Hillary's Harbour and "Stevensealberg" is gone...

A few days ago Perth was alerted to the fact that a two tonne Elephant seal had come ashore at Sorrento Beach, north of the city near Hillary's Harbour.

The seal became an instant star and since then, around that suburb there has been unusual traffic chaos, illegal parking, and a stamped of people visiting the beach, to see the famous seal dubbed   "Stevensealberg".

The two tonne seal, an unusual sight in Perth's beaches was a star for a few days. 
On Friday evening  the seal swam away, but by Saturday morning it was back to the delight of onlookers.
Sadly today (Sunday) I took the drive north to Sorrento beach, about 40km from my home and after having found a parking space almost in the next suburb, walked and walked until I reached the beach and no seal to be seen. 
Lots of young parents and disappointed kids about, everyone questioning every one else where the seal was.
Gone the night before! What a disappointment!!

(picture from internet)

So I had to content myself with taking some photos of Hillary's Harbour and the beach and then I was on my way further north to visit a friend and spend the afternoon with her.

Luckily the seal wasn't the only attraction, as it was a very hot day again, and swimming in the cool sea was another alternative for the disappointed crowd.

I got sunburned just from maybe half an hour of walking on the sand while searching for the elusive seal!

Hopefully the seal will return and continue to delight the crowds!!
Hope you enjoy the pictures of Hillary's  and the cool beach. 
Have a wonderful week.

The parking around Hillary's Harbour was full

The kids beach at Hillary's is shallow and safe

There are also some water slides for the more adventurous

As usual there are a few covered areas with tables and benches and barbecues

Man made lake, with fountain and waterfall in newly built suburb in Hillary's

This lovely area was in a newly built suburb with a man made lake.  Can you see the bird on the rail?

The bird on the rail - a great Cormorant (a fishing bird)

Weekend renovations

I had seen a few Paint chip calendars on Pintrest and liked the idea of something like that for my study/craft room. 

Because I wanted different colour paint chips  in shades of pink, I had to go to the hardware store a couple of times until I had enough to complete my calendar.

I had a picture frame that wasn't being used, so I removed the picture and spray painted the frame in white.

I bough a sheet of white cardboard, cut it to size, cut the paint chips into the required shape and assembled them from light to dark colours.

With a plastic stencil ruler I wrote the numbers and letters and assembled the picture frame again.

It's useful to remind me of birthdays, accounts to pay, etc in that specific month, I just have to wipe the glass clean and write in a new month, when a new month starts.

From this....

To this - my paint chip calendar

In my bedroom I reorganized my jewellery atop my chest of drawers. 

I used to have my earrings and other bits and pieces in a glass jar, which made it difficult to find the earrings I wanted.

Using little glass bowls I found at the Thrift store for which I paid about $2 each, 

I organized them into silver, gold, and other colours and a bowl for bracelets, rings and lapel pins. Now they look good and are easier to use.

From left to right, front to back - silver, gold, bracelets & pins and colour earrings

I made this necklace organizer probably about 10 years ago, when I used to own a picture framing shop in Portugal.
A piece of MDF board is attached to the back of the frame and then I screwed on silver cup hooks to hang the various colours separately.
Since my collection is growing, I took the hooks out and screwed on a few more, closer together,  to enable me to hang more necklaces. The top row holds the long ones, the bottom row holds the short necklaces.

A bit disorganized ....

Now with more hooks and necklaces organized by colours

Another job I ticked off the list this weekend was painting the family room walls.

We had an old air-conditioner unit that was removed in December, and the hole in the wall which adjoins the garage was bricked up and rendered by a tradesman, as this was something my husband couldn't tackle!

The old air-con had sat there for over 6 years since we bought the house, so I was super glad to see it gone at last!!

Of course now the wall had a patch on it, and finally I found some time to paint it. 
Of course since the room had last been painted 6 years ago, the white was now cream, so the whole room was painted, in white with a One-coat paint.

After the paint dried, it was time to put some pictures on the wall, and I decided to hang my "African" pictures on that wall. Some of those pictures painted by me were still wrapped up in the garage since our move....
Now the room looks brighter and my pictures are displayed for me to enjoy!

The ugly air-conditioner unit when this room was used as a dining room

The rendering of the wall left a white patch on the wall, so the whole room had to be painted

My African lounge - painted, pictures hanging and ready to be used again!

From left to right - A picture with African animal figurines that I framed, African woman in pencil (given to me by a friend), above 2 postcards with African sunsets, and framed in black are two of my oil paintings, and the Tiger also painted by me in oil.

Even though it was a busy weekend I enjoyed seeing the results of my work.

Hope you had a great weekend. Did you do anything interesting?

Have a great week.

Chinese New Year in Northbridge

The year of the Horse, which started on 31st of January was today celebrated by the Chinese community in Chinatown in the suburb of Northbridge.

This yearly event attracts over 50,000 people to the streets of Northbridge, where people of all ages are catered for with cultural entertainment, stalls of Asian food, arts and crafts and childrens's playground.

The festival started at 10am and closed at 9pm with a concert.

Some of the streets were closed to traffic, with over 100 stalls lining James Street.

Due to the heat, we thought it better to eat from a Chinese restaurant rather than the street food.

All in all we spent about 5 hours in Northbridge and by the time I got home I felt a bit tired due to the heat and the long hours of standing and walking around.

It was the first time I attended this event, but it was fun and enjoyable.

James Street Chinese gate (The Brass Monkey hotel in the right corner)

Chinese ladies on stilts

James street is lined with over 100 stalls

In the Northbridge Piazza, the kid's playground, the water slides were wonderful to cool off from the heat.

 My favourite Ice-cream caravan was present at this event.

The Chinese gate in Roe Street where Chinatown starts

A Chinese band plays traditional music

The WA Police Band played the bag pipes

Chinese lanterns and lots of Chinese and Asian restaurants

Old Shangai Arcade - is full of Asian restaurants

The Chinese Dragons were popular and noisy

A view over James Street taken from the 5th floor of the Roe Street Carpark