held at Nesci Winery with some good friends. The only thing that spoiled a lovely day was the masses of flies! We hardly dared open out mouths.

Don’t these two lovely ladies look cute as gumnuts. They are so talented walking around all afternoon like that.

🍷 We made some time for some tasting after lunch 🍷

The fourth Thursday of every month is when we hold our Bookclub meeting. The November bookclub is the last of the year and our Christmas get together. This year we gathered at a house overlooking the ocean. We had a fabulous lunch and Mango Daquiries with a great discussion of the book.

🌺 My November Garden 🌺

FOTD

Now the Summer has finally arrived I love to sit out for my happy hour 🍹 and listen to the different birds that congregate in my neighbour’s tree. From Kookaburras to Rainbow Lorikeets, Willy Wagtails and Parrots, not all at once of course. My jasmine is out and also the gardenias are in full bloom and the garden smells divine.

I’m now looking forward to a few parties in the coming weeks and tomorrow the tree 🎄 goes up with some help from my little elf.

How was your November?

~ It’s a Good Week to have a Good Week ~

Ju-Lyn from Touring my Backyard has asked us to share our Happy Places and Spaces.

This week for me has been exceptionally busy with all kinds of things. I haven’t had much time at all to sit and blog, although I’ve been reading a few. My posts all seem to stay in my head and when I do get to sit at the computer, they’ve disappeared!

I’ll start with Friday. A friend from my Zumba class was hosting an Abba Party at her house on Friday evening. It was such a fun evening, everyone dressed up and danced for hours. I danced like a teenager but forgot to tell my body. Aches and pains followed the next day.

Most Mondays are now spent looking after my two precious grandchildren while my daughter works. It’s hard work for sure but such a privilege to be with them. This week I had Maddy’s help and we were able to go to Lake Claremont for a little walk and play.

Of course we had to stop in the cafe for a treat on the way back, Rosie mesmerised by herself!

Monday evening we met up with some very dear friends from South Australia on their last night in WA. We have been playing catch up for years and this is the first time in 17 years that we’ve been able to see them.

Tuesday and Friday are Bridge playing days. Tuesday was good, Friday bad! The mornings playing Bridge go so quickly and this is one of the things that I can completely focus on. Wednesday I was also at the Bridge Club having lessons! The weather on Tuesday and Wednesday was atrocious, high speed winds and heavy slanting rain. Such a difference to Monday.

I walked to the Bridge Club on Friday, a drastic improvement in the weather.

Wednesday night was also out for dinner with Laurence and Maddy. I must say that is the only good thing to come out of Covid that they have managed to get back from Melbourne to stay with us for a couple of months.

At our favourite restaurant – Bellisimo

We are having a bathroom renovated and also some trees cut down in the garden, so people have been coming and going all week with trucks and vans. Scaffolding has been put up so Laurence could get to the trees easier! Well he has to earn his keep somehow.

Happy places for me are anywhere my family are and my happy spaces are on a dance floor or at a Bridge table!

🎡 A Royal Day Out 🎡

When I first arrived in Perth, WA in 2004 and had reason to visit the Claremont Showgrounds, I was amazed at the size of this small enclave of buildings. It seemed like a well kept ghost village. There was a ferris wheel and a chairlift that goes all around the huge perimeter of the showgrounds, mostly unused for 90% of the year, I thought what a colossal waste. Sitting on 32 acres of prime land and home to The Royal Show for a week in October. Since then I believe it has opened up much more to concerts, events and markets. Also it is now home to the Covid Vaccination Clinic.

On the last day of The Royal Show the whole family visited. For me it was only the second time I had been to a show and for Lachie and Rosie their very first.

It wasn’t as busy and crowded as I thought it would be, although there were still small queues for the mini rides for Lachie. It was quite funny really, five adults all standing around waiting for Lachie to hop on a ride and shout and cheer him on while he passed slowly by. After lining up for one ride and getting to the front, he declined to board a truck wanting to wait for the black truck to become vacant, it was worth the wait just to see his face.

Soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the view

I ended up buying far too many tokens thinking Lachie would want to go on all the rides but he was more interested in the animals.

Peregrine Falcon

At first I thought most of the owls on display were stuffed! They never moved a muscle or blinked an eye.

A wonderful array of animals

With so many animals to see it was hard to choose a favourite. There was baby chick holding, kitten cuddling, pig patting and goat stroking. The queues for the kittens and baby chicks were far too long for a three year old to wait his turn so we had to miss those out.

We walked down side show alley and purchased a show bag for Lachie, Laurence tried his hand at shooting hoops and managed to win a prize for Lachie on the rifle range, what a great shot.

After a few hours of walking around we were all in need of a stiff drink and food. We found a bench outside and enjoyed cocktails, wine, beer and a few tacos. Rosie was getting fractious by now and it was time to leave. The noise levels were well beyond my capacity by now and I needed to get back also for a lie down. But it was a great day out, to be repeated again in another ten years – maybe!

💓 The Greatest Love of All 💓

This week for CFFC Cee has chosen the song The Greatest Love of All. Immortalised by George Benson and then again by Whitney Houston, two fantastic singers.

I have seen many wonderful posts linked back to Cee and look forward to reading a few. I chose to create a Canva video.

https://videopress.com/v/1biDLHf8?resizeToParent=true&preloadContent=metadata

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Enjoying the waves – Swanbourne Beach

It’s been the best five weeks since my son Laurence and his girlfriend Maddy have been back from Melbourne. The time has gone far too quickly. We’ve been lucky that they could spend so much time with us, especially over Christmas and New Year. Arriving on 4 December and quarantining with us for the first two weeks also meant we saw them every day. After that it was go, go go for them catching up with friends and Maddy’s family.

Yesterday we enjoyed an hour or so at one of Perth’s famous beaches. It took me a while to swim in the sea here, 14 years to be exact! But now I’m like a fish in water. It is extremely “refreshing” but once in your body does adapt. Hubby still refuses to go in.

In the distance is Scarborough

I prefer to swim where there are lifeguards for obvious reasons! But they like it here as it is not as busy as Cottesloe. I’ve bought myself a beach tent but have yet to use it, as it is not easy to take down, it pops right back up again!

I’ll continue to embrace the best that Perth has during this “no travel” period. I feel it will be a while before we leave Australia but I cannot complain at all after reading the daily news!

🏖⛱ 🏊‍♀️ 🌊 🏖⛱ 🏊‍♀️ 🌊 🏖⛱ 🏊‍♀️ 🌊 🏖⛱ 🏊‍♀️ 🌊 🏖⛱ 🏊‍♀️ 🌊