grandchildren

i visited my daughter and g/kids today and took them to lunch.  we shopped a little bit which is always nice.  i bought a waffle maker.  i made some waffles and they tasted quite ok.  i also purchased a new bottle of white musk from the body shop.  my favourite.  it was lovely to see the g/kids especially bubs.  he's such a lovely little thing, he laughed and laughed.  he enjoys it when i cover my face, uncover it and say boo.  i fed him his lunch and had a cuddle.  he's a little sweetie and doesn't like to be still much.  when he crawls he travels really fast.  he takes steps in his play pen but not when he's on the floor.  i don't see them enough.

waiting

i'm a very patient person.  i've been waiting for an alarm clock to arrive from america for ages now.  i gave away my old one.  where is it?  it's got a tracking number and it's still somewhere that isn't here.  i got it from america coz i couldn't get one here.  i got it on ebay.  i hope it comes today.  i got a package yesterday but it certainly wasn't the clock.

an australian rhyme

this is the wattle

a symbol of our land

you can put it in a bottle

or hold it in your hand

happy australia day.  this is a little rhyme that i heard for the first time the other day.  

another one bites the dust

tree that is.  i awoke this morning and went to the window and pulled back the curtains.  the beautiful, very large and heavily laden lemon tree in the unit across the park is no more.  what a shame.  there are not enough trees in the world.  i can see more of the main road in the distance and more of the cemetery.  the cemetery doesn't bother me but the view to the main road does.

painting by karla gerard

more paintings by karla gerard

delicious

recently graham purchased one of those special deals online.  it was a banquet for 2 at a local lebanese restaurant called hello dolly.  we had a lovely time and the food was excellent. afterwards we came back and had coffee.  the phone plan that i changed over to recently is finally in place.  free local, std and mobile calls and unlimited internet.  so far so good.  :) 

hello dolly lebanese restaurant

that's a lot of people

last night i made a small complaint to graham about my lack of an alarm clock in my bedroom.  i like to look up and see the time.  use your mobile he said.  it's not the same and i have to pick it up and open it.  too hard.  :)  he told me that 3.9 billion people in the world don't have a toilet and i was complaining about my alarm clock.  well!  if that didn't put me in my place i don't know what did.  how humbling.  seriously it's true isn't it?  i complain and take for granted so much.  people in the world who don't have clean sanitation

a nun's story

well five nuns and five stories actually.  yesterday afternoon i accompanied my cousin to a distance cousin's celebration mass to mark the fiftieth anniversary of her joining the sisters of mercy order.  i have met her before and i remember hearing about her as a child but i don't really remember meeting her.  i couldn't see a thing in the church which was chockers.  my cousin and i had to sit separately.  no problem.  there was a supper in the hall behind the church afterwards.  my cousin does all of our family history on my dad's side.  our fathers were brothers and are both deceased now.  we didn't get home until nearly 10.  my cousin enjoyed herself as she was able to catch up with some relies and have a chat which she loves.  she took along a bunch of family photos for the family.  my distant (maybe second, i'm not sure) cousin and her fellow sisters told their stories from when they joined until the present.  some came from interstate for the mass.  they all had university degrees and had travelled extensively.  it was an enjoyable evening hearing about their experiences and their working lives.

a confession

do you want to hear a funny story?  yes.  read on.  when i returned from perth i was surprised and very pleased to see that the lemon tree the kids gave me was looking oh so healthy.  i fed it before i left with granule fertiliser i got in the supermarket.  well, my neighbour came out today when i got home and asked me how my lemon tree was.  strange question i thought and what a coincidence.  you can see where this is going can't you?  well, as a matter of fact it looks fab, come in and have a look i said.  it was then that she confessed that she'd given it some concentrated seasol.   she did look a bit sheepish and said if it died she wouldn't have confessed.  lol.  before i left i thought it would die it looked so sick.  we both had a good laugh

healthy growth 

i found this in the garden recently.  it belonged to my mother.  i'd like to restore it

ukuleles and lunch

the girls came over today so that ann could meet my son and get some pointers with the uke.  ann is a music teacher and is oh so enthusiastic where music is concerned.  my son is a musician and also enthusiastic about his music.  so i thought they should meet.  they got along like a house on fire and had a really good morning.  then son went home and we had lunch and looked at online shopping (ukulele gig bags) and played our ukes and just had a fab day.  they got here at 10am and left at 4.30pm.  a long but very enjoyable day was had by all.

my new phone plan

i've been with tpg for my internet for many years.  my plan ran out years ago so i just pay by the month.  lately it's been sooooooo slow.  is it my plan or my computer?  this is the million dollar question. my friend just signed up with tpg for his phone and internet.  it's a pretty good plan but as there have always been no ports available at my exchange i've been unable to get it.  the other day i rang tpg and spoke to a lovely woman in the philippines.  i just wanted to get more data but she said i can get this plan now.  well, i said are you sure coz tpg have told me for years that it's not available to me.  apparently it is and i'm waiting for it all to be connected.  i still am in doubt as to it's availability.  i will wait and see and hope i'm wrong.

a few new things and the weather

today i finally got a new diary.  i usually get an insert/refill but this year they have been hard to find.  it's been convenient to have my other stuff in my filofax type diary and just get the refill each year.  work paid for it most years although i had to purchase it myself.  this year i received a mini diary from work coz i volunteer.  it's quite handy and i don't know if i really need a full size one but i bought one today anyway.  i got a new menorah and whilst in perth i picked up a balinese barong mask. it's a bit scary so i put it out on the veranda lol.  on to the weather.  as you know we have had severe bushfires here and yesterday and today we have had lots of rain.  we are expecting more rain over the weekend, in fact the heaviest rain we've had for 40 years.  country areas are on standby for flooding. amazing isn't it?  just a few days ago it was in the 40s and today it went down to 25.  welcome to adelaide weather.  nothing unusual there.  :(  i couldn't sleep last night coz it was so humid.  horrible.

i found this site interesting.  poor little koalas

koala mittens

perth

i love perth, it's such a lovely city.  we were staying at warnbro about an hour from perth and near rockingham. the beaches are lovely, although, there was a large shark 'terrorising' the population whilst we were there.  i couldn't help but think of the movie.  it was on the news the whole time we were there.  the transport service was awesome. we bought a family pass and could travel on trains, buses and the ferry all day. we went to fremantle and i bought the tshirt.  i told my son that as i love freo so much i'll start barracking for the fremantle dockers.  he was not amused and as i don't like their colours i'll give it a miss.  i suppose the fact that i do not follow football of any description helped me make that decision.  lol.  i actually got some motion sickness on the flight over.  it was a bit bumpy, the flight home was nice and smooth.   i was concerned to come back to bushfires which are quite serious.  my friend maz was on the verge of being evacuated today.  i could see the huge clouds of smoke from my driveway.  the men and women who fight fires and assist with other emergencies are true heroes. imagine how difficult it would be.  my hat goes off to them 100%.  victoria is also suffering atm and nsw has sent relief aid.  i hope and pray that it will be over soon.  it's going to be cooler in adelaide tomorrow and we got  few spots of rain today.  unfortunately not enough to help with the fires.

i went up to see the kids today and the smoke was dreadful.  we saw new fires quite close to where they live.  scary

awesome transport system

this is the view from the supreme court building in perth

crossing the swan river (which is huge) on the ferry

the perth crows are very cheeky little things

two people sporting santa hats walking towards the perth zoo

i so wanted to go to this fab restaurant. it's vegetarian.  pay what your heart feels.  liz and carol wouldn't go with me.  :(

warnbro beach

sushi and endame beans (we had them in bali)  delish

training ship berthed in freo

statue commemorating the displaced children from malta and england WW2

the girls and i gave our friend a surprise baby shower.  and she was surprised :)

my freo tshirt

perth museum

indigenous artists exhibition at perth museum

perth museum.  the buildings are lovely

very special and obviously expensive toilet tissue in butler.  

the windsor hotel south perth

a building named after my g/daughter lol

so much bushland on the way to perth

at the airport on our way home