but above all it was a lucky month, and I'm very grateful to all those generous friends to gave us things.
Jose and I met up at Grace's house for an afternoon coffee and to collect a chest of drawers and a bookshelf she kindly gifted me so I could paint them.
She was also holding onto a box of "Mon Cheri" those delicious cherry liqueur filled chocolates that Iris had sent Grace for my birthday, all the way from Germany, and those were enjoyed in a blink of an eye 😉.
Before we left Grace's house a rainbow made a grand appearance in the dark sky.
Later in the month we met our friends W & L for lunch at the South African restaurant Kalahari, a Taste of Africa in the southern suburb of Willetton, not far from me.
The restaurant has a small grocery area selling South African products, wines and beers.
In the frozen section I was thrilled to find Indian meat samosas which we love. I used to buy them at an Indian store near me but they appear to have closed towards the end of last year and the only ones I find at Indian shops now, are the Potato samosas which we don't like.
That evening we had some samosas for dinner served with Tomato rice.
There was also a colleague's farewell at Raktacino Cafe in the suburb of Salter Point, where staff from the Clinic where I work (12 of us, 2 Drs didn't go) got together for coffee and nibbles.
I love little collections, and the Cafe had an lovely collection of porcelain boxes, tea pots and old cups on their walls.
Most of my spare time was spent painting furniture if the weather was sunny, and I managed to finish 2 pieces of furniture - the chest of drawers that Grace gave me and a vintage telephone table that was also given to me.
I use Fusion Mineral Paint for all my furniture, and the chest of drawers was painted in Ash and Pale Gold and the telephone table was painted in Lichen.
And this is the before of the chest of drawers and the telephone table, a big improvement don't you think?
This 60's sideboard that I had painted a couple of months ago was still in the garage as I like to wait a couple of weeks until the paint fully cures before selling the items. But every time I would go into the garage I just wasn't feeling the love, so I decided to paint the doors in the same colour as the body, and I also swapped the knobs. I like it better now.
Towards the end of the month we were gifted more furniture...
An elderly friend who lived nearby moved into a retirement village. Jose had been helping her transport some furniture and take stuff to the Charity shops. Just last week her house was sold and she still had a few things to dispose of, so she called us to go over to the house as she would like to give us a rattan patio set as a thank you for our help if we wished to have it.
It's a lot sturdier than the old cane set we inherited with the house when we bought it, which I had then varnished and got new foam and covered them three times in the last 13 years.
The last time I recovered the pillows in turquoise was actually in August/September last year.
I'm investigating foam prices to substitute the original pillows that are more than 30 years old and a bit too soft already and then I'll have to buy fabric and start my sewing sessions...
Jose thinks I should paint the cane but right now I'll just oil or varnish it and I think that with some bright pillows (turquoise again) they will look great.
A stack of new furniture waiting for space in the patio...
I offered our "old" patio set to my suburb's "Buy Nothing Facebook Group" last week, splitting the offer into two - the two roundish chairs and 2 foot stools with orange pillows, and the two seater and 2 single chairs in turquoise and the table. It was a popular offer and I took 3 days to decide so that enough people had a chance to apply for it. On Saturday we delivered to the two winning households as we have a trailer and they live in the same suburb just a few minutes from us.
A month to be grateful to many people, and to consider myself a lucky girl.
Our lemon tree is full of lemons and I made a couple of jars of lemon butter.
The metal patio set was also given to us by the same friend who gave us the rattan set.
Jose put it under the lemon tree to get shade in Summer, but it's a sunny spot now in Winter.
It's also the area next to an almost finished Barbecue area and next to our veggie garden.
And as if I didn't have enough to do, I unearthed a carpet (which you can see under the 60's sideboard) from one of our cupboards. I started that carpet in Portugal, years before we came to Australia 13 years ago!
It's called "Arraiolos" a traditional hand-made wool carpet from the town of Arraiolos north of Evora in Portugal. They are made with a sort of cross-stitch over a linen cloth foundation, using designs derived from Persian carpets brought to Portugal by the Moors. It's now a protected and regulated small industry.
In Portugal I only worked on it in Winter because it gets heavy and hot as you work on it over your knees, no wonder it took me ages to almost finish it.
For it to be completely finished there is still part of the surrounding boarder to be finished, so I'm aiming to finish it maybe next year, although I've realized I will probably run out of the main colour to fill the background of most of that area...
I'll have to either send a bit of wool to my Mom or sister in Portugal or wait until our next trip...
Arraiolos is a well known brand in many parts of the world, and in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, there is a Arraiolos carpet from the XVII century, that the Museum bough from a Portuguese nobleman in 1895, measuring 315 x 148cm. (10,33 x 4,85 ft).
Arraiolos carpet and on the left the bar that needs to be completed
