COLOURFULWORLD

Monday 24 December 2018

Monday Mural - Unrest & Christmas and New Year wishes

A colourful mural by AkaCorleone not far from Senhora do Monte Viewpoint, at Rua Damasceno Monteiro in Lisbon, an area which can be reached with the very popular Tram 28.

AkaCorleone is Pedro Campiche (born 1985), a visual artist of Portuguese and Swiss descent who started out as a graffiti writer in the underworld of his native Lisbon.
This piece was given the name "Unrest" and represents Fernando Pessoa, the Portuguese poet, writer, publisher and philosopher (1888-1935) in a psychedelic dream.

If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme is for you; 
Just follow the Linky steps below.   Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds this week. 






Two other murals I've posted from AkaCorleone:

https://sami-colourfulworld.blogspot.com/2016/06/on-one-of-my-walks-around-lisbon-i-came.html
https://sami-colourfulworld.blogspot.com/2018/08/monday-mural-kaleidoscope.html


🎅Wishing all my readers, followers, friends and family a wonderful Christmas and all the best for 2019🎅

I won't be posting the "Monday Mural" next Monday 31st December , but will be back to normal from the 2nd of January 2019.

I leave you with some of the dozens of Christmas decoration photos taken during my holiday to the Philippines.


At Perth  International Airport
At Changi Airport, Singapore
Manila, Philippines
Bonafacio Global City, Manila, Philippines
Bohol island, Philippines




Monday 17 December 2018

Monday Mural - The bulldog

A cute bulldog painted by New Zealand artist Mr G (Graham Hoete) on a street leading to Bondi beach in Sydney. Photo taken on my last visit to Sydney in October 2018.

If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme is for you; 

Just follow the Linky steps below.   Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds this week.  Thanks, Sami. 

I'm travelling, so will try and visit you as soon as I'm able to.
Back home next week :)




Monday 10 December 2018

Monday Mural - Bentley library

I captured this mural when I attended a gardening workshop in March at the Bentley Library, in the suburb of Bentley, not too far from my workplace.
Forgot about them until I drove past that road again recently.
Painted by Brenton See, a local artist who loves painting birds.

If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme is for you;
just follow the Linky steps below the photos and  don't forget to visit your fellow posters.  
Looking forward to your mural finds this week.  Thanks, Sami. 

I'll be away for 2 weeks, but you're welcome to post and visit the other Monday Mural bloggers. Depending on availability and internet access, I'll try and visit everyone too and leave a comment.






Wednesday 5 December 2018

November - A very busy month - part III (last)

Continuation from "A very busy month -  part I and "A very busy month - part II


Saturday 17th - I accepted an invitation to go to the movies to watch the film Bohemian Rhapsody.
Just as Catarina had mentioned a couple of weeks ago, the movie was brilliant and the lead actor Rami Malek deserves to win an Oscar for best actor, he was fabulous!
I love Queen's music, so if you're also a fan go and watch it 👍



Sunday 18th -  I joined around 40 other Portuguese men and women at a Codfish Academy lunch at Eat Greek Restaurant in East Fremantle.
The Codfish Academy was founded in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1968, and the Perth branch was inaugurated in 2011, and is the only one in Australia. Funds that are later donated to charity are raised from these lunches or dinners.

After a generous and delicious Mediterranean buffet lunch, I drove around Fremantle taking some photos and came across a few new murals.

East Fremantle Marina, Lunch at Eat Greek, the choice of desserts











Fremantle curiosities - an interesting meal bench, a pink Mustang, a Chinese bridal couple being photographed, statues

Fremantle architecture

When I got home, and got the Christmas stuff from the garage and set up the Christmas tree.
I usually only set up my Christmas tree on the 1st of December, but because for the next 2 weekends I would be busy I put up the tree when I arrived home. This year I've gone for white and silver instead of the usual blues.

My Christmas tree with white and silver decorations

Thursday 22ndAfter work I drove to the suburb of Applecross not far from where I work to take photos of the jacaranda trees. Applecross is famous for its annual Jacaranda Festival at the end of November. I was a bit disappointed that this year they weren't as "bloomy" as in previous years.

I was pleased to see "Waiting in the wings" that I first saw at Sculpture by the Sea, in Cottesloe Beach this year, on the Applecross waterfront framing Perth's skyline in the distance.
The sculpture which took 12 months to complete, was done by Perth's sculptor Denise Pepper, is 3,3mt tall and each wing weighs about 170kg each.
Doesn't it look as if it was made for that spot?

Applecross also happens to be one of Perth's top suburbs with superb houses by the Swan River. One day when I grow up I would like to live there 😃
Jacarandas in Applecross streets



"Waiting in the wings"

                    Fancy houses by the Swan River in Applecross 
























Later I drove to the Domestic airport to pick up my husband who was coming from Sydney to spend a few days at home. His flight was meant to arrive at 6,40pm and it was close to that time when I parked outside the recently opened Direct Factory Outlet (DFO) just a few minutes away from Terminal 4.
I usually wait for him to give a ring as soon as he's outside the terminal, but I waited, and waited, and waited...and eventually checked the flight website and it showed the flight was 1 hour late!  Silly me, why didn't I check at home? 
So I entertained myself with taking photos of the almost full moon (on 23rd) going through heavy clouds.
One hour later Jose arrived, rang me and I drove to the terminal



Almost full moon photo experiments

Friday 23rd -  an early day starting with dropping Jose's car at the dealership for a service. I followed him so we could return in my car and go to Carousel shopping to buy him some clothes for our daughter's upcoming wedding in the Philippines.
Upon our return home we called our grandchild who turned 2 that day.
Then Jose mowed the lawn and started pruning some trees. When the dealership called to say the car was ready I drove him there and we returned home.

At night we drove to the city to go and have dinner at Santini's restaurant (remember the QT Hotel from my Open House visit?).

Our wedding anniversary was on the 30th November and since Jose wasn't going to be here I thought we could have an early celebration dinner.
It's obviously the In place now as when I called at 5,30 to book for dinner I was told it was fully booked for 8pm but they could offer me a table at 9,30! 
I accepted it as I really wanted to go there. We arrived a bit earlier, had drinks at the Rooftop bar, the only available seats were at the outdoor area, the view was great but it was a bit windy to be out there.
Dinner was fantastic, food spectacular, service was good too, on the expensive side of course, but it was a special occasion. After dinner I still managed to take photos of some Christmas decorations in the city.
I didn't take any photos of the food, but I was embarrassed to do so in such a fancy place.

Christmas lights in the city







Christmas lights in the city

Saturday 24thJose carried on with getting the garden in order, while I made some snacks to take to my son's house for our grandson's second birthday party at 3pm.
Their house was full of little kids from the playgroup he's been attending since he was a couple of months old.
At 7pm after the party, we had intended to go back to the city to do the Christmas light trail, but Jose was tired from all the garden work so we had a quiet night watching a movie.

Birthday cake made by my daughter in law

In my son's neighbourhood someone puts up a big show of Christmas lights with reindeers, sleigh, photo booth snowmen, stars, the roof is illuminated, etc. 
He seems to be the only one in the street, but there are some suburbs where the whole street takes part and loads of people drive around looking at the illuminations and contributing coins to a charity of the street's choice.
When we left close to 7pm the lights were already on.

Christmas lights 











Monday 26th - I had taken Monday off work and at 2pm drove Jose to the airport for his flight back to Sydney.

Thursday 29th - coffee with former work colleagues at a coffee shop near work.

Friday 30th - Our 38th Wedding anniversary - lots of messages and calls, but with Jose in Sydney, sadly I spent the day on my own. Hopefully next year he will be working back in Perth.


Our wedding day 30 Nov 1980 in Johannesburg, South Africa



And so ended the month of November.
Hope your month wasn't as busy as mine.


Monday 3 December 2018

Monday Mural - Welcome to the Wanneroo markets

Photos of this mural were taken when I went strawberry picking on a farm north of Perth at the end of September.
My friends and I stopped for lunch at the Wanneroo Markets where I spotted lots of fantastic murals all over the building, some in a room used for private functions and others on an outdoor patio.

If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme is for you;
just follow the Linky steps below and  don't forget to visit your fellow posters.  
Looking forward to your mural finds this week.  Thanks, Sami. 





The following murals were at the private function room, painted by Run of the Mill:















Thursday 29 November 2018

November - Open House Perth- Part II

OPEN HOUSE PERTH - Sun. 11th

Following from Saturday's visit to the Open House venues.

On Sunday, Sofia a friend who is an architect and her two daughters joined me for a visit to some of Perth's funkiest and innovative private homes.
Because I had to take the car this time I planned the visit with google maps so that I could travel from one place to the other without wasting time. I had aimed to see 11 houses but managed to see 9, as I hadn't counted on the waiting lines to get into some of the most popular houses, and the time spent inside each house...
Still, we loved what we saw and came home with lots of ideas.


HOUSE A was a 3-storey tiny house with a garage underneath, lounge and kitchen on the ground floor and a loft bedroom. It was built in the front of a block where an old house was already built (undergoing renovations), and a third house was being built at the back.
House A was made of recycled concrete panels and white washed recycled bricks, and the floors and kitchen counters were all made of cement.
It was ideal for a young couple, it had a little courtyard at the back with not much maintenance needed.


ABBETTHAUS was a recently constructed house, the owners had just moved in. Built at the back of an older house which faced the street behind, it was double storey, very modern, and I loved the tiny plunge pool at the entrance.



The BRICK HOUSE, probably one of the most popular destinations judging by the long line of people waiting outside (it took us about 30min before we got in), was designed to look like a renovated heritage factory turned house. 
The brick exterior didn't convince me, but I liked some of the indoor features.
It had 4 levels, with an underground entertainment room, the kitchen/lounge/dining/study and bathroom on the ground floor, 3 bedrooms on the first floor and a terrace above the main bedroom with views to the city centre.
My favourites in this house were the round window above a net over the lounge (it could hold 1 tonne) with views to the city and by the mini library. I could imagine relaxing there reading a book with the sun shining on me.

Lounge, round window with views of city, one of the bedrooms, the relaxing net and window, underground movie room, bathroom
The terrace and the hydraulic door/window above the staircase to the terrace, the kitchen, a vespa in the lounge and balcony

Designed for the rental market on a small block of land, the DOG HOUSE had two bedrooms each with a walk in robe and en-suite bathroom on the first floor and a kitchen, lounge and dining room that led to a small courtyard.
The front of the house pays homage to the owner's terrier (who died last year), with the main wall made of angled glazed bricks that shows a dog and even the cement pavement at the entrance had dog paws. 
The dog wall is better seen from the other side of the road.




BETON HOUSE would get my top 3 vote. It seemed to be very popular too with a long queue outside.
A 60's house renovated by Western Australia's favourite contestants from "The Block" and "Matt & Kim to the Rescue, it was chic and modern. It was for sale and the price includes about 30 thousand dollars worth of furniture.

When I searched online for the price I actually came across the previous sale in September 2014 with photos of the house before, and you can see the amazing transformation from awful to amazing in the two links. It went from a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1 garage to 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and 2 car bays.
It's in a very good suburb and the price also reflects the renovation - from $732,000 to an asking price of between $1,175,000 to $1,225,000 now.
The only think I didn't like the bath in the upstairs bedroom, but on the other hand the walk in wardrobe behind the bedroom with access to the bathroom was my dream wardrobe!

   
https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-wa-mount+hawthorn-117530307
https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-mount+hawthorn-129808290




From drab to fab - before and after (photos from Reiwa website)
Before and After house plan (photos from Reiwa website)

At the CASA 314 - STUDIO CONVERSION, entry was through a back lane that led to a former garage that had been converted into an architect's studio for the owner.
Folding glass doors had been added to 3 sides of the garage, one leading to the lane, the others to the courtyard. A small kitchen and bathroom had been added to one side of the garage which made the room self contained.
A nice green tiled spa bath was accessible from the garden and also from a room behind the kitchen.
We had access to the kitchen and to the upstairs family room via a funky staircase with the walls covered in mdf which had been burned with a torch burner and then given a coat of varnish. 
The upstairs room was also totally covered in mdf - tv unit, plenty of storage, a unit dividing lounge to a study, and even part of the house roof was covered with mdf and the former chimney extended - apparently the kids enjoyed climbing and sliding down that ramp.
The rest of the house was out of bounds to visitors.

The former garage - entry, roof skylight, the studio and courtyard with kids cubby house
The staircase covered mdf, a spa bath accessible from the garden and from the interior, the top extension, the top lounge and kitchen

UNION ST RESIDENCE, was also very nice, a bit too modern for me, double storey, also had a small plunge pool on the tiny front courtyard.


OGILVIE HOUSE was number 2 on my list. A former 2 bedroom cottage which was remodeled and enlarged from a 2 bedroom to a 4 bedroom.
The front entrance was relocated to the side and the former entry corridor space was converted into wardrobes for the 2 bedrooms now at the front of the house.
A modern back addition added 2 extra bedrooms, a study and a very roomy lounge/dining/kitchen.
A lovely garden geared for kids and a small pool at the back completed this lovely renovation. A quirky detail was that in the old part of the house the ?antique" light switches and wall plugs were left.


And lastly we saw the house that was my favourite,  CLEAVER ST RESIDENCE which also combined old charm and ultra modern.
There was so much to love in this house - the views to the city from the top floor bedroom, the cosy courtyard, the bird like light fitting above the dining table, the lead glass original front door, the arches and corbels in the corridor, the long kitchen counter....

Courtyard seen from different perspectives
Lead glass front door, arches in corridor, bird like light fitting, kitchen, glass doors to the lounge
Top floor bedroom, view to the city from bedroom, looking into a bedroom window, small study with views, chairs on bedroom corner

Somewhere on one of our stops we spotted this synthetic grass covered VW. We had to stop and take photos. I wonder if it's roadworthy or it's just a garden ornament.

Hope you enjoyed the house tours and that the grass car made you smile 😊